Do I Need Floor Supporting?!?

[Zan101]

Hi R2R,

Just got done with shoring up my floor support. Attached is a video of what I did. It's for a 150G 5 foot long tank. The tank will be backed up against an outside wall and will be perpendicular to joists.

My "crawl space" is actually about 8 feet deep under the tank and has uneven flooring. I used a 4x4 placed directly underneath along length of tank. I bought floor jacks from home Depot that are rated for 9000 lbs each at their longest. Fashioned 2'x2' boxes from scrap and poured a few inches of gravel to make a level footing. Used some scrap for Jack footing.

I had bought poly strap for plumbing - used some of that to secure and place the 4x4 first (I was doing this alone with a flashlight worked out nicely.

I am not a structural engineer. Could someone who has the knowledge comment on whether this would suffice. I figure the tank next to a load bearing wall, perpendicular to joists makes things less risky for me.
1. Would the box thingy provide a stable base for the jack base. Any chance of it settling or shifting?
2. I did not have a plumb, so used a weight tied to a thread as makeshift plumb. I couldn't get it to be exactly perpendicula, a few degrees off Should I be concerned about this?
3. I kinda winged it when it came to tensioning the jack. It was deceptively easy to turn the screw to lengthen the post and I was more concerned about lifting the joists off their primary support. Is there a right way to do this?

Cost to do all of this- about 130$. Peace of mind I am going to get from this if I have done it right - can't put a price to that

Thank you for the post. I'm looking to doing the same.

 

[aruns]

Glad you found it useful. One last picture of what I did finally. As suggested, I poured in some slurry and let it set in place after leveling. Used shims as well. Also hand tightened the screw and gave it approx another turn with wrench until I couldn't rattle column by shaking it. I figured, this way it's just very snug but not doing any actual load bearing until the beam shows a tendency to deflect.

 

[JoshH]

So for all those gurus out there, I have just received my new tank and was 100% confident I wouldn't need any support as the original plan was to have it running off an outside wall with my floor joists running perpendicular to the tank. But once we got the tank we decided to change the orientation of it and put it on another wall instead. The tank itself is 60" L x 30" W x 17" H which works out to be roughly 120 Gallons. Sump will be in the basement so no extra weight there. The stand will be home made Plywood double layered 3/4" exterior walls roughly 62" L x 32" W haven't decided 100% on those dimensions. Underneath the tank will be sitting on 3 2" x 10" floor joists just past a 6 ply 2" x 10" beam anchored on the other end with joist hangers into a 2 ply 2" x 10" beam. The total span of the joists from the Beam to hangers is 8'. So I'm just looking for other opinions here, I'm still feeling pretty confident and my brother (long term contractor) says I should be okay, but obviously neither of us are structural engineers so it's always good to get a fresh set of eyes on things. Pictured below are underneath with the joists the tank will be sitting on highlighted in blue.

Oh And a picture of the tank itself as well as joists highlighted underneath in blue again, Red shows the 2 ply beam location, orange is location of the larger beam which is directly under the wall the tank is up against.

All input welcome and appreciated

@Erica-Renee @kalare your thoughts?

 

[Erica-Renee]

So for all those gurus out there, I have just received my new tank and was 100% confident I wouldn't need any support as the original plan was to have it running off an outside wall with my floor joists running perpendicular to the tank. But once we got the tank we decided to change the orientation of it and put it on another wall instead. The tank itself is 60" L x 30" W x 17" H which works out to be roughly 120 Gallons. Sump will be in the basement so no extra weight there. The stand will be home made Plywood double layered 3/4" exterior walls roughly 62" L x 32" W haven't decided 100% on those dimensions. Underneath the tank will be sitting on 3 2" x 10" floor joists just past a 6 ply 2" x 10" beam anchored on the other end with joist hangers into a 2 ply 2" x 10" beam. The total span of the joists from the Beam to hangers is 8'. So I'm just looking for other opinions here, I'm still feeling pretty confident and my brother (long term contractor) says I should be okay, but obviously neither of us are structural engineers so it's always good to get a fresh set of eyes on things. Pictured below are underneath with the joists the tank will be sitting on highlighted in blue.

Oh And a picture of the tank itself as well as joists highlighted underneath in blue again, Red shows the 2 ply beam location, orange is location of the larger beam which is directly under the wall the tank is up against.

All input welcome and appreciated

@Erica-Renee @kalare your thoughts?

It looks to be OK but i would run two rolls of 2x10 bridging between those joist for in that whole area. this will make the floor much more Rigid and pass some of the weight to the next joist by preventing them from twisting...

Make Sure those joist hangers are using proper hanger Fastners...

Good Luck

 

[FlyPenFly]

How strong would you think the floors on a 5 level apartment like this?

https://www.yelp.com/biz/la-jolla-crossroads-apartments-san-diego

 

[Ippyroy]

I am wanting to do a 120 DT. All told I will be running around 150 - 160 gallons. My cabin was built in the 1960s and the concept of building codes wasn't around. The floor joists are around 24 inch centers and span 15 feet. The crawl space under the cabin is 38 inches from ground to joist. I am wondering if I can glue and screw two 2x6's and run them perpendicular to the joists, which are also 2x6 and use 4x4 to hold the beam up and in place.

 

[jelazar]

I am wondering if I can glue and screw two 2x6's and run them perpendicular to the joists, which are also 2x6 and use 4x4 to hold the beam up and in place.

I'm pretty sure that a 15' span for 2x6 joists is way too long for everyday use, never mind adding in a tank. Your solution will need to support 100% of the tank load, without any help from the existing floor.

Are you pouring a concrete footing, or is the ground hard enough to support the post without sinking?

I expect your floor feels spongy when you walk on it. If so, you could add a midspan beam with posts or piers. Combining the two projects might make the decision easier and get you the new tank!

 

[Fishyjoey]

Many thanks to the OP. I read the whole thing, lol.

 

[Ippyroy]

I'm pretty sure that a 15' span for 2x6 joists is way too long for everyday use, never mind adding in a tank. Your solution will need to support 100% of the tank load, without any help from the existing floor.

Are you pouring a concrete footing, or is the ground hard enough to support the post without sinking?

I expect your floor feels spongy when you walk on it. If so, you could add a midspan beam with posts or piers. Combining the two projects might make the decision easier and get you the new tank!

I am planning on the midspan beam. The edges are very well supported by concrete blocks. The ground is compacted with gravel. I am planning on cement pier blocks. So I need to do both the midspan and extra support under the tank?

 

[Eye H8 Empty V]

Wow what an awesome thread! I’m finishing redoing the flooring in my kitchen (finally!). I’m in a 1960 built home on a raised foundation, 1/2” hardy back and 3/8” porcelain 12x24 tiles. The tank stand is welded steel tubing and very heavy. Include the 90gal aquarium and 34gal sump and I’m looking at a lot of weight. My questions are because it’s welded steel is the weight evenly distributed over the span of the entire base? I’m guessing I should put in some support because it won’t hurt. Are screw jacks enough? Do I need to place wood “linking” jacks together? Below is a pic of the stand in preliminary form and the jacks I found on Home Depot’s site. Thanks!

 

[arowana718]

I have a 360G that i need to setup. Maybe Sits about 1.5 ft from the wall (Brick foundation) that has wooden joist that run across the room.

It will sit perpendicular in relation to the wood joist thats underneath.

since the tank is 1.5ft from foundation walls and joist is perpendicular to the foundation. Should i do One or two i beams in my basement? They will held up by floor jacks

 

[paul.brandon83]

Just want to throw my tank into the hat here. I don't think I will need any additional support but I wanted to tap into the wealth of experience in the chat. I am adding pictures to show top and bottom. I am getting a Waterbox 100.3 (36x24 footprint). Can you please let me know if my thinking is on track? Thanks!

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Excellent right up. I’m late to this but I was wondering what everyone thought about having a 120g dt and Two 40bs on the first floor of a house with no basement. Two of the walls in the room are exterior. I’m not sure if a house with no basement typically has floor joists or is just a concrete slab. I’m going to look into that (gf and I are in the process of purchasing said house). But what does everyone think. Worst comes to worst I’ll have the 120dt and a 40b display fuge and move my 40b qt somewhere else in the house

Edit: found out first floor is a concrete slab so I should be good to go, correct?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

^ totally good to go.

 

[arkmann]

I think I would be ok but I wanted to check with the knowledgeable people here first.

I am looking to place a 180 gallon acrylic aquarium in the opening for this location. I'm blocking off the 7' opening. The tank will be about 30" from the foundation wall to the right.

Tank location is directly on top of the center I-beam in the middle of the house which is directly below the roof truss which means it supports 50% of the weight of the roof correct?

First floor drawing and location of tank in red.

I'm only able to see one steel column in the unfinished side of the basement. I believe there is another column hidden in one of the walls if the finished side of the basement at the corner of that middle wall in the basement. This makes sense because the two columns divide the steel beam into thirds. Please correct me if I'm wrong here based on the drawing.

The tank will be on top of about four 10"x2" joists resting directly on a 2"x4" joist directly on top of the 8"x 4" steel I-beam. The other end of the joists rests on top of the foundation wall.

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

^ that is an excellent location. You could put a 600 gallon aquarium there.

 

[arkmann]

Don’t tempt me... hahaha! Too bad the length opening is only 7’. Maybe a 6x3x2.5

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

6.50 foot long tank, 6" rear overflow. 4 foot wide.

Here is my 4x8x30 inwall partially filled.

 

[West1]

Can people post more pics of their reinforced foundations?
I’m looking for more ideas/options to a 1st floor crawl space.

reefer 525xlv2 will be running perpendicular to the joist, I was thinking of using 2 pier blocks with a 4x4 same direction as the tank. I will be adding a 20-30gl ATO in the smaller compartment of the stand.

also, my flooring in a thin vinyl, will the tiny metal lets under the stand damage the floor? Would my best bet be to remove them and let the stand sit flush to the floor?

 

[SeaJay]

Can people post more pics of their reinforced foundations?
I’m looking for more ideas/options to a 1st floor crawl space.

reefer 525xlv2 will be running perpendicular to the joist, I was thinking of using 2 pier blocks with a 4x4 same direction as the tank. I will be adding a 20-30gl ATO in the smaller compartment of the stand.

also, my flooring in a thin vinyl, will the tiny metal lets under the stand damage the floor? Would my best bet be to remove them and let the stand sit flush to the floor?

If you're perpindicular to the joists, I think you'll be fine with 4x4 supports, depeneding on the size of the joists and how many you can span.

I personally do not like the idea of a large aquarium on a stand with any sort of legs or adjusters. Seems crazy to me to have all that weight on 4 tiny points regardless of the flooring. I would say yes, over time it's going to put divots in your vinyl. I would remove the legs and if need be, add a series of shims. I built my stand on a flat slab, then put it in place on the uneven wood floor, leveled it, scribed it and used a planer to contour it to match the floor. Overkill maybe, but to me it was worth an hour of my time to avoid shims and leg levelers.