# Floor & Weight ?



## morninglemon (Oct 27, 2010)

I am considering setting up two large tanks for piranhas. Ideally I would like to set-up two 100 gallon tanks in my spare bedroom. However, I live in a second floor apartment and my building is about 50 years old. Could the floors handle it? I had a 6 foot almost 200 gallon pre-formed plastic pond (for rescued turtles) in the room before and never had any issues. The floor was uneven when I moved in, but I the pond never resulted in any soft spots, and I used boards to level the water.

Below is a picture of my potential set up for the piranhas. The 100 gallon tanks are represented in blue.


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## 1rhom (Nov 6, 2009)

I'd put them in a corner where there's more support. What kind of stand are you going to have?


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## morninglemon (Oct 27, 2010)

I you mean 'kitty corner' them? As for stands, I would use a cast-iron stand.


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## HGI (Oct 27, 2009)

If you use a cast iron stand then it's going to have 4 legs? What I'm trying to get at is all the weight will be on those 4 pressure points, so if your tank and stand weights 2000lbs full, that's 500lbs per pressure point, and if those pressure points are not on a support beam it could cause some problems down the road. If this is the case and your stand dose have 4 legs you might want to consider laying some 2x4's on the floor and sit the stand on top of that to help even out the weight.

Just a thought.


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## Plowboy (Apr 9, 2008)

The first thing to do if your living in the apartment is ask the landlord what the rules are on fish tank sizes.


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## morninglemon (Oct 27, 2010)

What if I put the tank on the floor so the weight is evening distributed, as opposed to being on 4 points...?


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## jp80911 (Apr 3, 2008)

morninglemon said:


> What if I put the tank on the floor so the weight is evening distributed, as opposed to being on 4 points...?


that will be much better.
do you know the direction of the support beam? ideally you want to put your tank perpendicular to the beams so the weight of the tank is being handled by as many beams as possible
but like plowboy said, better find out the rules from your landlord first before you get the tanks.


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## morninglemon (Oct 27, 2010)

If the landlord says its ok would this setup be best? Tanks in this position on the floor....


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## JoeDizzleMPLS (Nov 5, 2007)

Tank position should be dependent on which walls are load-bearing and which way the joists are running. Iron stands put too much weight on 4 pressure points and placing the tanks directly on the floor isn't a good idea -- unless your floor is perfectly level and even, your tank wouldn't be sitting level, which would put extra stress on your seams and could cause a popped seam or if the floor is uneven, the tank could twist, which could cause a panel to blow out.

Your best bet would be to check with the landlord about having big tanks in a second floor apartment, if it's cool with him, find out which way the joists are running in that room and which walls are load-bearing (outside walls are usually load-bearing), then place the tanks perpendicular to the joists on a load-bearing wall centered over as many joists as you can.


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## Sacrifice (Sep 24, 2006)

Just went through this same debate for my new house.....wanted to put my 125g tank on the main floor. The problem that I ran into was that my floor joist ran in the same direction as my tank. So after a great debate I decided that it just wasn't worth the risk and I'm not putting the big tank in the basement. Unfortunately you don't have that option.

As many have said I would do the following.

1.) Check with the Landlord
2.) If they say it's ok, ask which direction the floor joist run as well as which walls are load bearing.
3.) I would not put the tanks on the floor (Many problems can occur from this with a big tank)
4.) I would look into building some new stands. You may be suprised how cheap it can be and how much stronger they are going to be.

I would also not suggest putting the tanks caddy corner like that either. That will waste a ton of space in that room. Good luck and keep us posted.


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## Sanjo Eel (Aug 21, 2008)

My living room floors have seen better days; they are a little weak. My 135g is on a metal stand with legs, which is why that tank is downstairs. My 110g is set against a load bearing wall on a wooden stand. No issues at all, tank is still perfectly level after 4 months. Use a wood stand that distributes the weight evenly, and make sure the tank is 100% level.


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## rhom15 (Dec 20, 2009)

my 180 is on second floor just find out witch way your floor joist are running like some of the guys said and you will be ok for the landlord he proboly will say no way to much water damage if you get a leak


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## marilynmonroe (Jan 8, 2009)

Thats alot of weight and water is something goes wrong. I would never put a big tank on the floor, build a wooden stand. Keep us posted and good luck


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