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View Full Version : First post, first question. To much weight?


Hawkeye319
03/09/2015, 07:44 PM
The time has come for me to jump back into the salt water way of life. It has been awhile since my last tank, almost 8 years now. I already puchased my tank and have the stand and canopy stained and drying as we speak. The tank is a reef ready 125 with dual overflows on the back. I will be purchasing and installing all of the necessary equipment over the next few months.

As this is my first time with a tank this large I was hoping for some reassurance from you reef vets on my placement of the tank on the second floor. Im prepared to reinforce the floor if needed. My only concern is that the prime location for the tank will mean that the floor joist will run parallel to the tank and not perpendicular. Its up against a load bearing wall and as I said before, I can reinforce if necessary.

I have scoured the internet for advice and info on the subject but would like to hear from anyone that has had to deal with this in the past. The general consensus I keep getting is that anything under 125 gal should be ok. Thanks in advance and I look forward to contributing in the forums as my tank gets up and going.

mbemount
03/09/2015, 09:07 PM
I also have a 125RR and I took the approach of 'better safe than sorry'. I installed house jacks underneath where my 125 sits even though it sits perpendicular to the joists. The small amount of time and money it cost me to do that was just a drop in the bucket to the other costs of the hobby.

Hawkeye319
03/09/2015, 10:20 PM
Agree 100%! This is most likely the path I will take as well. Directly under the tank, in the basement, is a closet. So putting in a couple braces is not a problem. I already put a piece of 3/4 " plywood under the stand to help distribute the weight. Just wasn't sure if the extra support was necessary.

Better safe than sorry though!

noj3333
03/09/2015, 10:23 PM
def. need extra support....

Mark9
03/10/2015, 08:26 AM
125 gallons weighs just over 1000lbs, which would be 5 people at 200lbs a person.
Can your floor hold 5 people?

brittonv
03/10/2015, 08:30 AM
When it is that easy, why not...

I mean my Salt water mixing station is so overbuilt I am thinking of designating it my hurricane shelter. Much cheaper to over build a bit than suffer the consequences later.

Jason S
03/10/2015, 08:33 AM
I recently read somewhere that an aquarium that size weighs about the same as a 220 pound man when looking at pounds per square inch. My thought is that it would likely be fine short term, but a lot of other factors can come into play like age of the house, whether you are perpendicular or parallel to the floor beams, what type of beams were used, etc. It is likely that the wood can fatigue over time too.

That said, I think that a tank failure or damage to the house is not worth the chance, and I would personally reinforce the floor since you are already prepared to do it. It's better to be safe in my opinion. There is already too much that can go wrong in reef keeping, so you may as well reduce the chance of this going wrong :)

scooter31707
03/10/2015, 08:37 AM
it won't hurt to reinforce the floor so you will have a piece of mind and be able to sleep at night.

noj3333
03/10/2015, 09:37 AM
There's a difference between 'live load' and 'dead load'. A floor can handle a lot of weight, live load (moving, not going to be there forever), but it can't handle much dead load. A 125 gallon tank will look fine, you can shim it level, but over time the floor will begin to sag... then you have a real issue.
I doubt you want an out of level 125 gallon fish tank.
I will also add, that I'm not a structural engineer. That being said I've built several houses, including the one I currently live in. And by built, I mean, I literately built them myself.
IMO I would not go above a 55 gallon tank parallel with the floor joist, or a 75 gallon perpendicular to floor joists without some extra support (and that's assuming there's a load baring/ exterior wall up against the tank).
Like I said this is just my opinion, take it for what you will.

Ktm898
03/10/2015, 09:58 AM
I say play it safe

snorvich
03/10/2015, 10:01 AM
Hawkeye319 . . .

[welcome]

snorvich
03/10/2015, 10:03 AM
Agree 100%! This is most likely the path I will take as well. Directly under the tank, in the basement, is a closet. So putting in a couple braces is not a problem. I already put a piece of 3/4 " plywood under the stand to help distribute the weight. Just wasn't sure if the extra support was necessary.

Better safe than sorry though!

Probably not necessary, but sleeping well suggests better safe than sorry. My tanks are much larger and I supported the floor for each.

Hawkeye319
03/10/2015, 03:48 PM
Thanks for the replies. I was already 99% sure I would reinforce, regardless of what the internet told me. I like to do things right the first time around. Especially when there is this much time and money on the line. Looks like its time to give Home Depot some more of my hard earned cash. Thanks again everyone.

snorvich
03/10/2015, 04:38 PM
Thanks for the replies. I was already 99% sure I would reinforce, regardless of what the internet told me. I like to do things right the first time around. Especially when there is this much time and money on the line. Looks like its time to give Home Depot some more of my hard earned cash. Thanks again everyone.

When I did this, it was not all that expensive. :cool:

harley3ky
03/10/2015, 06:25 PM
Welcome. If you can reinforce it, do it. Like others said, "better safe than sorry"