Think my floor will collapse?

[Dan F]

How old is the house? And are they actually solid beams? Most newer houses have composite beams. Which are cheaper and still strong but not meant to hold more than a few hundred pounds per foot.

TJI joists are actually much stronger and stiffer than comparably sized dimensional lumber. They can be over twice as stiff, depending on materials and design.

 

[platystoma]

Don't for get about the weight of the people standing around looking at the tank, if you have a party and say there is 10 people looking at the tank thats heaps of weight right next to the tank as well, it easy to miss this problem.

 

[Piscine]

Don't for get about the weight of the people standing around looking at the tank, if you have a party and say there is 10 people looking at the tank thats heaps of weight right next to the tank as well, it easy to miss this problem.

Temporary weight like that is not a problem....That is why there is a safety factor of 1.5-2 on almost all load bearing surfaces.

It really comes down to those two questions I asked........I'm assuming the framing is all done in southern pine, but let me know if otherwise.

 

[mqktandy]

I wouldn't worry about it. I did a bunch of calculations for another person once in regards to their 125 but I'm not going to do that again. Instead do this. Search the forum for a thread saying "my tank fell threw my floor"........ya bet u won't find one.

 

[cichniss]

Thanks for the quick replies! Anyways, the beams are about 18" apart. I believe the joists span the entire width of the house which is probably around 25', although it appears that there is a load bearing wall breaking up the span to around 12-13'. oh, and they are solid 2"x12"s not composite beams.

 

[MyFishEatYourFish]

none of us can positively say yes or know without seeing it, even if we have experience in the field. your best bet is to have a structural engineer look at it, that would be the right way to do it. if you don't want to do that then its better to be safe than sorry. i personally would over build the heII out of the joists with some 4x8 posts underneath the area where the tanks will be.

 

[Younglin]

This pic is kind of what I'm talking about. Not exactly though. This pic shows larger beams than what I'm referring to.

Jesus people READ. This was an example of the TYPE of beam I am talking about. And I DO have experience, don't assume I don't. I have been helping my dads company build houses since I was 12 and I hung around the job sites since I was 6. You tend to learn a lot when you spend 11 years asking questions and helping out. The ACTUAL beams I am talking about are not those in the picture. They are very small beams that have a factory rating of 2-3 hundred pounds per foot. They are used on houses that only have one floor which I thought his might be because he said his room is on the first floor. It was just a question. An irrelevant one now that he said they are solid wood.

 

[Piscine]

Thanks for the quick replies! Anyways, the beams are about 18" apart. I believe the joists span the entire width of the house which is probably around 25', although it appears that there is a load bearing wall breaking up the span to around 12-13'. oh, and they are solid 2"x12"s not composite beams.

Can you get us a few pictures?

none of us can positively say yes or know without seeing it, even if we have experience in the field. your best bet is to have a structural engineer look at it, that would be the right way to do it.

I agree, we need lots of pictures. Your best bet really is a structural engineer, but they aren't free or cheap.

 

[Giuseppe]

you should be fine ive seen crazier set ups but you can alway take a laser level to see if your floor sinks in at all.

 

[Clay]

I am not sure of the dimensions of your tank, but we can assume it's either a 6' 100g or a 4' 90g or a 4' 120g. The numbers won't be that much different, but I'll use the higher weight values as a demonstration of what you're actually supporting. So, if you do the math on a 120g (4x2x2) tank, you come up with something like this:

For a 120g (4'):
-Estimated weight 1200lbs (10lbsx120g to include the tank and stand). Approximately 150lbs/sq ft
-18" or 16" on center on 3 joists = 400lbs per joist
-18" or 16" on center on 4 joists = 300lbs per joist

For a 125g (6')
-Estimated weight 1250lbs - approximately 139lb/sq ft
-In this case, it will cover 4 or 5 joists
-18" or 16" on center on 4 joists = 312lbs per joist
-18" or 16" on center on 5 joists = 250lbs per joist

-Disclaimer: this does not account for subflooring to distribute the weight (which it will) over several joists. Actual weight per joist will likely be lower.
-Also, based on the gallons of your tank, it will be ~20% less. I chose these standard tanks because they provide a worst case scenario.
-Did not account for the load bearing wall below, as I didn't have enough information about placement, etc. That would only further serve to less the load on the joists for the demonstration here.

In all, I think the answer is that it's no problem. However, only you know your house. We are just trying to give perfect world scenarios that fit your situation.