Placing a Tank on the 2nd Floor

[Reef Man Dan]

Hey all,

I was recently gifted a collaborative effort for my birthday, a GC for a local tank builder. This is going to be my "reasonable dream" tank, as I'm still paying off student loans and have a baby on the way.

What I REALLY want to do is a peninsula style (either standard rectangle or a drop down) that will be approximately 125 gallons. Foot print will be 60"x24".

So we live in a brand new townhouse ("carriage home"), which are standard row houses. We do live on an outside wall (which is where the tank will be placed), and the floor joists (which appear to me ~19" OC) run between units which are 22'8" wide.

This is the layout: http://rdccanada.com/carriage/floorplans/
We are a 2nd floor, 2BR + Den. I would like to place the tank in the living room, about 5-6' from the kitchen counter.

Reinforcing the floor from below isn't an option, so I posit this question: if the tank run 60" out from an outside wall, and it sitting across two of these floor joists (I believe they are I-beams), do you think I'll be safe? I am aware running the tank across as many joists is the best option, but that doesn't work for the setup I am planning.

Thanks for your help!

[Bronx19]

40lb square foot I believe. Keep it over two joists, all good.

[Reef Man Dan]

40lbs per SF doesn't seem like a lot. That would mean that with a 5*2 footprint, the tank couldn't be more than 400lbs. I understand this is minimum rating, but even so.....