What size tank?

[Sparent25]

What is the largest tank you can set up without having to worry about reinforcing your floor? And how much effort and cost is it to reinforce a floor to hold a larger tank - is this a big project or no?

 

[coralfishreef]

It depends on different factors such as tank location, age of house and flooring, and type of floor and subfloor support materials. The general recommendation is to hire a structural engineer.

There would normally be less concerns when putting a larger tank on a cement basement floor of a 20 year old house versus putting a tank on the 2nd floor of a 100 year old house.

 

[PSU4ME]

Yeah I think you need to describe the area and the sizes you’re looking at abd the access you have below to reinforce. Some column jacks and some 2/12s go a long way to reinforce.

 

[Lilys]

What they say, but 30 gal and less is roughly 400 pounds or less so not too much of an issue for small tank. We transferred everything in the basement the new 40 and the 10 gal, makes keeping temperature in the summer much easier and everything is sitting on cement. I don’t have space for a large one but I would install in basement or reinforced the hell out of my floor.

 

[coralfishreef]

From my past experiences, 30 - 35 gal didn’t cause any problems - newer construction.

For comparison an empty refrigerator weighs about 250 lbs. A full fridge is probably around the same weight as a 35 gal tank. That’s pretty heavy...

 

[Sparent25]

Good info. Newer colonial <20yrs old. I have a 65 now but wasn’t sure if you could put a 125 or 180 without concern

 

[afboundguy]

I would defiantly suggest getting an engineer or a contractor to look at it. It also depends on which way your floor joists would be going where the tank would be would make a big difference as well. It's also not very expensive to add support columns from HD/Lowes so I don't think it's impossible...

 

[kgstei]

I've got a 120 which runs parallel to 2 by 10 floor joists. The tank is located in the center of the Run I put a couple of two by four posts in the basement under the joists

 

[kgstei]

Without over-thinking it, if your basement is unfinished and you can put a couple of two-by-fours underneath the joists under the tank. do it.

 

[coralfishreef]

To be safe, I recommend that you check with your insurance company to see if they have any requirements or issues for any size tank even your 65.

This link has some good information. His point about newer construction floors not necessarily being stronger than older home floors is valid especially if your joists are the engineered wood I beam type.

http://www.african-cichlid.com/Structure.htm

 

[jasonrusso]

I have a 220 gallon in front of a load bearing wall perpendicular to the floor joists. The wall is over the main beam as well. I never thought twice about it. It's been there for 4 years on a tile floor. If there was any flex in the floor, the grout would be cracking.

 

[afboundguy]

I have a 220 gallon in front of a load bearing wall perpendicular to the floor joists. The wall is over the main beam as well. I never thought twice about it. It's been there for 4 years on a tile floor. If there was any flex in the floor, the grout would be cracking.

I wouldn't even think twice about that as well. If it can hold up a house it could hold up a tank IMO!!! I had my old 55 next to a load bearing wall running perpendicular to the floor joints in my old apartment with zero issues and it was a building that was probably 60+ years old...

 

[srit1]

You might find Nick's build interesting as he has some nice pics of what he did to eliminate any concern

Nick's 345G Build

Howdy, Welcome to another new chapter of Nick Liu's build thread. lol. Hopefully, this one will be up longer than the 3 years on the last Miracle build. The last tank build can be found here. And the prior tank is somewhere in that thread. I think it's toward the end...

www.bostonreefers.org