Worried About Tank On Second Floor

[ConnerD]

Tank to also inclue roughly 60k of coral rock.

Hey guys n gals, do you think second floor would be able to support this comfortably or should i consult a professional to be safe ?

( Mothers Terrapin tank is on the floor below where the tank is going to be, ( she wouldnt be to happy if they were crushed)

Thanks

 

[fluttermoth]

As long as your house is in a reasonable condition and not cracking and creaking etc, it should be fine. I've got a 240l in my bedroom and don't have any problems (well, the fish 'jump' a bit if my teenage son slams his door, but that's all )

You could get 2 or three of your 'largest' friends to come round and jump up and down where you will be putting the tank to make sure if you like

Anything over 5 feet needs a structural engineer or reliable builder to check it though.

 

[BigIan]

The truth is that none of us here can really advise you as to what is acceptable to put upstairs in your home. There are many factors to consider such as size and placement of joists, means of affixing joists to the load bearing walls. Condition of the joists, have they suffered rot or wood worm at some point and so are weaker than they should be. That is if the floor is of wooden construction, if the floor is concrete, is it in the form of bison beam, block and beam, steel tray?
With a concrete floor I would feel much more comfortable about the load bearing capacity than a wooden type floor. And while having a few mates jump where the tank will be positioned will tell you if the floor will instantly fail, it won`t tell you how the floor will react over prolonged periods. Joists could sag and cause damage to the ceiling below as well as the floor its self. Joists could also deflect and twist possibly damaging the surrounding masonry and causing a failure. Over time with the dribbled water from water changes and inadequate ventilation the timber could begin to suffer from rot.
These are all worst case sinarios but careful consideration should be paid to the placement of any tank; weather a 5 gal or a 500 gal. Good ideas are to place some structural ply underneath the tank to spread the weight as the feet from the stand won`t land exactly on joists and there may be a joist in the centre unloaded. Make sure you place the tank over as many joists as possible so that each joist bears a smaller percentage of the weight. Place the tank next to a load bearing or external wall, as these walls will take the loading of the tanks weight placing it in a corner between two load bearing walls would be ideal.


Hope this helps,
P.S
sorry for the terrible spelling and gramma dyslexia new laptop and new software dosent go down well

 

[BigIan]

The truth is that none of us here can really advise you as to what is acceptable to put upstairs in your home. There are many factors to consider such as size and placement of joists, means of affixing joists to the load bearing walls. Condition of the joists, have they suffered rot or wood worm at some point and so are weaker than they should be. That is if the floor is of wooden construction, if the floor is concrete, is it in the form of bison beam, block and beam, steel tray?
With a concrete floor I would feel much more comfortable about the load bearing capacity than a wooden type floor. And while having a few mates jump where the tank will be positioned will tell you if the floor will instantly fail, it won`t tell you how the floor will react over prolonged periods. Joists could sag and cause damage to the ceiling below as well as the floor its self. Joists could also deflect and twist possibly damaging the surrounding masonry and causing a failure. Over time with the dribbled water from water changes and inadequate ventilation the timber could begin to suffer from rot.
These are all worst case sinarios but careful consideration should be paid to the placement of any tank; weather a 5 gal or a 500 gal. Good ideas are to place some structural ply underneath the tank to spread the weight as the feet from the stand won`t land exactly on joists and there may be a joist in the centre unloaded. Make sure you place the tank over as many joists as possible so that each joist bears a smaller percentage of the weight. Place the tank next to a load bearing or external wall, as these walls will take the loading of the tanks weight placing it in a corner between two load bearing walls would be ideal.


Hope this helps,
P.S
sorry for the terrible spelling and gramma dyslexia new laptop and new software dosent go down well

 

[jmkgreen]

You could get 2 or three of your 'largest' friends to come round and jump up and down where you will be putting the tank to make sure if you like

Unfortunately that doesn't test the dead weight which is the effect over a length of time. Structural engineer needed for that.

Anything over 5 feet needs a structural engineer or reliable builder to check it though.

That's not exactly helpful. It could be 4ft in one direction yet also 5ft tall which would bear a far greater weight.

To address the original question you should seek qualified advice. Chances are it should be fine unless there's something wrong with your building. I situated my tank right underneath our bath which I am told gets strengthened anyway.

 

[fluttermoth]

You could get 2 or three of your 'largest' friends to come round and jump up and down where you will be putting the tank to make sure if you like

Unfortunately that doesn't test the dead weight which is the effect over a length of time. Structural engineer needed for that.

Anything over 5 feet needs a structural engineer or reliable builder to check it though.

That's not exactly helpful. It could be 4ft in one direction yet also 5ft tall which would bear a far greater weight.

To address the original question you should seek qualified advice. Chances are it should be fine unless there's something wrong with your building. I situated my tank right underneath our bath which I am told gets strengthened anyway.

Ah, ok, I stand corrected. I was going by what my builder friend told me when I was wondering the same about my tank (I won't be hiring him if I need any building work done now )