Aquarium and Floor

[stevey87]

I live on top floor and my room I think was designed as den for office stuff. I use it as bedroom and I have a big bed with 29 gallon and a desk already. Now I'm going to add 65 gallon to the room. I'm concerened about the floor cracking or collapsing. Some parts of the room floor already has cracking noise when I go on particular spots. I'm planning on putting my 65 gal in the corner of the room but it's directly over a bed and I don't want the tank collapsing on my family member's head while sleeping. Even if it doesn't collapse. I don't want it to leave permenant damage.

My Big Al's Aquarium is 60 pound
65 gallon tank with water is 775 according to http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f6...rt-120459.html
with fluorite and stuff I'll add 25lb because even tho 4 bags of fluorite is heavier than that, they're replacing the water weight in the tank. Water weight for the volume of those 4 bags are quite a bit also so....

So total I got 860 lb for area of 4.5 square foot because it's 36 inch by 18 inch. So is the floor gonna collapse or put permanent damage? Any weight will cause a little damage, nothing is 100% perfect. I'm just wondering about significant damage. Please help me before I set up my tank, even tho I already bought the tank. I tend to over worry about everything but I think this is a legitimate thing to be worried about.

Another thing is, I hear cracking sound all over my room right now as the winds are very strong.

How can I find out which way the joists under the room run so that I can put the tank perpendicular to the joists so I use as many joists as possible to distribute the weight as much as possible?

I really really don't like those arguments about people on one spot argument because they're moving weight. They're not on same spot 24/7. Also the waterbed, they have much greater surface area so they're porbably putting less weight per area of floor. Bath tub and kitchen appliances argument don't work either since the contractor KNEW from beginning that those area will need more support and probably did add more stable support.

[Hattawi]

What is the floor made out of? Wood or concrete

How old is the structure?

About the cracking noises, are they more of sqweeking sounds?

Maybe you can try jumo in your place at various points in the room and see if you can feel things are not stable.

[DLock3d]

Hey Stevey87,

I worry about this myself from time to time because I'm constantly in second floor apartments. I had a couple of thoughts on this but remember this is completely IMO and I'd probably consult an architect about building standards or whatever. The thought I had is about bathtubs. I read somewhere that average bathtubs hold about 55 gallons of water so if you were to take a bath in a tub of 55 gallons of water. That gets the weight pretty high. Unless the bathroom is specially reinforced I'm assuming the floors are all just as stable. Again, this is all IMO. I wish we had an engineer who could fill us in on this stuff.

[Graham]

You should have no problem with the tank being on an outside wall. In 48 years of keeping fish I don't think I've ever heard of a floor collapsing. I've had 4- 60's set up in an apartment without any problem...the landlord got upset when she found out I was going to set up a 175:D had to move then.

[stevey87]

It's 7 year old sub urban house in western canada. It's all wood obiously and I'm not sure which way the joists go for my room because I went to basement to check which way the joists run. I found out it goes left n right one way and all sudden it goes front n back. So that's 0 help. There is squeaking noise when I step on one certain spot right in front of the door in my room. I think my room was designed as den or office ut is fairly big compared to other rooms except master bed room. My room is 3rd floor but first floor from front and the basement is 1st floor when at backyard because the house is built on a hill. Where I'm going to be setting up the tank is corner of the room. Both walls facing outside on the other side. I don't wanna buy stud finder just to see which way the joists go, just not happening with all the money i spent on this tank upgrading.

[Hattawi]

If it is wood, then I would tell you go ahead and setup your tank. Wood is resilient and somewhat flexible. You may feel the floor would appear to dip down when the tank is full. If that did not happen then you do not need to worry.

[dwilder]

if a 65 is gonna make your floor collapse then you need to move i understand being concerned but the the floors in a house can handle lots of weight

[Roxanne]

In a normal house, the floor boards run the length that is the longest..?? example if your house is 16 metres long and 10 metres wide, the boards will run the length of the house in this example 16metres. The joists run the opposite way. In a block of apartments, it will depend on where the main bearers are...If it makes you feel better, wood as you probably know expands and shrinks with the heat & cold, and usually is "crackier" (new word) in winter...doesn't necessarily mean they are about to give....

If you could place a board that is larger than your tank down on the floor under it (the tank/stand), you would get a little better weight distribution spreading out over more floor area...if you can pull up the carpet in a corner just a little you will see which way the boards run.

My husband is a builder, I'm describing your house to him, with a pic he can tell you for sure, he is asking me is there another floor on top of the basement, or how many floors on top of the basement?



Roxanne:)