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Can floor support the weight?

6K views 17 replies 7 participants last post by  kappaknight 
#1 ·
I want to move my 29 gallon upstairs because i had a huge flood yesterday where the tank is and i estimated i shop vaced up about 200 gallons of water from my carpet. well now it stinks like heck and i gag upon going down. Will the floor of my house support the weight of a 29 gallon?
 
#4 ·
yeah 29 gallons isnt much
most houses can handle up to 110 gallons on the second floor, anything more than that is pushing it
i have my 220g down the basement, i wish it could have went upstairs in the "fish room" but it probably would have ended up with that tank crashing straight down to my kitchen :rotflmao:

upstairs in a spare bedroom i have a 10g, 26g, 20g, 55g and a 1 gallon prison tank for my red tailed black shark (long story)
oh and a hamster :D
 
#10 ·
Ok, John, heres my plan. I will go to the lfs today and order a drilled 29 gallon RR tank with overflow and pipes installed. (how much would this cost, do you know? ) Ill get some sand, fill it up, and use my old skilter to cycle in some more live rock. in abut a week , ill hook up my wet dry/ sump to the overflow and transfer the exhisting lr and fish, corals to the new RR tank upstairs.
 
#16 ·
the floor in a house is built to withstand massive loads, think about it, how many people have parties with 10, 20 even 30 people in the house. if you go realy big, you just have to make sure the tank spans across multiple floor joists, not just one or two. also , if you have access to the basement you could put up a small i beam with two collums to support a few thousand pounds.
 
#17 ·
Not trying to scare you; since I belive you would be fine, but there is no way you will ever recieve an absolute answer on any type of "Can my floor support this amount of weight question". There is no one online that knows, nor is there a way that they ever could, there are simply to many variables. First every house is built diffrently and no two pieces of wood are the same. Your house was designed to support a certain amount of live and dead weight. (live weight being people or any object that doesnt stay at rest on the floor, dead weight being something that doesnt move like fish tanks. Well I guess they do move in this case.) Thats why saying " 3 of my friends weigh 600 pounds all together and they stood on the floor with no problem, so it can support my tank" This is incorrect. Failure in flooring structures can happen instantly, or they can take years. The amount of wieght exsisting on the floor prior to the tank is also a factor. As a "general" rule of thumb, tanks up to 100 or so gallons can be put up next to a load bearing wall (outside wall) with no support needed. But again the size foot print of your tank determines how much pressure is on your floor. At 29 gallons of water your tank should come in at about 250 pounds with pure water and that isnt much at all. I would have no worries if it was my house but again everyones house is different. That really didnt help did it?
 
#18 ·
Even though dodge is correct, you really have nothing to worry about with a 29 gallon. I'm not sure why most people are only worried when the tank is on the second floor. I mean, for those people with basements, their first floor is sort of a second floor with regards to having some space underneith the tank. 29 gallon really isn't that much and if your floor as a whole is capable of supporting a fridge, a TV and/or laundry machines, you should have no problems with a 29g. That is unless that spot happens to be a termite heaven.
 
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