is my fish room gonna crash through my ceiling?

[Hybridfish7]

my mom's been complaining about how all the tanks I have are gonna crash through the ceiling eventually.
we live in a single family home, decent sized house, and the little sunroom upstairs has been dedicated as my fish/animal room.
I have 3 20 longs in there, 3 10 gallons, 2 5 gallons, 2 29's and then my 3 gecko tanks and my hermit crab tank.
that's about half a ton's worth of tanks crammed into a 15x15 room on the top floor of the house. there's also my bedroom, which is about twice the size of my fishroom, but I plan on getting a tank or two for that too.
is my fishroom gonna crash through the ceiling eventually?

 

[The Morning]

The correct answer is that you should have a structural engineer out to inspect the support. But unless those tanks are all stacked on top of each other I would think the weight is fairly distributed. I doubt you would have a problem.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I have a double 75 above a basement and there is a slight dip in the floor where it stands (making plans to fix it) and it’s similar to how much your tanks weigh combined. The only difference is mine is in a 6’ x 2’ area and yours are more spread out.

None of is are qualified to give legal answers regarding your question so I would take all answers given with a grain of salt.

However, I would try to get a structual engineer to come inspect it if possible as the person above me has suggested.


Any chance we can get a picture so we can see the lay out?

 

[neutrino]

Or get a carpenter/contractor experienced dealing with weight and flooring.

Part of the answer depends on how your floors were built, including spacing and size of floor joists, sheeting material under the finished floor, etc., which can vary according to local code or when the house was built or by whom. What you describe doesn't seem like an inordinate amount of weight to me, but there's not a one size fits all answer.

 

[Hybridfish7]

3 of the 10s are on the same rack, and 2 20s are stacked
Theres also 2 dry 20 longs (my geckos) stacked on the same rack as one of my full 20 longs.
2 of the 5s are also stacked
I guess that's something to be wary of but they're all lined around the room

 

[Backfromthedead]

None of those tanks, even stacked like you say, should constitute a problem. Unless your floor is constructed from glue and cardboard. I think consulting an engineer would be pointless, but by all means, go ahead if it gives you peace of mind.

 

[Chicxulub]

The correct answer is that you should have a structural engineer out to inspect the support. But unless those tanks are all stacked on top of each other I would think the weight is fairly distributed. I doubt you would have a problem.

All of this

 

[duanes]

I agree only an engineer can truly judge you personal situation, although those few fish tanks you have, only add up to about 500 lbs.
On the ground of the house I lived in, in Wisconsin (it was old( built in the late 1800s), it had larger beams than they use now), I had between 900 and 1,000 gallons of tanks (maybe more, at least 9000 lbs spread throughout the house.
Before I sold that house, I had to replace flooring, and have it mold remediated. I also had 3 floor jacks in the basement bracing the floor as added security.
When young, living in my parents house, I had a similar set up as you do now, and I ruined the floor in my bedroom with spillage lowering the value of the house when it was sold.
If it were me, I'd move the tanks to the basement (if you have one), and if your parents go along with it.