Should I be concerned?

[sturnmeyer]

Okay, I'm getting ready to upgrade my 55g to a 120g and I am really curious if I should be concerned about the weight of the system. This will be going on the top level of a split foyer where I had the 55g. What do you guys think? I'll have the 120g, stand, 20g sump, 10g fuge and the equipment. Of course quite a bit of LR as well.

 

This tank is only 48" wide and I'm planning on setting it up catty-corner(sp?) so it will actually touch 2 outside walls.

[seppler]

I'm no expert, but when we upgraded from a 75 to a 120 on our first floor, my husband (engineer) figured out the approximate weight and was concerned and decided to put an extra beam as support in the ceiling of the basement....

 

Of course, our basement is unfinished, so it was relatively easy to do.

 

What's underneath the space where the tank will go?

[sturnmeyer]

My finished rec room. I definitely would've done the same thing if had drop down ceilings or if it was unfinished.

[jason the filter freak]

If I were you I'd be concerned, find out who built your house, get the prints then ask an engineer to evaluate, a bigger set up is not work compromising structure....

[HowardofNOVA]

This has been asked several times and I believe a 120g tank or less is not a serious concern to worry about. Do a search for "floor strength or support" and see what pops up?

As long as the tank is crossing 2-3 supports should be ok. How do you figure out which way the supports/joists are running? Usually the lesser of the width time lengthof the room.

[sturnmeyer]

This has been asked several times and I believe a 120g tank or less is not a serious concern to worry about. Do a search for "floor strength or support" and see what pops up?

As long as the tank is crossing 2-3 supports should be ok. How do you figure out which way the supports/joists are running? Usually the lesser of the width time lengthof the room.

 

Yeah...I have already figured out which way with my stud finder. So it should be crossing 2 or 3.....

 

Thanks!!!

[phisigs79]

YOU SHOULD BE OK

[flowerseller]

Then I'd put it inplace and if you're still concerned, double up some 3/4" plywood larger than the stand and put the stand on those.

[sturnmeyer]

Okay, here is the deal. I got home and double-checked my house before I posted. The joists run longways in the house instead of the shortest distance. They are also 24" apart. Given that, I am figuring I have 3 options. They are:

 

Option1

 

Option2

 

Option 3

 

I know by looking at that Option 2 is definitely the best but will that even work? I wanted to do Option 3, do you think that'll work?

 

Thanks everyone....

[jason the filter freak]

3 is a great idea and actually a number of people have done that, if you have an open back stand it'll give you a lot of extra space, for top of systems, giant sumps etc, what ever you'd like, also though I slept though my architectural design class, I image the footer or what ever for the wall sticks out far enough to lend support