120g on 2nd floor apt, problem?

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Doradid

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 16, 2009
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catfishville
I just got a really nice 120g (48x24x24) for a good price. Problem is, i live in a 2nd floor apt. The apt is about 30+ years old and i assume, wooden foundation. I have a 72g bowfront in the bedroom. It leans inwards toward the center of the room with a 1" difference between the wall and back of tank.

I have no experience with larger tanks on 2nd floors so i was hoping someone on here could help. What problems, if any, might i have with the weight on a 120 on a 2nd floor and what are my options for solutions? I was hoping the deep footprint might help distribute the weight .
 
Tricky tricky.

Are you a gambling man? haha

Put it against a support wall and fill it half way, see how it goes?

Unless you can get more specifics on the apartment build...
 
i put it on the back wall because there is another apt on the other side of the wall. i figured the center of the building would have the greatest support
 
Need to try to logically figure out which way the floor joists are running, then place the tank perpendicular to them.
 
I bought a tank from a guy who had his 210g on a 2nd floor apartment. He had it there for a few years and never had problems.
 
Bderick67;4433073; said:
Need to try to logically figure out which way the floor joists are running, then place the tank perpendicular to them.
Click to expand...

2nd.

I have had a 125 ( 72" x 18" x 23" ) in a bedroom of my 2nd floor apt. for over 5 years now using this logic. No issues at all. Tank is and always has been perfectly level, front to back and side to side. On a basic angle iron stand btw. Due to the stand having 6 supporting legs the weight of my tank puts each pressure point up to about 300psf, which, all things considered, is really nothing.
If I were you I would do the following:

1) Place it perpendicular to the joists, against a load bearing wall (not in the middle of a room)

2) Get or customize a stand that will evenly distribute the weight all along the perimeter of the tank.

3) Make sure the tank is perfectly level.

4) Take ceiling to tank measurements each day for a week (at each corner), then each week for a month.

5) Dont blame me if you later on find out your house has a termite problem :WHOA:

Good luck!

Matt
 
Its sounds to me like your 75 is running parrallel to the floor joists rather than perpendicular. I have a way to tell which ways your joist run, especially since your subfloor is weak enough to give to the 75tank. Find a joist under one foot by bouncing on one foot, and area that has bounce will be between joists, and the area that has no give is right on top of a joist. This will determine where your joists are and which way they run. As for putting the 120 there your should be fine, determine which way your joists run and have it sit on as many as possible (perpendicular), also set it near an exterior wall if possible as it may be hard to tell if your interior walls are load bearing without knowing the apt layout below.
 
now yall got me scared. If the 72 is sitting parallel with the joist, the 120 would be sitting perpendicular. the tank is perfectly level and im going to fill it half way tonight and cross my fingers
 
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