Can the floor handle this much weights?

[Nemo555]

Hello all,
I was wondering if the second floor can handle a around 100 gallons of water? I want to upgrade my tank to a 75 + 25 sump. That's around a 100 gallons.
Any member have a 75 gallons tank or bigger on your second floor or third floor?
Do you think the floor can handle it or i will find my house leaning to one side?

Thanks

 

[TomD]

Imo, it should be fine. You want to put it on a load bearing wall. I think up to 125gal. should not be an issue.

I have over 100 gallons on the 6th floor But it is a condo, little different.

 

[tone2607]

i have a 75g with 30g sump on the second floor and i have no problems with it at all just when the dogs run by it sometimes it gives a lil shake nothing to b worried about though IMO

 

[TomD]

It shakes when the dogs run by?

 

[tone2607]

not really shakes u can see it in the topof the water maybe someting like if u have a glass of water on the table and u start jumping u can see it in the water

 

[Nemo555]

Load bearing wall?
What do you mean by this?

Thanks

 

[TomD]

Load bearing walls are built to support a lot of weight. In some houses they are the exterior walls but beyond that somebody with more experience will have to answer. I talked to a carpenter who lived in my building and he was able to help me.

Read this: http://www.askthebuilder.com/397__Load_Bearing_Wall_Identification.shtml

 

[Andy O]

Remember that your 75 + 25 is not really going to be 100 gallons b/c you will have water displacement and you are probably not filling it up to the very top. You should also take into account the LR and equipment that you will have under the tank. Also, if you can, try to position the tank so that it is perpendicular with the beams below it and not running parallel.

 

[NateHanson]

Exterior walls are load bearing. And some interior walls are load-bearing, but it takes a little more knowledge to find these.

Beams often run across the shorter dimension of a floor (if the house is a rectangle, the beams probably run between the two long sides of the rectangle).

The 75+25 is not really 100 gallons of WATER, but everything inside it that is displacing the water is heavier than the water it displaces. So if you want to be accurate, you should figure that the weight will be heavier than 8 lbs/gal times 100 gallons.

In general, though, I think your fine putting a 75g tank on an outside wall of a typical house.

 

[Cheetos]

120 gal and a 30 gal sump on the second floor!

 

[customclimates]

Nate is 100% on the money. Approx. 8lbs per gallon. Plus the sand & rocks. I would guess roughly 10lbs per gallon with rock & sand as a rule of thumb. So you are about 1000 lbs in a 24X48 footprint.

 

[agent6473]

140 + 40 breeder sump on the 2nd floor of my house, against a load bearing wall. very well built house from the 1940s or so, wouldn't try it on some floors. this floor is also perfectly level and does not creak. I've had no problems.