# floor joists holding 110 gallon tank on a 2nd floor?



## piranha_guy_dan (Oct 4, 2004)

the tank will be sitting across the joists on an outside brick wall uncer my window.

my dad wants me to find some proof of how much a floor can hold on a second floor. does anyone know of a site that tells you how much weight a floor holds per square foot? my tank is 110-120 gallons and im looking to put it and a wood stand in my bedroom and then put a 160 gallon in the living room where the other tank was.

he wants some proof before he says yes i can get the 160 gallon tank and then move the 110-120 to my room.

PLEASE HELP!!!!!!!

thanks so much everyone

Dan


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## Ex0dus (Jun 29, 2005)

The live load of your floor depends on to many factors to give you a estimate.

A exterior wall is always the best place to put heavy items because it has the strongest support there. If your tank is 6' you will be laying across several joists ( no clue what spacing canadians use)

If you have a long hallway putting a tank on that wall would be a good idea as well.

Remember that your floor will be rated at 45psi (example). That means the ENTIRE floor can support that much weight.. not just in the confined area.

I wouldnt put the tank near a window for several reasons. weak area and of course sunlight = algae. \

if you need to be 100% certain you will need to contact a local building inspector


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## Mattones (Jul 9, 2006)

I work for Monarch. Its pretty easy to say that if your house was built recently (Last 10 years) it can hold it no problem at all. Even if it was built mnay years ago it should have no problem. Floor joists can hold almost anything. Such as on Thursday I saw a forklift putting a whole package of roof frame work. This stuff alone atleast weights in the triple 000's.


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## evermore (Oct 7, 2003)

i have a 2x55 on a dual stand and 75g in the same room next to each other and 125g a room over on the second floor no problem's has been setup like this since the beginning of 04'. just as you put the bulk of the weight on the out side wall.


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## Trystan (Jan 2, 2006)

I have all of the tanks in my sig and also all of my roomates tanks as well on a second floor. Her tanks consist of a 130 gal a 33 gall and a 10 gal. There have been no problems at all. Mind you all of the largfe tanks are against outside walls and set up on bases that are slightly larger than the tank to disperse the weight a little more just to be on the safe side. the way that I have my 130 galo set up it is only exerting 94 pounds per square foot. Which is well under what national building code requires in Canada. Hope that this helps.

Trystan


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## Natt King Shoal (Aug 7, 2004)

Every house is a unique case. The only way you can truly know is to hire a structural engineer or building inspector (or try it but I wouldn't recommend that!).


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## GODS1KID (Jan 12, 2006)

IF YOUR FLOOR JOISTS HAVE A WEB DEPTH OF 7 1/2"(2X8) OR LARGER AND YOUR TANK IS OVER 4 FEET YOU SHOULD BE FINE. YOU ARE BETTER OFF LOCATING IT CLOSE TO THE EXTERIOR WALL. THE DECKING WOULD GIVE OUT BEFORE THE JOISTS BECAUSE OF THE POINT LOADS CREATED BY HAVE A STAND WITH FOUR BEARING LEGS. IF THE STAND HAS FULL PERIMETER BEARING THEN YOU WOULD HAVE NO PROBLEM WITH YOUR DECKING. I HAVE AN 850 LB BALDWIN UPRIGHT PIANO ON MY JOISTS AND IT HAS BEEN THERE FOR TWENTY YEARS WITH NO EVIDENT STRUCTURAL FAILURES.


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## Canso (Jun 19, 2005)

I've got 300gal. on my 2nd floor in a 35 year old house. my joices run with the 8' tank so they needed suport in the basment, it is sitting on 3 joices (12" centers). If it is a 6-8' tank with the joices runing perpendicular to the tank you are going to be on 6 or more joices which is no problem in most cases.

Just to give you an idea my 300gal. stand is made of 2x4's and your floor joices are 2x10s or bigger.


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## GODS1KID (Jan 12, 2006)

don't use a building inspector. most of them are dipshits that weren't ever even a carpenter. they were a laborer or some sh*t. an engineer would be a good idea but expensive.


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