Tank on 2nd Floor: Will it support it?

[SALTYDAWGY]

I was just looking for anyone with some experience when it comes to construction or building homes. I have a 3 story home and just bought a 180gal. I would like to move my 75gal to the second floor. I was just curious if this was enough weight to be concerned about. Will the floor sag or cause any problems? The home is only 10 years old. Not the best craftsmanship but I am sure up to code. Does anyone have a clue what a second story should support in a standard home? I will run the tank across the beams as opposed to running parallel.

 

[Kam]

Water is roughly 8 lbs per gallon. So a 75 gal tank is about 600 lbs. Add the weight of the tank, stand, rocks, sand, etc and you are probably around 1000 lbs.

A hard sided water bed will weight a little more than that so I dont think you will have any issues.

If you can position the tank on an outside wall, it will be better supported.

 

[fishfreek]

A 75 gal will be fine on the second floor with out any extra supports. I have a over my full basement and the floor is holding it just fine. One thing to note is if at all possible place the tank so it sits over as many floor joists as possible. Since a 75gal is 4' long and most floor joists are 16" on center you should be able to get it over three joists. In addition its best if the tank sits close to a wall that is a load bearing wall. This will mean it has more support under it naturally. As a rule of thumb all external walls are load bearing and usually the wall that runs directly down the middle of the house. When putting the tank down if you can put down a bit of plywood that is the same footprint as the tank stand that will help distrabute the weight over the three joists vs having it over just two (assuming the stand has just four legs).

With what you said it should be fine. Think of how much weight is on a floor in a dinning room during say a holiday when there is 10 people all who are over 150lbs on average.

 

[SALTYDAWGY]

Thanks for the help. I am still having a hard time typing with my foot in my mouth. You understand Fishfreek? That answers my question exactly.

 

[SpEd]

i have kept a 75 gallon on the second floor in 2 different houses without any problem. In fact, I am planning on upgrading to a 120 gallon in the next year or so, and I am not worried about that either. Unless you have a termite problem or have had one in the past, I would not worry about it.

 

[fishyrican]

Fishfreek summed it up very well. Here is an article I found when researching the same thing: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php

 

[Kam]

SALTYDAWGY - at one time or another we have all worried about the size of our tanks and location. I am moving from 55 to 120 and looked into this. My post is based on my findings and information from others.