Will my floor support a 300 gallon tank????

[perfect_prefect]

on top of all of this, no 2 houses are created equal. no one on here can state as fact, or safely tell someone that it should be ok to put a 300 gallon tank on any given floor. you have no idea how structurally sound said house really is.

just having your home inspected before buying it doesnt mean ****. the inspectors dont rip the ceiling off of the floor below to inspect the floor joists, well none that i have seen have. the buyer would tend to scoff at the thought of buying a new house with torn apart ceilings.

spreading a 125, 55, 2 20's and a 10 around in a room is completely diff than putting all that weight over 18 square feet. unless you have all your tanks stacked on top of each other that is.

 

[zennzzo]

not only do i know a guy with a 125 i myself have a 125 and a 55 and 2 20 gals and 2 10 gals so i do have 240 gallons in my living room on the seccond floor of my apartment with no problems in over 2 yrs



also do you know anybody with a water bed on a seccond floor look up the wight on a king size water bed then add 2 people to that

Thank you...

just having your home inspected before buying it doesnt mean ****. the inspectors dont rip the ceiling off of the floor below to inspect the floor joists, well none that i have seen have. the buyer would tend to scoff at the thought of buying a new house with torn apart ceilings.
.

They don't have to...it would be obvious if the floor/ceiling was about to fall through...don't you think the sheet rock and tape joints would show cracks if the floor was compromised...

Argue the point if you must , seems to me you haven't been around big tanks and modern construction...

 

[Dan F]

on top of all of this, no 2 houses are created equal. no one on here can state as fact, or safely tell someone that it should be ok to put a 300 gallon tank on any given floor. you have no idea how structurally sound said house really is.

just having your home inspected before buying it doesnt mean ****. the inspectors dont rip the ceiling off of the floor below to inspect the floor joists, well none that i have seen have. the buyer would tend to scoff at the thought of buying a new house with torn apart ceilings.

spreading a 125, 55, 2 20's and a 10 around in a room is completely diff than putting all that weight over 18 square feet. unless you have all your tanks stacked on top of each other that is.

It is true that nobody can state with 100% certainty that his house can maintain the weight without knowing the type of construction involved.

The OP stated that the tank would sit on 2x12 joists on 16" centers. It will be fine. I know that not from crunching #'s or relying on an "expert" but from real life experience.

 

[12 Volt Man]

I read the article which is very inconclusive and lacking.

could you elaborate as to why?

just curious. this article has been posted before and there was at least one engineer on this board who commented that, although it makes some generalizations, it was very informative and fairly accurate as a guide.

why do you think it is lacking or inconclusive?

thanks

 

[12 Volt Man]

also do you know anybody with a water bed on a seccond floor look up the wight on a king size water bed then add 2 people to that

the thing to remember too, is that a 300 gallon tank is far more weight than a water bed, and its probably 30-36" high. a water bed is, what, 12" at most?

the weight in a big water bed is spread out over a much larger area than any normal aquarium would be, unless the 300 gallon tank is only 10-12 inches deep..

which I guess would make a great ray tank

 

[Bderick67]

could you elaborate as to why?

just curious. this article has been posted before and there was at least one engineer on this board who commented that, although it makes some generalizations, it was very informative and fairly accurate as a guide.

why do you think it is lacking or inconclusive?

thanks

I may have been a little over zealous in my description of the article. I was a little peaved at the poster who though everyone was lacking in having an intellegent conversation.. I did find the article lacking in areas, first there is a complete omission of pre engineered wood floor joists. These are not new technology and have been widely used for near 20 years.

The lack of information regarding shear strength and deflection is concerning. Using a pencil as a example in each is way off, why not a popcicle stick.

I also think the comparision of waterbed weight or furniture weight(my oak dresser weighs over 600 lbs) compared to the aquarium weigh should be discussed.

My feeling is that he was trying more to make this a precationary article then an informative article. But then again he may have felt he needed to cover his own butt.

 

[Dan F]

the thing to remember too, is that a 300 gallon tank is far more weight than a water bed, and its probably 30-36" high. a water bed is, what, 12" at most?

the weight in a big water bed is spread out over a much larger area than any normal aquarium would be, unless the 300 gallon tank is only 10-12 inches deep..

which I guess would make a great ray tank

A king-size bed is 72"x84". A 12" depth gives you about 314 gallons.

It is spread out over 6048 square inches (compared to the tank's 2304).

However, the tank's longest dimension is greater than the bed's. This means that as long as the tank sits perpendicular to the floor joists you will actually be spreading the load over an equal or greater area of the floor.

 

[Bud8Fan]

Most waterbed mattresses are 9" thick.

 

[tylerperkins]

A king-size bed is 72"x84". A 12" depth gives you about 314 gallons.

It is spread out over 6048 square inches (compared to the tank's 2304).

However, the tank's longest dimension is greater than the bed's. This means that as long as the tank sits perpendicular to the floor joists you will actually be spreading the load over an equal or greater area of the floor.

now add in the two people to your 314 gallons and ur well over the weight of the tank not to mention your probably over a safe amount of weight to put on a seccond floor according to alot of the posters on here. so i know say dont put a water bed in you home without beefing up your floor


no how dumb does that sound beef up your floor for a bed c'mon

 

[oscarcrazy]

Get 18 of your buddies, cramp them into 18 square feet (it can be done, just don't get grabby) and have them jump. If you're still on the second floor, it will be fine. If you find yourself on the first floor, don't do it.