setting up 125 gal
- Thread starter beerad555
- Start date
Hello, I myself have just set up a 125 recently, cycling as we speak. I have a crawl space and plan on doing some bracing under the floor. For two reasons, obviously the weight of the tank, and also when my 2 rottweilers run around, the tank shakes a bit. LOL
aslong as its up against a wall or two than it should be ok.. iv got a 150 upstairs cycling as we speak
There have been some very technical posts on this issue in the past few weeks, perhaps the best in the last week. I do not recall the title of the thread just now, but perhaps a search can find them or some alert member can identify it. The basic message of these threads appeared to be that it depends on a lot of different factors and that there is not a generic answer. The strength of a floor depends on the type of floor structure, the materials used, the age and condition of the floor, if the structure has been compromised by cutting or drilling or bugs and probably several other things. There are several ways a floor can fail as well. It is an issue worth checking out.
I have a 120g (60x18x26) and did not support the floor with any thing extra. Going under the house I have 2x10's 24" o.c. My tank runs parallel with the joists, so the majority of the weight of this is on just one joist.
I just moved the tank from that location to make room for the new 210g. With this I decided to reinforce my joists just a bit. I have sistered an additional 2x10 to the inside of each of my joists and then braced every 16" and used metal hangers. All of this was glued and screwed. Now with the 210g, it is still not ideal but at least it has four 2x10's supporting it rather than just the one that was for the 120g. I am still concerned and have some wood left so I may at least brace out the load to an additional joist.
I just moved the tank from that location to make room for the new 210g. With this I decided to reinforce my joists just a bit. I have sistered an additional 2x10 to the inside of each of my joists and then braced every 16" and used metal hangers. All of this was glued and screwed. Now with the 210g, it is still not ideal but at least it has four 2x10's supporting it rather than just the one that was for the 120g. I am still concerned and have some wood left so I may at least brace out the load to an additional joist.