Structural engineer advice needed for large tank

[d-man]

So my soon to be bride told me that if we decide to stay in my place rather than buy a house I can build a larger tank.
My place is a townhome, and the floor is concrete. My question is, what are the structural capabilities of concrete on a footprint of 144"x30"x40"?
The tank will be against a back wall if that matters or not on concrete foundation.
Thanks
Derek

[BuzzPion]

There should not be a problem at all. I am no engineer, but that is the best case scenario for any tank--to sit on a concrete foundation.

Concrete is rated at 3000 psi+. Unless you fill the tank with depleted uranium you should be fine.

[ericarenee]

There should not be a problem at all. I am no engineer, but that is the best case scenario for any tank--to sit on a concrete foundation.

Concrete is rated at 3000 psi+. Unless you fill the tank with depleted uranium you should be fine.

1+ This.

But.. If your house is on a SLAP With NO Footer (Yea there are idiots ) and has some type of sinking Moving ,Huge Crack issue there the weight could contribute to said issue... Your floor is prob the best for such a tank....


3000 psi is a low Low number for a mature slab depending on the MIX...

[d-man]

My place was built 10yrs ago here in southern Cali. So earthquake standards are extremely tight.
Ok great thanks

[ericarenee]

My place was built 10yrs ago here in southern Cali. So earthquake standards are extremely tight.
Ok great thanks

Earthquake and Aquarium in the same sentence scares me.I been thru one big earthquake and it was in Anchorage Alaska....... EEEEKKKK....

[slief]

My place was built 10yrs ago here in southern Cali. So earthquake standards are extremely tight.
Ok great thanks

have a 96"x48"x24" display plus my sumps and refugiums that are built on and under my stands on my concrete foundation and my house has only settle 3" lower on that side of the house from the tanks weight..



















Just kidding about the settling. :lolspin: You will be fine with it on a concrete slab. Like you, I have a home in So. Cal. My house was built in 97 and the tank has been installed since I bought my home new. No issues to worry about at all on your slab.

[d-man]

Lol slief
Also what thickness glass should I use. The tank will be crossbraced and eurobraced.
Will 3/4 be suffient or is 1" required?

[slief]

Lol slief
Also what thickness glass should I use. The tank will be crossbraced and eurobraced.
Will 3/4 be suffient or is 1" required?

If it were me, I would go as thick as possible. Especially when we have earth that moves with regularity out here. As such, 1" would be my first choice. At the very least on the long panels. When I had my acrylic 480g display built 20 years ago, I had it over built and it's help up like new with no deflection, no crazing and still has perfect seams 20 years later. Do it right the first time. If you have any questions, just take a look at what happened to Peters tank acrylic tank in Canada. Granted that is an ATM tank and a different story but if you can afford to get the thicker material, you certainly wouldn't regret that decsion down the line unless you don't have much help getting it into your house. :thumbsup:

[d-man]

Slief, it would be a plywood tank with only the front panel glass. The price difference is fairly substantial. Obviously I wouldn't want 750g on my floors, hence why I ask if it's suitable given both eurobracing and crossbracing

[thegrun]

You might want to rethink the 40" tall, you will need to use a mask and snorkel to service the tank

[d-man]

I've had a 48" tank before. And yes, I had to get into to clean it. The dimensions were 84"x48x48. I don't mind getting a Lil wet. Proper aquascaping keeps getting to back of tank not as necessary. I'm a fish guy at heart, so having a taller tank will give great aquascaping opportunities and allow for multiple coral placement as well.

[Isaacs55]

My place was built 10yrs ago here in southern Cali. So earthquake standards are extremely tight.
Ok great thanks

I too live in California and the standard for concrete slab foundation has gotten better within the last 10 years. Now if it was built in the 90s then that's a different story.

You should be ok but the only advice I can give you without being there is a simple check for cracks around the house. For example, check dry wall and see if there are cracks in the walls or if doors don't close normally like they use to. Simple things like that are things you can check for and indications of cracks in your concrete foundationnd. If so then your better off getting a stuctrual engineer to look at it. But when I do small side jobs it's something that I look for before going forward.
Hope that helps

[d-man]

Yeah, when I bought it 5yrs ago we replaced the carpet. Everything was fine there. No major structural cracks or anything. All walls are fine, so yes I believe all is good in that sense. I was just wondering if concrete was stong enough or if added foundation was needed.

[Isaacs55]

Looks like your good to go then. Concrete is best case scenario for our hobby. Is your footprint the actual size of the tank and stand or just the footprint of space you plan on adding weight to? If that makes sense? Just curious because that would make for a killer looking 700 gallon display tank! curious to see pictures

[d-man]

The footprint of the tank. I have slightly more space laterally and vertically to have the stand faced like a full wall cabinet floor to ceiling

[dkeller_nc]

Given the rather extreme depth you're considering, you might want to choose a reinforced concrete construction for the back/sides of the tank rather than plywood. Properly supported with framing, plywood would be OK for a shallower tank, but I'd be very concerned about the lower corners of the tank at that depth (and that's with a pond-liner and/or interior fiberglass surfacing). Especially in an earthquake zone.

[d-man]

I've built a 48" deep tank before. It was well reinforced. It will be well reinforced as well. Concrete is not an option.
3/4" plywood, screws every 1.5", wood glue, fillets, fiberglass corner reinforcements, multiple coats of epoxy roughly to 1/4" thickness, 2x6" eurobracing all the way around. 2x4" crossbracing every 30" minimum, and exterior 2x4 ribs every 12" should be plenty

[tkeracer619]

Just don't secure it to the walls. That is bad news during earthquakes.

[d-man]

Yes, I know. Thx .
object in motion, stays in motion unless acted upon by outside force.
Water moving at different rate than wall moving than tank moving=750g on the floor and lots of dead livestock

[Dmorty217]

Sounds like a awesome build. When will you know if your staying or moving?

[d-man]

As soon as we decide, lol. We get married in 2 weeks, so after that we will determine what is best. We love my townhome, but it has a very small yard. 3 bedrooms are enough but would like 4. The biggest factor is we are both self employed and truly have an awesome lifestyle given our freedom. Being tied down to a mortgage close to double mine now would cut into that lifestyle greatly. We take 2-3 large vacations (international) a year. Plus go out when we not and not really worry about $. And no we don't make ungodly amounts either.
So it's most likely going to be a go for the tank, but just have to finalize things after the wedding