Well, now I have another issue to figure out. My wife came over to see the tank as I just added sand to it. First time she's cared to come look at it really. First thing she does is softly hop up and down right next to the tank to see how study it is. Waves were formed and you can tell the tank is swaying when she did it. She walks over to my 20 gallon and does the same thing and it barely started a wave motion indicating that it was much more sturdy. I'm not really sure what to do, any ideas? Here's a picture, you see I shimmed the whole front side because that's the side that was uneven. Right now a level shows the tank is perfectly level.
Well, I set up the tank and stand this past weekend. I cleaned it up and now I am starting to piece together my setup. However, before I get it wet, I need to make sure that it's level and that my floor is actually going to hold it. So, I did my research, but I am still unsure what to do. I took a bunch of pictures, hopefully you guys can guide me to the right approach:
So first off, this is how I tested how level it is. The stand still has the rubber feet and we are directly on the hardwood floor.
Up close, this is how much it is off. I am not sure how to read that. I may need to buy a better level? What do you think?
Measuring inside the sump to ensure consistency in our leveling readings:
Here is the measure on the long side of the tank:
So with that being said, here are is my next concern, the topic that never ends. Will my aquarium fall through the floor one day? Yea I learned that is unlikely, but it can potentially sag your floor over time if your floor can't hold the weight. Well, I'd like your opinions on my research and observations from my situation. I have a basement below the tank and this is how the joists run. I wanted to run perpendicular, but we don't have a spot that makes sense to us. However, it is up against a concrete wall and then my research on these joists seem to show that this tank would not be an issue. It's a 350 if I forgot to mention that so 91 gallons total. Anyways, here are the pictures and my explanations:
So in the basement, this is directly under the front part of the tank. I used a laser measuring tool to measure the distance from the ground to this very spot. I marked both locations so I can get accurate readings in the future to measure and detect sagging.
I am pretty confident this is the guide for the floors my house has(house was built in 97): https://parr.com/PDFs/TJ-4000_ijoist_guide.pdf
It's difficult to understand for me, but I think I have the 110 TJI with a 11'7/8" depth. That says 1,560 Maximum Vertical Shear. I have no idea what that means, but I assuming thats the most weight that joist can hold across right? Now if I am right about that then I should still be fine because the concrete wall will be taking some of the weight anyways right? I feel like I'm in college again researching this stuff haha. Well, what do you guys think? Just hire an engineer or do you think I've been accurate with my research and taking the correct precautions? Can I get this dang thing wet before my wife makes me return it?!?! Thanks ahead for taking your time to read through my boring coral-less post.
Once a month
