Is my tank too heavy for my house??

[joe&rae]

I just moved my 80gal to a different room because i got a new tank. I leveled it and filled it with water, now when i walk into my bedroom the dresser squeaks? IT this ok or is it too heavy for the house. The house has a crawl space, so its not on footer. i had a 30 in the same spot and it did fine! Here is a sloppy paint of the house the blue is the tank and the brown is the dresser. i get that they are on the other side of the wall ant the tank is heavy but is it too heavy??? I dont want to mess up my new house because of a fishtak!!!!!

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

a fish tank displacement is no heavier than that of a refridgerator when you look at it pounds per foot. So i doubt its "to heavy" but i dont live there to know, how and where it is suported.

 

[joe&rae]

There are 4 support beams that run under the hall. but the tank is 16"x48"

 

[Innovator]

If it were me I would just take an estimated weight and ask a contractor or someone with such expertise. There's no point in guessing or even hoping a tank won't fall through, especially when lives could be in danger below?

 

[Ziggy953]

If it were me I would just take an estimated weight and ask a contractor or someone with such expertise. There's no point in guessing or even hoping a tank won't fall through, especially when lives could be in danger below?

I agree!

I don't own a fridge that weighs as much as my 120. That must be one heck of a fridge.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

Never said a tank weighs in the same as a refrig.. what i was saying is.. when you take the square footage... and the ammount of places on the floor that are holding up the tank.. and distribute out the weight.. the weight per foot per say is going to be lesser than the total mass. For instance.. your 2 feet.. if you are 200 lbs.. each foot would hold up 100, if you had 4 feet.. it would be 50 and so on.

 

[rob28]

do the math.

water weighs 8lbs per gal

figure out what the tank weighs

how many lbs of gravle/decorations

add them together

research whether or not the area of ur floor can bear that kinda load

 

[Ziggy953]

I would have someone look at it as Innovator said. When you get above 55g the weight of a tank can become an issue if it is not placed in a well supported area.

Is this a modular home (pre fabricated) or a custom built home?

 

[rob28]

he could also displace the load if it isnt too much trouble. ie make a base thats 3 times the size of the base of the tank that way it spreads the load over a larger area

 

[Tommy Gun]

I'm not a contractor but have some experience with remodeling and such (e.g. moving things like bath tubs). The important thing to keep in mind is that the best places to place heavy objects are on the outside walls, corners of inside rooms, and near stairwells. You may also be able to support the area from underneath...which would probably be more economical if you have a crawl space versus a full basement. To be honest though, I just moved from an older house and had a 125 gallon reef tank on the second floor and had no problems at all. In fact, are you sure it is the dresser itself that squeaks or could it be the floor? Sometimes a couple additional screws to secure the floor boards to the joists can quiet the most persistant noises.

 

[joe&rae]

the dresser squeaks and thing tend to vibrate on it as where it didnt when the tank was not there. And it is on the outside wall!! i talked to a friend at my local pet store and he said that it was fine!

 

[newfound77951]

Can you get into the crawl space underneath where the tank is? If you can, check to see which way the floor joists are running. If they run perpendicular to the long dimension of the tank then you should be OK. If they run parallel to the long dimension of the tank then you might want to think about some additional support, as less joists will be supporting the tank than in the first case. But unless your house is very old an 80g should be OK. Certainly the pressure from the tank has changed the loading on the floor, which could affect the floor near the bureau slightly, shifting pressure on the bureau legs and causing a squeak somewhere.

 

[Ziggy953]

My guess based on the drawing posted the joist are running parallel to the tank. Most of the time they will run from front to back. Assuming the pic they posted is similar to the actual orientation of the house. Either way I would get under the house and have a look at things and see what is going on there. I agree if this is a new house you should not have any issues. It is of course better to be safe then sorry.