Creating a strong bulwark: Did you consider floor support for your reef tank?

[dank.reefer]

Concrete foundation with tile

I also have my tank sitting on concrete foundation with tile. I have already had to clean up the reef flood once. I won't be doing that again. I now have plastic base boards as well. If the reef spills over again I can just sweep it out the back door....lol

 

[FernBluffReef]

First decent sized tank on a crawl space - 143 gallon system. Prior tank was larger, long time ago, but different home on concrete so had no concerns for a large tank.

Current home recently reconstructed and as part found floor joists were over spanned. Engineer required additional concrete pads and beams to be installed cutting floor spans in half. Contractor says I could drive a tank on the floor now - it’s solid. So I have a reef again.

One of the new beams happens to be right under tank but still went down and did some blocking just to make myself feel better better safe than sorry.

I could probably go much larger without additional reinforcement but I played it safe for now. If the Ritteri keeps growing as fast as it has been, a larger tank my come sooner then expected.

 

[BrettE]

I consulted a structural engineer. He said between the TJI and the beam under my tank, it would be fine.

We have floating basement floors in Colorado due to our expansive soils, so a beam with legs to the floor wasn't an option.

 

[icedgxe]

Definitely thought about it.

 

[oldbob50]

Two tanks on a concrete and ceramic tile floor so there was not need for concern.

 

[kenchilada]

Poll makes no sense. Either your floor can support the tank or it can’t. If not, it requires modification.

 

[19Mateo83]

Always put my tanks perpendicular to the joists either on an exterior wall or a load bearing interior wall. Currently have a 50 but in the past I have had a 125, 3-40 breeders and a 55 all in the same room with no issues. All have been 2nd floor tanks.

 

[Arkardios]

Nano Tank on my desk. I've no worries regarding floor support. ;-)

 

[GlassMunky]

Had 2 new concrete posts poured and a hole cut into the main foundation wall of the house and a new extra main support beam for under the tank. The contractor told me the rest of the house would fall down before that floor or tank did.

 

[DHouse]

Mine too.

Same here!

 

[DHouse]

Luck for me, my tanks are all sitting on the concrete foundation!

Same here!!!

 

[KandAReefs]

All my tanks have set on the cement slab so never had to worry ( other then sink holes but that's not something I can help). But I do try to make sure the idea of just how heavy a tank is is in the mind of anyone I help set a tank up.

 

[AquaForge]

I put our tank directly across the 16" oak beam running perpendicular to the tank in the basement. The house was built in 1926 so its pretty beefy down there. However, the floor is 1" thick hardwood (on side) over the top of 1/2" wood planking. Pretty strong but when someone walks past the tank it makes little waves on the surface and if you are standing near it you can feel it. I want a new tank for my birthday (Bigger of course) so I am looking at how to beef it up even more. Looking at some of the ideas here I think I can do it no problem

 

[GrandmaReefer]

I ended up putting my big tank in the basement. It’s finished, and the joists are I-beams with long spans. I didn’t have a good way to brace them without destroying the game room.

My home office is down there so I get a chance to see the tank all day so the choice was a good one.

 

[Imrahilwjz]

We are in a newer double wide, but it was originally intended as a custom build for a man who used a heavy powered wheelchair. The floor joists were upgraded to a heavier size. My younger brother is a real estate agent and used his resources to find out how much weight the floor could support (don't remember the details). I had considered bracing to the slab underneath, but after he did the math I didn't think it was worth it. No troubles after over a year.

 

[ctoney80]

I wasn't taking any chances, so I beefed up the beam, poured some footers that had rebar within them. Added some jack stands to support a additional 4×6 beam

 

[ctoney80]

Not an easy thing to do alone but I managed to get it all done by myself

 

[MarsReefer]

Has anyone ever actually heard of a tank falling through the floor? I’ve heard about bracing the floor but never once seen an example of a floor failing.

 

[Bruttall]

I think we might be surprised by how many people hit up a Pet Smart, buy a tank and never give a thought to what water weighs. I know on my first tank I never thought about it, but that was a 55g so not much to worry about anyway.

However when I started designing my dream tank, a 300g Oceanic I found on Craigslist I knew first off it had to sit on Concrete, so it was either the basement, or the garage. I see some people putting 300+ gallon tanks on wood floors, with a bunch of structural underneath to disperse the load, but I did not want to put that much effort, or money into my build. So while I did think about it considerably, I pretty much knew from the start I was going to the basement on a concrete floor with my build.

 

[Tub Life]

The tank is on the main floor, floor joists run parallel to the tank.
As per the structural engineer, we added some sistered beams.