any structural engineers in the club?

[rsarvis]

I'd like to have someone come over and look at the floor where I have my tank. When I set it up, there was a slight depression on one end of the room. I'm pretty worried that it's getting worse due to the weight of the tank. So I'd like to have someone look at it, help me discuss solutions, tell me how much it would cost worst-case scenario, etc.

 

Can anyone help me with that? (I'm willing to pay, of course; how much would such an appraisal cost?) Or can someone recommend such a person?

 

Thanks.

 

I'd ideally like to do this sooner rather than later, so I can take corrective action or sleep easier.

 

(I know, I should have known to worry about this when I set up the tank, but if I had to start the hobby all over again, there's a lot I'd do differently...)

[Grav]

Has the tank gone out of level? How big is it? What is the floor? Can you see the floor joists from below? How old is the building?

 

I have in the past, drained, leveled and re filled a 180 in a day.

 

I am not an engineer, but have done a lot of tank instalations. We have a servcie we call an on-site evaluation that is $125, but we look at everything. More info here: http://reefescape.net/evaluations.htm

 

Or happy to help here / on the phone for free.

 

good luck

 

 

Phil

[rsarvis]

Hi Phil. Thanks for the reply.

 

When I set it up and started filling it with water, it was slightly off level, but it wasn't enough to make me want to empty, level, and refill (or to think something might be really problematic). I was a little concerned, enough to do some really rough measurements (I didn't really have anything to do exact measurements with), bit I didn't think it was getting worse for a really long time. But now I think it is.

 

I can't see the joists from below, but I was thinking about taking down the paneling in the garage this weekend to take a look. I'd thought about doing this for a while b/c...: I think the depression might have first occurred due to previous occupants' having a small flood of water in the kitchen leak down through the floor; the thought occurred to me b/c (embarrassed to say...) I accidentally had a small flood in the kitchen as well, which is why I've sort of been hawkish about the depression.

 

As background, I'm in a townhouse, the tank is up against a side wall. One end is close to where there's a (I think) supporting wall below; the other side, close to the depression, does not have a supporting wall below (below is the garage).

 

I'm most worried about the strength of the floor, of course; the leveling of the tank is of secondary concern.

[Grav]

How big is the tank?

 

You are much better off against an external wall, running across as many floor joists as possible. Some stands have a "foot" in each corner, others have support along the whole length of the tank. The latter is better if support is an issue.

 

But really, how big is it? If 55g, you should be fine anywhere that isn't condemed. A 180 or larger, well you need to think about those.

[rsarvis]

180g. I know, that's a lot of weight. :(

 

Do you have experience with adding support to a floor? Or any idea how complicated/expensive that is?

 

How big is the tank?

 

You are much better off against an external wall, running across as many floor joists as possible. Some stands have a "foot" in each corner, others have support along the whole length of the tank. The latter is better if support is an issue.

 

But really, how big is it? If 55g, you should be fine anywhere that isn't condemed. A 180 or larger, well you need to think about those.

[ctenophore]

I'm not an engineer, but my father's business is in roof/floor trusses. They have engineering programs that can analyze the weight load across floor trusses. If you can get pics and measurements of whatever is in your floor, I can send those to one of the truss designers for their thoughts, and possibly some ideas on how to improve the support.

 

Justin

[Highland Reefer]

I am not able to figure out the position of your aquarium in the house. The main thing is what is right under your tank. The type of ceiling in that area. If you have a finished basement below it with a drywall ceiling, then you will have to cut some small holes in the area beneath to take a look at the flooring structure and see what is going on 1st.

[Brian Ward]

We just had another post from a guy in the club that is a structural engineer and does this work on a regular basis....

 

zobey in this thread:

 

http://www.wamas.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=20622

 

He's a PE and a Ph.D. PE is the professional engineer license - it's the formal certification for the profession - like being "board certified" for a doctor or "passed the bar" for an attorney.

 

If you want to have someone come out, for my money I'd go with him.

Edited March 12, 2008 by Brian Ward

[rsarvis]

Ah, great! I will contact him and see if he can come out to take a look. I'll update to let you all know how it goes.

[CHUBAKAH]

I can also help if that does not work out.

 

I am a general contractor, and have been in the business 28 years.

 

No charge to look as long as it can be during the day during the week when I am in the area.

 

I work the entire NOVA area.

[gmubeach]

How much does 180 gallons weigh? like 10# a gallon right thats alot of weight for a second floor anyway I hope its a easy fix, but yea thankfully I went 24 gallons my tank weighs some 300 pounds:)

[Grav]

Yea, a 180 against anything other than a known load bearing wall and perp to the joists would have me a little twitchy. Put it this way, I would not install something like that without the customer getting approval from their own engineer... I would rather talk them into a smaller tank, which I hate doing. We have liability insurance, but I don't plan to use it.

 

Figgure, 10-12#s / gallon depending on amount of rock & sand, plus sump. It's like a car.

Edited March 13, 2008 by Grav