do i need to support my floor for large tanks

[jelly]

Putting a 230 gallon tank on themain floor of a house. Will the floor joists be able to support the tank oncefilled with water and rock or will I have to add extra support? It will be around2000LBS give or take a few.

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

Depends on the supports. Do you have pics of the basement joists?

 

[zero]

It's best to have support under where the tank is. with that much weight over time the floor will fall thru

 

[Raggamuffin]

I would recommend having a professional come take a look at them for anything over a 75g tank when not on the bottom floor of a house. Even then if the house is over 50 years old I would have it checked out for anyting bigger than a 40g. Think of it this way, spend 50-100 bucks to have a pro take a look or risk not only the thousands you put into the tank but the house as well, plus the years your insurance company will be hitting you with increased rates if something big does happen!

 

[jelly]

you have a very good point at this. i guess i will have y buddy look at it. he should know hes build large custom house for a living.

I would recommend having a professional come take a look at them for anything over a 75g tank when not on the bottom floor of a house. Even then if the house is over 50 years old I would have it checked out for anyting bigger than a 40g. Think of it this way, spend 50-100 bucks to have a pro take a look or risk not only the thousands you put into the tank but the house as well, plus the years your insurance company will be hitting you with increasued rates if something big does happen!

 

[pickupman66]

I supported my floors for my 180. I had to. the house is only 12 years old now, but when I did the tank, the way I wanted it in the house, it was going to end up over just two of the floor joists as they ran horizontally with the tank. Granted they were just the length of this particular room, but I did it anyways for piece of mind. If the joists run perpendicular to the tank you may be ok, but I would brace it just in case, more so if they run more than 12 foot from the tank location. I made three cinder block columns. two on the one farthest from the wall. I have had zero sagging and the floor is super stable. the worst part was dragging the 14 full size blocks, the seven 1/2 blocks and the 6 pads about 40' thru the crawlspace. I finished it up with 2x4 and shims.

 

[caudill187]

I would go ahead and add some support. Lowes sells some pretty cheap floor jacks that will do the trick, coupled with a cinder block or two. I had super joists on my former floor (4x14, or something like that) but still needed the extra support.