How big is too big!! (floor)
- Thread starter cuda
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It really depends on the footprint of the tank/stand, supports under the floor and if the tank in the house is on a pad or about a crawl space.
cuda;643152; said:
In a trailor, it really depends on where the stringers run. They would run full length and across the trailer, the amount and spacing of them may change from manufacters. If I am not mistaken they dont fallow normal building codes. But if you could find where the supports run and cross each other, you shouldnt have any problem with a 55g, anything larger than that you may want to support the floor.
In a house is a different story. If you can lay the perpendicular to the joists you wouldnt have any problems with a tank up to 90g. If you set the tank near a load bear, or outside wall you could go bigger, still make sure the tank is setting perpendicular to the joists.
To clarify the 'house without a basement' question, it depends on the construction of the house. If there is a crawl space under the house, you are in the same pickle as having a basement. If the house has a concrete slab, then the sky is the limit.
It doesnt matter if the house has a slab or not. If you need to add support under the floor, slab or not, place something down first with a decent footprint to support the weight. Of course you are not going to need as big of a footprint for a slab, but if it is a open ground crawl then yeah. Just like your house, the footings are probably only setting on a 16" footer, unless of course the ground your house is in is soft, clay, peat, etc.
I have a home set on piers with parallel cross beams. I put a 120 on it with no problems. The tank is situated across these beams. My 75 and 55 in another room are parallel to the beams. You also have to consider how much space the tank will occupy.
i'm wanting to get atleast a 180 gallon aquarium after my girlfriend and I move. I'm going to try to get a bigger aquarium than 180 but it all depends on place and money at the time. I asked this question because some places we have looked at don't have basements. If I get a place with a basement then I'll just set the tank up in the basement with no worries. I'm going for the longest and widest tank I can afford. The height of the tank doesn't matter nearly as much to me as the lengh and width. So, if I'm correct I'm looking for a tank with a large footprint.
All the posts are helping me alot. They give me an idea if no basement where to place the tank when I get it. I have a feeling more than likely I'm going to have to support the floor some. I had a big tank before and supported the floor in a double wide trailor (did it to be safe wasn't sure if it needed it but done it anyways), a long time ago.
All the posts are helping me alot. They give me an idea if no basement where to place the tank when I get it. I have a feeling more than likely I'm going to have to support the floor some. I had a big tank before and supported the floor in a double wide trailor (did it to be safe wasn't sure if it needed it but done it anyways), a long time ago.
I would strongly advise against a 180 on a second floor. Extremly risky, it could hold but how long is the question. It would be very dangerous for you and whoever else walks in that room and especially those below you. You are talking about well over 2000lbs. of total weight with a 180. The biggest I would suggest would be a 100Gallon Show (5ft-18"-20") because of the longer footprint. A 120 would be 200lbs. more and only a 4ft. span so it too would be risky. So your smart choices would be (55,75,90,100Show) anything else without adding additional floor joices would be asking for trouble.
Actually, as long as the house was not build a long time ago, the second floor is just as strong as the first. It would be pretty silly to make the second floor not as supportive. The only disadvantage of having a large tank on a second floor is that if you had a large enough tank and you wanted to add support under it, the pole you install might be in the center of your living room. If you placed the tank near the outside wall, perpendicular to the joists, no problem. Also depending on how the second floor sits you might have a wall right under the floor, though that wall wouldnt be a load bearing wall, so your saftest place would still be on an outside wall or secondly near interior load bearing wall.