who has a tank on 2nd floor???

[Capt_Cully]

I'm planning on putting a 70 gal with 20gal sump in my bedroom. That's about 800 lbs right. Will it be ok??? Can't brace floor, and touch to put it over a load bearing wall. I can put it next to an outside wall.

Anyone else got one upstairs??? Any problems?

[doryarlin955]

I have a 55 gallon in my room on the 2nd floor, with no issues. It's against a load bearing wall too.

[ElDiabloPollo]

I have a 90 in my 2nd floor condo and it is fine.

[daveverdo]

It is unlikely that the floor will collapse. However, you may notice some deflection in the floor. Modern building codes require a minimum L/360 deflection under a 40psf distributed load on a sleeping level and 50psf on a main level, that means the floor cannot deflect more than 1/360 of the span between supports. For example if you had 40psf average over the length of 12ft the floor can't deflect more than a third of an inch in the center. Although this is a minimum most people are unhappy with this so most builders use a L/480. So the previous example would be that the floor doesn't deflect 1/4 inch over the same 12 ft span. Even though the tank is more of a point load than a distributed load it still may deflect the floor somewhat toward the center. Some things may become out of level and if the deflection exceeds L/360 you may see cracks appearing in the sheetrock/plaster of the floor below.

Again, it is unlikely to come crashing through the ceiling below but there may be some effects.

If you know the floor joist spacing, the length of the span, and what size the joists are, I could try to calculate the maximum deflection?

Dave

[Capt_Cully]

Would it make a difference when the house was built?? Our house is 80 yrs old this year.

[dynamixone]

I have a 120g on the second floor. no issues. the house is around 80 years old.

[psychofishy]

the weight SHOULD be fine i guess, just make sure how your house is built...


However.... Do you really want to wake up staring at a huge worm living in your system ?

[block head]

used to rock the king size waterbed in government housing, tank should be fine

[Jedistphn]

Originally posted by psychofishy
the weight SHOULD be fine i guess, just make sure how your house is built...


However.... Do you really want to wake up staring at a huge worm living in your system ?

Hey Hey now... this is a public forum...
How do you know his worm is huge


( sorry couldn't resist)

Jedi

[daveverdo]

Age could make a difference mainly because 80 years ago there was no code. Whoever built the house used standard practices (at least you hope). In many cases the older homes are better built because the people who built them took pride in their work. Things started going down hill in the post-war era when literally 1000s of houses were going up everywhere and things started getting mass produced.

The only concern I would have with an older home is that plaster is less forgiving than sheetrock. I don't think there is a major problem.

You said it will be against an exterior wall. Do you know if the exterior wall is a bearing wall? Are the floors hardwood? I would expect so, in a house of that age. I would also assume that the sub-floor is not plywood but 1" stock.

Again, there should not be catastrophic failure, but a little flexure in things that don't like flexing. How are you ceilings now? Do you have hairline cracks in the plaster directly below partition walls on the second floor. You may also have some cracking in the walls above doorways and archways.

You should be OK.

I am only talking from the physics/engineering point of view, not from experience.

Dave

[psychofishy]

*sigh*

leave me aloooone!!!
Go play with your lightsaber or something

Originally posted by Jedistphn
Hey Hey now... this is a public forum...
How do you know his worm is huge


( sorry couldn't resist)

Jedi

[Jeff]

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Look at my sig below, 250 total gallons in a 6'X2' space on hardwood floors

[weaver5]

My son had a 72 gal tank in his bedroom. The house was about 95 years old.He had a tank 20 gal sump and aboout 90 bs live rock.I am not saying you will be ok lol. But I am saying he was.good luck..........
Scott

[cardiffgiant]

Daverdo, excellent post and very informative! It really speaks to the fact that each structure can react differently to the weight.

I have my 55 with a 20 gallon sump on the 2nd floor of a 90 year old house. I have mine kitty corner against a load bearing wall and an outside wall. I don't have noticeable deflection in the room.

I believe that I'm ok structurally. Now.... other risks related to things like setting up an ATO for the first time... Let's just say that I've got a summer project painting my tenants dining room ceiling this summer.

[Capt_Cully]

I think I'm gonna be ok. There were some cracks in the plaster, I've repaired as I remodelled. The corner I'm going to put it in has an out cropping near by that should support it and erradicate any sag. The operative word being, SHOULD.

I'll post pics, see what you think.

[SkiFletch]

Cully, I've got my 65g with 20g sump upstairs in my bedroom. Not even any noticeable sagging issues after 2 years.

[frankandmaura]

I would say if you are worried about it, try to set the tank across the joists instead of in line with them...it is stronger that way, but either way you should be fine.

[Capt_Cully]

Thanks for all the input. I'm gonna go for it. If there's any cracking in the plaster downstairs I can reconsider. It's going to be close enough to the outside wall of the house that there shouldn't be any sag.