Tank/Sump/Stand Weight Question...

[cosigner]

My home (that I rent) is on a crawl space. I'm wondering if I would need to worry about too much weight with a 40B, 34 gal sump, and a custom stand being too much on the floor.

I'm going to crawl under to take a gander, but what's talks opinions on this?

 

[redstang]

How old is the house? I would think any relatively modern house should handle the weight. Might make sure that it's against a wall that is load bearing underneath. Overall you're looking at ~1k pounds. Another thing to consider is how level the floor is.

Ask 4 buddies to all come over, stand close together right where you want the tank, and jump lol!

 

[freezerrat]

Something to consider is if the tank will sit perpendicular or parallel to the floor joists. You should have no issues with the setup you plan.

 

[wildernets]

~ 600 in water, maybe 50 for the thank, ~120 in rock and sand. So say 650-800 lbs of weight. It would be great if the tank was sitting across more than one floor joist but I think you will be ok.

 

[rededge2k1]

Cosigner;927085 wrote: My home (that I rent) is on a crawl space. I'm wondering if I would need to worry about too much weight with a 40B, 34 gal sump, and a custom stand being too much on the floor.

I'm going to crawl under to take a gander, but what's talks opinions on this?

I certainly understand the concern, but realistically 800lbs is not very much weight relative to what wood structures are designed to handle. Think about it this way -- you probably wouldn't think twice about letting a 400lb man walk across your living room floor, even though his 400lbs is only supported by the size of his literal footprint on the floor. Whereas your 800lb tank's weight will be spread out over the entire footprint of the tank stand. Not to mention most tanks are placed against a wall, where the floor is strongest, rather than in the center of the room, where the floor is weakest.

Bottom line is I would investigate the floor from the crawlspace to make sure there are no obvious problems with the construction of the floor/house, but beyond that I wouldn't worry about it. It's just not very much weight in the grand scheme of things.

Dustin

 

[cosigner]

Thanks for the replies...you all have very good points. As for the house, I would guess it was built in the early 60's. I plan on the tank being against a wall and come out as a peninsula. I need to see which way the braces are running before I get dead set on that though.

 

[cosigner]

Allen;927139 wrote: 1. Not all walls are load bearing (supported underneath). Putting a tank near an interior wall doesn't always mean it is in an ideal location. Exterior walls are always load bearing.

2. A person walking (live load) across the floor is not nearly as much stress as an aquarium sitting stationary (dead load). Technically, an aquarium can also be classified as a "cyclic load" (fluctuating) due to water changes. As far as stress goes: Live load < dead load < cyclic load.

3. Unless there is structural damage to the joists, any floor in a house should be able to support a 40b no matter where it is placed.

More good info... thanks. I'll crawl under there tomorrow and see what's what.

 

[jdw]

Excellent question, I will hijack this post with a picture later this morning when I get off work.

Basically it's same question just different numbers. I have a 90gal tank, solid canopy & stand, 40b sump along an exterior wall, that's running parallel to joists. Foot print of tank should span 2 joists. House was built around 2007.

 

[mikesmith34]

I crawl under houses for a living and I'm pretty familiar with flooring structure. Everything these guys has said is spot on. The only other consideration is if the flooring has been weakened due to brown rot and or termites. This is a wood destroying fungus that wll severely weKen the wood. Go under and look at the wood if it healthy you should be good to go.

 

[rededge2k1]

Guys,

We're talking about a 40g aquarium.

Put it wherever you want and don't worry about it.

Dustin

 

[ghbrewer]

RedEDGE2k1;927494 wrote: Guys,

We're talking about a 40g aquarium.

Put it wherever you want and don't worry about it.

Dustin

Agreed, but if someone felt the need for further understanding or clarification the following article is a great read for aquarists:

 

[cosigner]

ghbrewer;928143 wrote: Agreed, but if someone felt the need for further understanding or clarification the following article is a great read for aquarists:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php">http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php</a>[/QUOTE]

A lot of good reading... thanks.

Edit: [QUOTE=][B]RedEDGE2k1;927494 wrote:[/B] Guys,

We're talking about a 40g aquarium.

Put it wherever you want and don't worry about it.

Dustin[/QUOTE]

Its not the 40G that i was concerned about. It's the 40G, plus 34G sump, plus the stand/hood. I know it's no 100gal+ tank like many of you have, but 800-1000 lbs is a lot of weight to just put "wherever" in a home that I don't own.