help with supporting my big tank

[debodeebs]

i currently have a large fish tank with a dimension of 6ft 8 inch length by 2ft 6 inch high by 2ft depth on a mable effect 7ft solid unit.

below is a pic of a crappy looking drawing i did lol. the floorboards run opposite the tank and i have no basement to go and see what joist is what.

i have wooden flooring in the livingroom so its hard for me to check under the floorboards.

my guess is that where the tank is sitting is only 1 joist its sitting on with the floorboards running the other way.

can someone help me out what i should do with a cheapish option if i have to support it as i have no idea what im doing.

cheers

 

[Smitty]

You say there is no basement, but is there a crawl space or something under there? I'm guessing you know it is not a solid foundation?

Is that wall into the kitchen a support wall for the ceiling? If so you can bet there is a floor joist directly under it, so probably another 18" or so to the right in your drawing is another.

 

[BigJim]

Welcome to AA!

Your tank is approximately 250g. Conservatively figure 2000lb to 2500lb. I definitely wouldn't want that resting on one or two joists. You want to get down to the concrete under the joists for solid support. Even if the floor will hold, without solid support there's too much risk that something will flex and the tank will crack.

Off the top of my head, I'd consider drilling six holes in the floor, one on each corner and two in the middle, front and back, and build a solid platform using a lot of 2x4s or 2x6s. You can make it look pretty, then put the stand and tank on top of the platform.

 

[debodeebs]

we want carpets in the livingroom so i will be taking the laminate flooring up. there is nothing around my house that lets me go underground as its a council house so the only way is to lift floorboards up and have a look.

is there a way to add more joists so if its resting on 1 joist i could add a futher 2 or 3 more close together or is that a bad idea.

i have no idea about diy

 

[WhiteDevil]

If the stairs are going up from there that is not a load supporting wall, if anything its been reinforced aka BEEFED at the top to make up for the several feet of unsupported end wall.

Are those single floor boards? if so where are the nails located? Im thinking your joists run in that pic left to right and not front to back. You have no way to get under that tank? I know we had to reinforce my buddies floor (cut a hole in it in the kitchen and remodeled it when the unit was in) from the bottom from the front door to where his gun safe was going to sit. His was a council style as well.

 

[BigJim]

If you're taking up the flooring anyways, call a carpenter. Adding more joists is certainly an option, but if you can get support directly from the concrete below, that would be the best option.

 

[debodeebs]

the tank is in my kitchen at the mo as the kitchen is concrete. i pulled one of my laminate out today as it was already loose and thats where i seen the floorboards going from the tank downwards

in the pic the left side is kitchen the top side is the stair wall the right side is my livingroom window and the bottom is my fireplace. the floorboards run from the tank down to the fireplace

 

[WhiteDevil]

See where the nails or screws are at, this will give you a good idea of which way the joists run. I am thinking they run left to right if the floorboards run like that, just for fastening principals they gotta run opposite of eachother.