DIY floor stabilizer advice needed please please!!

[Ullopincrate]

I have a 180g sitting on a stand that was made for it by the factory. No problems there. My house was built in 1913. 2000+ lbs in a 6'X2' area concerns me. Solution, go under the floor and shore it up. The aquarium has its back to a load bearing wall with brick under it all the way to the ground. I have two ideas.

Idea #1: take 2 X 10s and build a perimeter frame 8' X 2'. Next make 4 legs for it (4 X 4s), place them in the corners and run them down to the ground (approx 3') and put them in concrete shoes.

Idea #2: cheaper, but more worrisome, is to use two 2 X 10s and nail them together. Run them perpendicular to the floor joists (basically in the same direction the tank is sitting and directly under it. Secure them to the joists and run two legs (4 X 4s) down to the ground (3') and place them in concrete shoes.

Pick these ideas apart, tell me where I am going astray if I am. Suggest other ideas. I am concerned here and if something goes wrong because of my building technique it's going to be hard to ever talk the wife into letting me do it again. I can't have this happen.

I have a 90g reef with a 20g sump sitting in the living room with a 55 on the other side of the wall practically back to back with it. I have two bottle jacks under the floor here. (also load bearing wall)

I also have a 100g on a stand I made that I haven't applied to plywood yet and there is nothing under it's floor.... however the joist span is very small in this room as it is an add on. The room is approx 8' wide and the tank is 5'.

Thanks in advance guys. I want to see what my peers think of this before I continue....

 

[chesterthehero]

2x6s set to a footprint to match the tank.. a 3 paver stack (pyramid) with 2x4 supports.. add a "foot" to the support legs to keep them from "falling" over.. screw/bolt everything together and then feel free to park a dumptruck on top of it.. .. or if yer lazy do the pavers and more bottle jacks...

 

[Ullopincrate]

So 2 X 10 is overkill?

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Pavers stacked like the above?
I saw shoes for decks that accomodated a 4 X 4 post. Would that be sufficient?

The above is supposed to be pyramid shaped with top in center of two beneath and so forth

 

[chesterthehero]

IMO yes.. but i used 2x6s and 4x4s for my 75 so...

im just thinking of how much of a PITA 2x10s would be to work with by your self under a house...

 

[Burko]

"My house was built in 1913. 2000+ lbs in a 6'X2' area concerns me. Solution, go under the floor and shore it up. The aquarium has its back to a load bearing wall with brick under it all the way to the ground. I have two ideas."

Why are you so convinced there will be a problem? Is the house in disrepair?

If the joists are 600 apart you will share the weight between 4 of them.

Anyway you can always fill the tank and check that the floor stays level.

If you do decide to brace unerneath it will settle, overtime, and need checking and packing anyway.

Goodluck

 

[Ullopincrate]

The house is in good repair. I had a cal king waterbed in the master bedroom for some time and the floor did bow a bit. Nothing severe but you could tell by seeing the water level in my bedroom aquarium become not level and I had to shim it. After the bed was gone the floor came back up. The bed spread the weight out over a larger area. Concentrating 2000 lbs in a 6 X 2 area is much more severe than the waterbed. I had a 55 where the 180 is going to be. I am looking at a better safe than sorry situation. From my understanding if a tank becomes unlevel it can crack. I added the 1913 part because back then the 2 bys were true 2 bys. I'm not convinced there will be a problem...... I want to be convinced there won't be.

 

[frnchjeep]

If you did 2 2x10's across the joists along the front edge of the tank with 4x4's as uprights on concrete footings, that is more than enough. The back is already supported pleanty. My house was built around the same time, and I have a 220 on the second floor. I built a base for the stand out of 4x4's that span 10 feet so the weight catches more joists. It is over a load bearing wall over the main beam of the house.

 

[Toby_H]

Concentrating 2000 lbs in a 6 X 2 area is much more severe than the waterbed.

　
Not really...
　
The risk of failure is not the tank crashing straight down through the plywood…
　
The concern is for the joists to bow and possibly crack…
　
Therefore the more joists you spread the wait over the less weight each joist is being asked to hold. This gives an advantage to the waterbed…
　
But the aquarium is sitting up against a wall where the bed is in the middle of the room. Thinking of the joist as a lever and the brick foundation as a fulcrum… The bed likely put far more pressure on each joist than the aquarium is. The tank being against a wall as opposed to being in the middle of the room makes a massive difference.
　
　
One option… hang a weight on a string from the floor joists beneath the tank in a way that you can make exactly where it hangs… then put the aquarium in place, fill it with water and measure to see if the weight has moved. If you decide to trust it as is, leave the weight in place for future reference…
　
　
If you do choose to brace the flooring, I suggest doing so with a jack that is designed to do what you are doing. They not only wedge in place but expand further to truly assist in carrying the weight… the system you are describing will only hold weight if/when the floor bows.
　
Three 2x4’s screwed together than braced/screwed to the joists… with a jack on each end sitting on a stone/brick base… should be more than enough…

 

[bob965]

I don't have an answer for your current problem, just a question about the use of the bottle jacks. Won't those tend to creep downward over time? I mean, the hydraulic seals inside aren't absolutely perfect.

 

[MadRussian79]

Had the same worry with a 265 in a house build back in the 1890's. I took a 2X6 and nailed it to the floor joists in the basement (the tank is on the first floor). I then got two screw jacks from home depot and screwed them in place against the 2x6. Then I moved the tank in place with the front of the tank over the 2X6 and jacks and the back on the outer wall of the house with a field stone foundation. I'm pretty sure it's over kill but i do sleep at night.