PJS
Active Member
+1 @Bbaz123456
400 gal on second floor .....
- Large Build
- Thread starter Lentzjj
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That's elexactly what I'm trying to figure out. You tell me
Right now is 3/4 " partial board I intend on finishing with 3/4 hardwood of as yet undetermined species but probablu wouldn't be under tank either way unless deemed stronger.....furniture would be basic bed and dressers with the possibility of a washer and dryer in another room on different trusses that would be on a load bearing wall.
Last edited:
Sharvey103
ReefAddicted
I agree with Bbaz123456. I have a 300DD set up on the ground floor above a crawl space and an outside wall with no issues. My floor joists are engineered at 80 psi.
You can support 9000 gal tank.
Here is the math.
(1 forum engineer / 8 everyone telling you to hire an engineer) ^ waiting to hear the answer you want and finally we take the recipicle of the modulas and get, do what you want youve already decided before you came on here.
Here is the math.
(1 forum engineer / 8 everyone telling you to hire an engineer) ^ waiting to hear the answer you want and finally we take the recipicle of the modulas and get, do what you want youve already decided before you came on here.
I work for an architectural firm (commercial mainly), in addition I have done extensive structural work for a shoring company. I went to school for mechanical engineering.
The floor above the garage, assuming that the house was built in accordance with the current codes, will be designed for either a 20 psf load (attic w/ storage), 30 psf (habitable attic with fixed stairs) or the best case scenarios a room at 40 psf. Your tank will be approx 4,000 pounds distributed over 24 square feet or so which is 167 psf. with a best case scenario of spanning across 6 trusses.
I don't even have to run calcs to come to the following conclusion. Your trusses will not support your aquarium without reinforcing. There are a lot of options on how this can be accomplished, all of them requiring a structural engineer. I recommend hiring someone local, let me know if you would like further assistance and good luck.
Jason
The floor above the garage, assuming that the house was built in accordance with the current codes, will be designed for either a 20 psf load (attic w/ storage), 30 psf (habitable attic with fixed stairs) or the best case scenarios a room at 40 psf. Your tank will be approx 4,000 pounds distributed over 24 square feet or so which is 167 psf. with a best case scenario of spanning across 6 trusses.
I don't even have to run calcs to come to the following conclusion. Your trusses will not support your aquarium without reinforcing. There are a lot of options on how this can be accomplished, all of them requiring a structural engineer. I recommend hiring someone local, let me know if you would like further assistance and good luck.
Jason
Overbuilt is nice but the truss supports would also have to be oversized and the span is an issue. 24' is fairly significant and I would even be wary of installing a 120 without taking a look at the numbers.
And here I was sweating my 90 on a second floor. Hehe. 
ngvu1
Valuable Member
wonderful information Jason. Just a question since I read this comment from my local forum. Do they make sure the floor can handle a water bed before putting 1 in? I have never seen a water bed before but I guess that would spread out a lot more than an aquarium. A water bed is very "shallow" compared to an aquarium
Ive never heard of anyone verifying the floor load on a water bed haha. (I grew up having those).
A king size water bed is roughly 6 1/2 ' x 6 1/2 ' for a total of 42 square feet or so therefore the load is distributed over a nice wide area. At 200 gallong gallons of water or so, plus the weight of the bed and the water at 8.4 lbs / gallon is 1,680 lbs or so for a total uniform load of 40 psf, (plus the bed) so roughly 42 psf. While this is just a bit over the standard required design loads of flooring it certainly within all safety factors and most floor designs are already designed to hold more weight that code requirements.
Another factor (in comparison to the original situation) is the span and that in most homes the joists run in the short direction.
Lentz, if you want to take some pictures i can point out what dimensions are needed and i can run it past one of our structural engineers to see if you're at least in the ballpark.
A king size water bed is roughly 6 1/2 ' x 6 1/2 ' for a total of 42 square feet or so therefore the load is distributed over a nice wide area. At 200 gallong gallons of water or so, plus the weight of the bed and the water at 8.4 lbs / gallon is 1,680 lbs or so for a total uniform load of 40 psf, (plus the bed) so roughly 42 psf. While this is just a bit over the standard required design loads of flooring it certainly within all safety factors and most floor designs are already designed to hold more weight that code requirements.
Another factor (in comparison to the original situation) is the span and that in most homes the joists run in the short direction.
Lentz, if you want to take some pictures i can point out what dimensions are needed and i can run it past one of our structural engineers to see if you're at least in the ballpark.
ngvu1
Valuable Member
Well, most 400gallon aquariums don't have 200lb fish and for customers buying king size water beds you often have 2 of those big fish and they sometimes, you know, make the water move a lot more than the mp60s (not sure how many psf that is ) .... Of course they don't stay on the bed 24/7 but 8 hours a day good be a good guess. All that need to be taking into consideration right?????
) .... Of course they don't stay on the bed 24/7 but 8 hours a day good be a good guess. All that need to be taking into consideration right?????
You have already had one professional suggest a structural engineer. He is absolutely right. I'm married to a builder with a degree in civil engineering. When we did our 300 gal tank, he hired a structural engineer to make sure our tank would be safe on the 2nd floor.
As stated you can get other opinions to the contrary, but hiring a structural engineer is the smart and more importantly safe step to take.
As stated you can get other opinions to the contrary, but hiring a structural engineer is the smart and more importantly safe step to take.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but if there were 2-200lb fish in a tank they are going to displace quite a bit of water weight (on the floor if you didn't account for it ;-). 2-200lb loads on a waterbed wouldn't displace any weight just add that much more load onto the floor. just put a bunch of fat guys up on your second floor and toss a milky way into the pile, if the floor holds up you're likely good to go.Well, most 400gallon aquariums don't have 200lb fish and for customers buying king size water beds you often have 2 of those big fish and they sometimes, you know, make the water move a lot more than the mp60s (not sure how many psf that is
Lentz,
Pictures of the trusses and what they are supported by (how the walls are constructed) If you can find an info stamp on the truss that would be great as well. Currently im not sure which type of trusses they are.
In regards to the waterbed questions, a 6'-0" 200 lb person will add about 20 psf, hrmm i wonder what the dynamic loading would be on nights where there was a bit of water movement haha. Also, lets be done comparing a 400 gallon fish tank to a waterbed lol.
Pictures of the trusses and what they are supported by (how the walls are constructed) If you can find an info stamp on the truss that would be great as well. Currently im not sure which type of trusses they are.
In regards to the waterbed questions, a 6'-0" 200 lb person will add about 20 psf, hrmm i wonder what the dynamic loading would be on nights where there was a bit of water movement haha. Also, lets be done comparing a 400 gallon fish tank to a waterbed lol.
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