Advice on 75 gallon tank running parallel with floor beams.

[OnlyFins]

Hello,

I’m currently looking into purchasing a bigger tank and stand. I was looking at one from pet smart that’s 75 Gallons but the location I want to put it is main floor of unfinished basement. I took the measurements of the stand to determine where it would sit on the floor and looking for second opinions.

I attached a picture of the stand and aquarium, with pictures of my floor from below to see where the tank would be supported from underneath.

Thanks for any advice

 

[Aiken Drum]

Im going to start off this post with this, and come at this from both a hobbyist and a relevant professional.



As a hobbyist first. You will be fine, people keep much larger aquariums on timber floors without any problems. You wouldnt be having this concern if you invited a few friends to your home and they all happened to stand close to each other.

As a professional, its risky. I did the calculations a while back, and based on UK and US construction standards, a typical 75 gallon is bang on the maximum loading for a timber floor designed and constructed to minimum standards. If the engineer designed the floor on or close to the minimum standard, and the construction team didnt do a very good job, the floor may fail. Consult a structural engineer.

In reality nobody designs structure to the minimum standards, they will build in at least 50% safety, more likely 100% safety because they dont always have much input in how well the construction team actually perform. But we dont actually know what your designer and construction team actually did, a photo simply doesnt convey everything a structural engineer would look at in person. The floor will also carry more load towards the ends rather than the middle of the span, and also carry more load if the weight is distributed perpendicular rather than parallel as it would be distributed on more joists. A floor also wont just fail, it will deflect. If the loading is more than the floor is designed and constructed to take, it will deflect more than the allowable amount, not just collapse.

Sorry for the ambiguity. As a hobbyist i know you wont have a problem, but if someone came to me professionally i wouldnt say that as there are too many unknowns and I would say "consult a structural engineer".

 

[Andy Sager]

I'll add to Aiken's response that if you are really concerned and you have the ability to, you can add supports under that part of your floor to help ensure safety. Another option is to build a frame for the stand to sit on that extends over the joists so that you get the strength of the 4" or 6" joists. Either one of these should help you sleep good at night.

 

[OnlyFins]

Im going to start off this post with this, and come at this from both a hobbyist and a relevant professional.

View attachment 389673

As a hobbyist first. You will be fine, people keep much larger aquariums on timber floors without any problems. You wouldnt be having this concern if you invited a few friends to your home and they all happened to stand close to each other.

As a professional, its risky. I did the calculations a while back, and based on UK and US construction standards, a typical 75 gallon is bang on the maximum loading for a timber floor designed and constructed to minimum standards. If the engineer designed the floor on or close to the minimum standard, and the construction team didnt do a very good job, the floor may fail. Consult a structural engineer.

In reality nobody designs structure to the minimum standards, they will build in at least 50% safety, more likely 100% safety because they dont always have much input in how well the construction team actually perform. But we dont actually know what your designer and construction team actually did, a photo simply doesnt convey everything a structural engineer would look at in person. The floor will also carry more load towards the ends rather than the middle of the span, and also carry more load if the weight is distributed perpendicular rather than parallel as it would be distributed on more joists. A floor also wont just fail, it will deflect. If the loading is more than the floor is designed and constructed to take, it will deflect more than the allowable amount, not just collapse.

Sorry for the ambiguity. As a hobbyist i know you wont have a problem, but if someone came to me professionally i wouldnt say that as there are too many unknowns and I would say "consult a structural engineer".

Hi Aiken.
Thank You for taking the time to respond. I really appreciate your feedback from both a professional and hobbyist perspective.

I’d have definitely felt more comfortable with it being perpendicular and covering more joists, unfortunately that is really the only spot I can fit it in a very small living room as the fireplace and TV are located in the optimal spot. Unfortunately the other side is a big window. (I’m not sure if it be good to put in front of a window).

I think I will have to get someone to take a look and maybe possibly move down to purchase a 55 gallon or see about something to reinforce it for extra precaution. I have a 40 Gallon there now but have a couple Angel fish that need more space.

 

[OnlyFins]

I'll add to Aiken's response that if you are really concerned and you have the ability to, you can add supports under that part of your floor to help ensure safety. Another option is to build a frame for the stand to sit on that extends over the joists so that you get the strength of the 4" or 6" joists. Either one of these should help you sleep good at night.

Hi Andy

Thank you for the great ideas. It’s definitely worth looking into if I can get a support added from underneath. If not I might consider a 55 gallon instead. The frame for the stand is also a good idea but for this spot I wouldn’t be able to add enough to cover a 3rd joist without blocking the door way to the kitchen.

Thanks,
Crystal

 

[Andy Sager]

Hi Andy

Thank you for the great ideas. It’s definitely worth looking into if I can get a support added from underneath. If not I might consider a 55 gallon instead. The frame for the stand is also a good idea but for this spot I wouldn’t be able to add enough to cover a 3rd joist without blocking the door way to the kitchen.

Thanks,
Crystal

Then from undeath is your answer. I live in an older mobile home and I just crawled under the house and added block to the areas I planned on putting some tanks. In a basement, it should be no issue to add some 4x 4s or 6 x 6s as supports.