125 gallon on second floor
- Thread starter Mikemilly245
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Jarob
Active Member
Can look in the attic to see which way they run? You should be able to hear it knocking or run a stud finder
SonOfaGoat
Active Member
Is there a floor vent or register? Lift it open and see which way it's running. As long as there's no bulkhead clearly below it would be running with the joists.
Not sure where you should put it
But!!! Important!!!
I run a carpet / vinyl / tile retail store for the past 15 years. I deal with flooring all day
Remove the carpet where ever you will place the tank for multiple reasons
1. you won’t be moving the tank so fast. So you won’t see any bold spots Any time soon
2. the carpet can eventually smell / mold. Your floor will get wet plenty of times. Even if the carpet is mold resistant the padding is not always. so Even if the padding is also mold proof. The wood below it is surely not
3. The tank will settle in the carpet / padding after a while. and your tank won’t be leveled as a result which can cause havoc
4. You won’t really know how stable the floor below the carpet is and what kind of condition it is
I would remove the carpet and add something els instead
(It’s not a small tank so I’m being extra careful)
But!!! Important!!!
I run a carpet / vinyl / tile retail store for the past 15 years. I deal with flooring all day
Remove the carpet where ever you will place the tank for multiple reasons
1. you won’t be moving the tank so fast. So you won’t see any bold spots Any time soon
2. the carpet can eventually smell / mold. Your floor will get wet plenty of times. Even if the carpet is mold resistant the padding is not always. so Even if the padding is also mold proof. The wood below it is surely not
3. The tank will settle in the carpet / padding after a while. and your tank won’t be leveled as a result which can cause havoc
4. You won’t really know how stable the floor below the carpet is and what kind of condition it is
I would remove the carpet and add something els instead
(It’s not a small tank so I’m being extra careful)
BryanM
7500 Club Member
Any wall likely is good, perpendicular to floor joists.
NanoSteam
ANTI 100% Blues Only Club
All of this OP, I wouldn't feel good about going that large upstairs even if the floors can handle it. If you do decide you're going to go through with it your guaranteed load bearing walls will be the exterior walls PLUS sitting across floor joists as suggested above.
Removing the carpet is also a must like ReeferMo suggests. I've been extra extra careful with my nano upstairs on carpet and some how water still ends up there, even small splashes accumulate into a larger problem later on.
OP
OP
Mikemilly245
Active Member
dang I really wanted to make this work but all of this is making me nervous haha .. I already have a 90 in the living room. Maybe I should just stay in the basement
WildOne
Community Member
Assuming a relatively normal wood floor structure (joists with plywood on top), across the joists close to a bearing wall is indeed the safest place, where the floor has the most capacity. I cannot tell you what state you floor is in, or what capacity it really has, but I can tell that is normally the most solid spot. Since builder will usually use the same joists throughout all the floors, the sorthest span is also typically the strongest.
I had a plumber once that had cut ALL of the joists near the bearing end to put a big pipe in the floor on a project. 90% of the joists gone. That wasn't even safe to use normally, so there are exceptions. Some very stupid ones, too.
Normal capacity for house floors in Canada and a large chunck of the US is 40 pounds per square feet. That is what the floor has to be designed for, as a load spread on all of its surface. The US has more localized codes, we have a global one. I don't know them all.
Lets say 18 inches of water in the tank and 12 in the sump, that is 30 inches of water, and 30 inches of water weights about 7.5 kPa which is 156 pounds/square feet, but not even remotely on the whole surface of the floor. It obviously depends a lot what else is on your floor and how you use it, its real capacity (which is likely higher then the minimum and depends on the span) and its state.
Most decently built wood floors will be able to take a fish tank placed well, even if not built specifically for these loads. Its unlikely that the rest of the space will be used by similar loads. Putting it in the middle of the span on only 2 joists would be a much, much bigger risk. The load at the end of the joist near its bearing point causes much less stress in the wood then when placed at the middle of the span.
Engineers like me will do these sorts of checks. I've done it for spas, though, never for fish tanks. Obviously, I cannot check your floor or guarantee anything for you here.
I would not attempt putting rows of tanks in a room without a serious check!
At the very minimum, check the direction of the joists and where they are bearing, and place the tank accordingly. There is a risk even with that, but it is the safest bet you can do by yourself, short of downstairs on the slab on grade.
I had a plumber once that had cut ALL of the joists near the bearing end to put a big pipe in the floor on a project. 90% of the joists gone. That wasn't even safe to use normally, so there are exceptions. Some very stupid ones, too.
Normal capacity for house floors in Canada and a large chunck of the US is 40 pounds per square feet. That is what the floor has to be designed for, as a load spread on all of its surface. The US has more localized codes, we have a global one. I don't know them all.
Lets say 18 inches of water in the tank and 12 in the sump, that is 30 inches of water, and 30 inches of water weights about 7.5 kPa which is 156 pounds/square feet, but not even remotely on the whole surface of the floor. It obviously depends a lot what else is on your floor and how you use it, its real capacity (which is likely higher then the minimum and depends on the span) and its state.
Most decently built wood floors will be able to take a fish tank placed well, even if not built specifically for these loads. Its unlikely that the rest of the space will be used by similar loads. Putting it in the middle of the span on only 2 joists would be a much, much bigger risk. The load at the end of the joist near its bearing point causes much less stress in the wood then when placed at the middle of the span.
Engineers like me will do these sorts of checks. I've done it for spas, though, never for fish tanks. Obviously, I cannot check your floor or guarantee anything for you here.
I would not attempt putting rows of tanks in a room without a serious check!
At the very minimum, check the direction of the joists and where they are bearing, and place the tank accordingly. There is a risk even with that, but it is the safest bet you can do by yourself, short of downstairs on the slab on grade.
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