125G Tanks unleveled pls help

[dym]

my houses new, like 1-2 years old. the tanks on a thin carpet on the second floor right now
i believe the stands unleveled not the tank can i do anything right now besides restarting?
the first picture shows the how it is, and the second shows how its meant to be. in the third u can see it by the water line
i asked somewhere else they said my house might explode. am i okay to leave it as it is thank you

 

[dym]

btw i measured the level before filling it up i think the carpet got warped

 

[UncommonSense]

It looks to me like the floor joists are bowing!

That is a LOT more than carpet compression would yield, and compression is typically equal in all areas!

— tanks this size are usually oriented perpendicular to floor joists, vs. parallel! (Ensuring that the tank is resting on more than two structural support joists)

— in your position, I would get the water out of this tank immediately and reassess the structural strength of your second story floor! (Likely moving the tank to another position, or to the ground floor before refilling)

 

[dym]

It looks to me like the floor joists are bowing!

That is a LOT more than carpet compression would yield, and compression is typically equal in all areas!

— tanks this size are usually oriented perpendicular to floor joists, vs. parallel! (Ensuring that the tank is resting on more than two structural support joists)

i didnt check for that beforehand. do u think i can empty it and put shims? carpet tends to be more firm against the edge, closer to the wall. im so scared

 

[UncommonSense]

i didnt check for that beforehand. do u think i can empty it and put shims? carpet tends to be more firm against the edge, closer to the wall. im so scared

No. This isn’t a shim situation… this is too much load on the structural floor supports of your house!

I’d get water siphoned off into container(s) to put your rock in, then one for your sand… ideally fill these containers on the ground floor until a contractor has examined the structural aspect of your flooring and confirmed that the tank can or can’t go on the second floor, particularly if spun 90 degrees to be perpendicular to the floor joists! (Possibly also up against a load bearing wall)

 

[dym]

No. This isn’t a shim situation… this is too much load on the structural floor supports of your house!

I’d get water siphoned off into container(s) to put your rock in, then one for your sand… ideally fill these containers on the ground floor until a contractor has examined the structural aspect of your flooring and confirmed that the tank can or can’t go on the second floor, particularly if spun 90 degrees to be perpendicular to the floor joists! (Possibly also up against a load bearing wall)

i really feel like its a flaw with with the stand and not the floor

 

[UncommonSense]

i really feel like its a flaw with with the stand and not the floor

You can confirm by measuring from floor to top of stand at front, and rear of stand…

If this stand was level before you put the tank on and filled it, there’s a significant issue here, regardless!

 

[Bitter old man]

i really feel like its a flaw with with the stand and not the floor

Not trying to be a jerk but if you’re not going to listen why ask?

 

[GoReefin]

Does that wall that the tank is next to go all the way to the ground?
Are the joists running parallel or perpendicular to the tank?
I'd drain and move it to the wall on the far end of your photo if the joists are parallel to the tank...

 

[dym]

Not trying to be a jerk but if you’re not going to listen why ask?

You can confirm by measuring from floor to top of stand at front, and rear of stand…

to debate/reason if thats the right word. the houses 2 yrs old max, put up against the wall its really unlikely its the floor because i think houses are designed for these kinds of stuff. like 6+ people at a dinner table thats almost the same as how much my aquarium weighs with it filled 3/4 (assuming everyone is humongous). i started filling it 2 day ago so it didnt have much time fo rthat

and the stand is homemade and im not a carpenter so i mightve messed up im mostly looking for a way to fix that, like whether i should shim it or not and trying to get past expercncies. heres a additional photo of how unleveled it is
am not trying to be arrogant im just saying whats most likely the cause cause i didnt give enough details i think

 

[dym]

Does that wall that the tank is next to go all the way to the ground?
Are the joists running parallel or perpendicular to the tank?
I'd drain and move it to the wall on the far end of your photo if the joists are parallel to the tank...

the wall goes to the ground, and the joists are perpendicular. i drained like 10 gallons so far thats the best i can do to lighten the load for now. its on the second floor, do you think its fine in terms of it collapsing or anything

 

[NoriSheet]

I wouldn't sleep well at night with that much weight on the second floor even if it was perpendicular to the floor joists...

 

[dym]

I wouldn't sleep well at night with that much weight on the second floor even if it was perpendicular to the floor joists...

im genuienly so confused every source i read said it was fine. i got this grim feeling in me

 

[UncommonSense]

put up against the wall its really unlikely its the floor because i think houses are designed for these kinds of stuff. like 6+ people at a dinner table thats almost the same as how much my aquarium weighs with it filled 3/4 (assuming everyone is humongous).

Let’s keep in mind that this tank is sitting on only ~9ft2 of floor area, approximately three people’s worth of floor area, even on a bench!

and the stand is homemade and im not a carpenter so i mightve messed up im mostly looking for a way to fix that, like whether i should shim it or not and trying to get past expercncies.

Okay, this changed things! Now we’re looking for how far out of flat the stand top is, more than anything!

Basically, the tank doesn’t need to be perfectly level, as long as the whole thing slopes equally! — any one high or low corner, or two diagonally opposed corners of a stand top will create a twisting force which tends to try to peel the tank apart at the seams!

the wall goes to the ground, and the joists are perpendicular. i drained like 10 gallons so far thats the best i can do to lighten the load for now. its on the second floor, do you think its fine in terms of it collapsing or anything

Okay, this is all good info!

— Let’s figure out whether this is the floor bowing, or your stand being out of square…

— you are confident that this stand was level before you added and filled the tank, correct?

— we can rule out the floor bowing, accounting for the aforementioned thin carpet, by measuring how far out of level the tank is currently (air gap between front of tank rim and bottom of bubble level held in a level position [such as your second pic in your original post])… then, draining the tank, and checking how much closer to level it gets!

— first step should be the above floor deflection/bowing check, followed by stand examination…

 

[GoReefin]

Even though my joists were 10 inches on center I still ended up using rebar and 75 bags of cement to make a footing and then used 4x4s with a 4x10 header to make sure there would be no sag on the floor. Most joists these days are pretty spread out. You may only be hitting 3 of them with your tank.

 

[GoReefin]

I'd Start by measuring your stand back and front see if it's square.

 

[dym]

I'd Start by measuring your stand back and front see if it's square.

im not sure what that means exactly but all corners are 90 degree angles and everything is mostly even. honestly im just gonna drain it tomorrow and restart at a different spot i think. im way too scared now

 

[GoReefin]

Well it looks like it's leaning at least an ¹/2 inch I'd see if your stand is an ½ inch short on the side its leaning towards. If the stand is square then I'd look at your flooring

 

[dym]

Well it looks like it's leaning at least an ¹/2 inch I'd see if your stand is an ½ inch short on the side its leaning towards. If the stand is square then I'd look at your flooring

thanks

 

[W31Olds]

In most cases residential floors are design rated for 40lbs/sq. ft. The math says your floor is probably marginal. Your house is not going to explode but you will probably see some dip or sag. If your along an outside wall that will help. Your biggest concern and I mean big is the carpet on the floor which is more than likely a strandboard or plywood subfloor. The constant water around your tank will rot out the floor underneath leading to major problems.