weight of tank on a 2nd floor?

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Iron Buddha

Gambusia
MFK Member
Dec 21, 2008
143
2
18
St. Louis
i was discussing my plans with a friend..i have a 55 gallon in the basement to be my all asian and aussie gourami tank..and i will have another in the basement 70 to 100 gallons ..but upstairs i want colorful fish for the living room...a discus tank and a smaller african ciclid tank...i wantted to discus tank to be atleast 90 to 100...but he was saying you cant have anything over 55 gallons on a second floor..how true is this?
 
depends on the support of the floors and what its made with but it should be able
to hold a 100g no problem long as its along the joists and beams for maximum
support. but dont take my word on that and double check with the contractor who
build your place.
 
i was discussing my plans with a friend..i have a 55 gallon in the basement to be my all asian and aussie gourami tank..and i will have another in the basement 70 to 100 gallons ..but upstairs i want colorful fish for the living room...a discus tank and a smaller african ciclid tank...i wantted to discus tank to be atleast 90 to 100...but he was saying you cant have anything over 55 gallons on a second floor..how true is this?
consider water weighs 8.3 lbs per gallon, so you have to improvise on the math by estimating how much water your gravel and décor displace and weigh them in it's place. For emaple if you replace 5 gallons of water w/ 100lbs of décor, your 5 gallons weighs around 41lbs so your tank would now weigh 59lbs heavier as a result of doing the standard formula, 55g X 8.3lbs
 
Okay, just to clarify the comments I will make, the floor above the basement is the first floor, not the second.

The first floor will have many strong areas (for example, the kitchen will have extra support for the appliances, the bathrooms might have extra support for tubs.) And because the first floor has to be under the second floor (in a 2 or 3 story house), it will have more strength as well.

None of that will directly answer your question however. You may be able to go to the basement and examine the floor supports: are they 2x6, 2x8, 2x12? how far apart are they spaced? how long are the beams? is there an I-beam? what size and how many additional columns do you have? what type of fasteners were used? in what condition is the wood and the fasteners? where will the tank be placed?

Most people simply place the tank and don't worry too much about it. One hundred gallons would probably not worry me as long as I could see the floor structure and it looked like it was built properly.

If the floor is exposed, a structural engineer familiar with residential homes could probably give you a far superior answer to anyone else speculating on a forum. The problem is that it's possible for example that all the fasteners may not have been used, that the contractors built the floor improperly or that some of the wood beams have wood rot. That requires a visual examination.

But if you are okay skipping that, then abide by a few common rules: placed the tank perpendicular across 2 beams, and against a load bearing wall. There are more things one can do, but those are the easiest.
 
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Two words...floor jacks
2.gif
 
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I agree with suggestions of hiring a structural engineer if you want to know for sure if the 100 gal would be ok or not but if your basement is unfinished I was going to make the same suggestion souzie souzie stated adding more support with floor jacks.
 
I put a 125g on the first floor above an unfinished basement. I had my uncle that was an engineer look at the basement though and we added some reinforcement even though it wasn't needed. If you place it across beams and next to a load beating wall and stay under 75g it's fine. 90g just adds height to the tank.
 
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hello; First let me stress that no one on this forum can give you the right answer. Someone will have to be on site and take a look at the structure of the house. That person should have some experience. A structural engineer likely is the better choice but someone such as an experienced contractor may have the needed knowledge. Depends on the budget. Each house is different and It will not matter that someone did this in another house. As drstrangelove has pointed out the actual condition must be checked.

My current house had some floor joists which were notched and weakened and I had to sister in joists to make them right. My house also does not have additional structural support for the kitchen and bathrooms. Each house is different and needs to be checked by someone with knowledge.

Do you own the house? If so then do what ever suits as you will also own the results. If you rent or it is someone else's house then you should talk to the owner and get permission.

I figure somewhere between 10 and 12 pounds per gallon as an estimate for tank weight with all stuff in place.

Good luck
 
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Hello; Here are some links about the subject. May I suggest you read the first if you do not wish to look at the others.

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html



http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/second-floor-fish-tanks-%C2%96-beam-loading-for-the-non-engineer.164188/



http://www.african-cichlid.com/Structure.htm


From this thread a while back here is a link to it. A look at the pictures should give pause, they did for me.


http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...-out-there-Question-about-reinforcing-a-floor
 
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MonsterFishKeepers.com