Large tanks on wooden floors

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Steve p

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jul 21, 2007
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Bristol UK
Hi all, Just wondered how many of you have large fish tanks 100g plus on wooden floors (by wooden floors i mean 8" by 2" joists with 3/4" floor boards on top). The reason i'm asking is i have a 90g (48"x18"x21") on a wooden floor upstairs and i'm thinking about upgrading it to a 120g (48"x24"x24") and i'm concerned about the extra weight.


Steve
 
i have a 180 above the basement but i put those basement jacks under it. i also have a 125 on the second story but its sitting over hallway walls underneath it. the only one i have that is freestanding like your talking about is a 75 gallon upstairs and no probs yet. i think you would be better off doing a 125 seeing its 6 foot and would distribute the weight better then the 5 foot 120.
 
Can you tell me the dimensions on the 125g tank, I live in the uk and have only seen 6' tanks that are 180g. Thanks for you input.

Steve
 
you'll need a shallow tank (under 2') I had to reinforce my floor for a 180.

I've seen 8x2x1's which would be perfect for you.
 
under 2 ft high?
ive got that atm lol...
 
total weight you can put on your floor will depend on which way your floor joists travel in relation to the tank. Theoretically, you should spread the weight along as many of the joists as you can.

Dodgy though.....a 180g tank with cabinet, filters, rocks and water(not even mentioning the monsters !), will weigh over a tonne.
 
The new tank will be spread accross the joist's they are around 16" centers so if i go for a 6' tank at the most it will be sat on 5 joist. I would like to go for something around 72"x20"x18" what are people's thoughts on the floor taking the weight. Oh it will be as close to the wall where the joist tie into.

Steve
 
Just did a quick calculation on a 72"x20"x18" and the weight of the water would be around 0.7 pounds per square inch compared to my 48"18"x21" which is around 0.76 pounds per square inch. Any mfk'ers that are structural engineers?
 
Steve p;1494726; said:
Just did a quick calculation on a 72"x20"x18" and the weight of the water would be around 0.7 pounds per square inch compared to my 48"18"x21" which is around 0.76 pounds per square inch. Any mfk'ers that are structural engineers?
Click to expand...

My dad is (spacecraft, electrical, mechanical engineer, not structural though (has experience though)) and he told me it could work, but it is a very bad idea. I spent part of my summer reinforcing the floor for my 180 gallon tank. You can't forget that you may have multiple people looking at the tank at one time, adding extra strain on the floor. The floor can bend or bow and the tank may become unlevel leading to even more problems. The biggest tank I have that I didn't reinforce the floor is a 55 gallon.
It might work, but I would NEVER do this myself.
It's better to be safe than sorry.
 
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