Is Tank too Heavy for Loft Area/Second Floor?

[Rekon]

I have purchased a 200 gallon fish tank with a built in filtration system. It has more than 200 pounds in rocks. I had to hire 5 people to get the fish tank to my second floor at my house to its resting place the loft area. While visiting a local fish store the owner told me that there is an imminent danger that my fish tank could come crashing down onto my garage because of the weight of the fish tank. Could this actually happen? I never gave thought to this idea, however I guess I need to start asking questions before I finally setup. Better be safe than sorry. Any advise or comments will be greatly appreciated.

Thank You

 

[Shep]

Unless there is some kind of extra support, I would agree that there is a really good chance that you are about to punch a hole in your floor. Don't forget water weighs 8lbs/gallon so your tank is going to have close to 1600lbs of water. You can go to a hardware store and pick up some braces for a decent price and use those.

 

[mom_of_3]

I agree... there definitely needs to be extra support under the tank if it will be in the second story/ loft area. the only way that I can see to avoid having to put in braces and support is if it is on a load bearing wall or on load bearing supports already.. even then I would be cautious about it.

 

[Aquarian]

Braces? Lol maybe if they are 4" tube steel. Do we have a PE in the forum?

1 what is the foot print of your tank?
2 oh hell post some pics of the loft area from the first floor so I can see how it was constructed.

 

[FishyReef]

I wouldn't put anything over a 90g on a floor that didn't have some sort of extra support underneath it. I've known people with large tanks who use something like this to support the floor under the tank: Tiger Brand Super "S" 7 ft. 9 in. Jack Post-J-S-93 at The Home Depot In every case I've seen them use at least 4 of these positioned in a box-like pattern under the tank. Depending on what is below the floor where you have the tank (garage?) you might be able to easily add a few of these so that the tank doesn't come crashing through.

 

[atony4688]

I wouldn't put anything over a 90g on a floor that didn't have some sort of extra support underneath it. I've known people with large tanks who use something like this to support the floor under the tank: Tiger Brand Super "S" 7 ft. 9 in. Jack Post-J-S-93 at The Home Depot In every case I've seen them use at least 4 of these positioned in a box-like pattern under the tank. Depending on what is below the floor where you have the tank (garage?) you might be able to easily add a few of these so that the tank doesn't come crashing through.

Hello, I would not build a setup on a second floor that large. I would try and not exceed the weight of a bathtub full of water with someone standing in it, just to be safe and watch out for cantilevers. The posts FishyReef is suggesting for support could be used, but should be placed on a thickened slab of concrete for support since a garage cement pad is usually only 5" thick. If you put that much weight on such a concentrated part of cement, you will crack it and might cause other foundation issues. I would opt to put it on the first floor if your on a slab foundation, or basement and maybe even have a structural engineer look at it, if you know one. I know that you might be thinking yeah right, like I'm going to do that but they are the only ones that could give you a definitive answer, the last thing you want is an accident where the floor gets wet and you have a catastrophe on your hands, or if it just cannot support the weight. I am fresh out of architecture school, but in my opinion, it seems like a bad idea to set that up especially if you are hesitant, and you must be if you asked here, but that's just my opinion and my :twocents:. Good Luck!