Possible 75 gal upgrade

little_fish

Moderator
So im looking to upgrade to a 75 gal. But i live on the second floor and im a little concerned about the floor taking the weight. I figure that the whole thing is going to weight around 900lbs with rocks, sump, stand and other stuff. It is going to sit where my current tank is, which is up against the wall of our apartment. I think this wall continues down to the floor below, but im not 100% on that. Here is a pic where my current tank is:

DSCN2634.jpg




Also for the lighting i was hoping i could use my current lights. They 75 is only a foot longer and 2 inches wider than the tank i have currently. I was thinking i could either center the light and keep low stuff on those sides, or push it alway over and keep some low light stuff (gorgs, and sponges) on that end.

Im also going to build my stand, and i was thinking of trying to build a sump that would run the length of the stand. so i could include a large algae scrubber and a good sized fuge. I kinda want to a minimalist rock structure in the DT, so that would allow me to put lots of rubble down there for filtration.
 
for a new tank w/o the stand around 130 for the tank 220 for one with a cornerflow. somewhere in that ballpark
 
A 75gal should be ok on the 2nd fl...my ex-girlfriend had a 125gal in her apartment, as long as the tank is against a load bearing wall, you're ok.
 
How do i find out if one is a load bearing wall?

More than likely, you do have a load bearing wall since you're on a 2nd floor. If housing is made, consideration should be taken for 2nd stories. And especially bedrooms where there's already someone's bed and furnishings.

If you have any beams under your home such as a basement or the 1st story, usually the load bearing walls are located above the beams. If you can find any joists, usually a wall that runs parallel to the joists are non load bearing.

Check out if you have any crawl spaces or any openings so you may peer inside the wall and check out the framework.

Also if you want, you could cut a small hole in the wall where your tank is going to be and check it out. Then just patch up the wall afterwards.

Hope my advice works. If it didn't, well I hope you get an idea at least. Good luck Hannah!
 
Back
Top