450 gallon tank on 2nd floor ????

[SHilo]

We have a 230G on our main floor, (basement underneath) and if we weren't moving out of here in May, we would move it downstairs because we know we're taking a chance. (We thought we were only going to be in this house a year) 450G is just too much weight, not to mention having it there for a long period.

I read that whole article that the link was posted to on page two and if you haven't read it yet, you should. It's non biased as to do it or not to do its but easy to understand.

 

[DucatiDragster]

I'm having almost the same doubt! I'm trying to discover if I can put a 125g on an apartment (2nd floor)!

i had a 135 upstairs in my house, and im pretty sure apartments are built more tougher than houses

 

[Caoboy]

1 gallon of water equals 8.33 pounds.

450 gallons equals 3748.5 pounds. That's a lot of weight.

 

[Bderick67]

I would think that you are pushing the limits. You 96" tank can be placed on 7 floor joists plus the joist on each side will also take part of the weight. Now two things I don't know are; what is the span of the floor joist and if the house was built to code.

So let's assume the floor joists are a 10' span and your house was built to support 40 pounds per square foot.

The area over the 9 floor joists is 16" x 8 so 128" but lets call it 10'6" times the span of 10' so you have an area of 105 square feet which the 9 floor joist are supporting. At 40 psf times the 105 sq ft. this area of the floor was designed to carry a live load of 4200lbs.

Your tank will weigh well over 5000 pounds when complete plus there will be other loads in this area of the floor. So this will likely not work for you unless structural mods are made.

 

[Bawb2u]

I don't understand all the people saying it absolutely can't be done. Have any of you actually built a support wall? Do you realize the load carrying capabilities of a 4"x4" beam?True, on an unmodified floor it wouldn't work but with a little effort, it could easily be done. Properly bracing the joists so they don't deflect (twist), using a header to spread the load and bracing the underneath with 4x4" support beams could hold that tank easily. Large buildings and heavy load carrying floors are and have been built out of wood for centuries.

 

[pcfriedrich]

I was walking by a construction site the other day (they were building an apartment complex). I started thinking about the size of wood that houses are built from, and how close together the beams are, and thought about that strength to weight ratio (your average building doesn't weigh anywhere near the amount it is made to support).

I then, in my mind, compared them to the wood that most aquarium stands are mad of, and realized that we are all paranoid.

any non-delapidated floor can support very large tanks, especially if the relatively small and weak stands can support their weight.

we are all worried about putting a tank on a floor made from 2x10's and plywood, while they are sitting on stands made from 1x1s.

that said, don't blame me if your house falls down.