Do I need floor jacks 130 gallon aquarium

[haultman]

I have a 130 gallon acrylic tank with stand hood etc. without water it’s roughly 600 pounds. Plus 1080 pounds of water. Then add filter, rock…etc. so let’s say roughly total weight is 1880 pounds. I have a cement foundation with peir and block crawl space. My floor is real wood. The spot I want to put it in is against a load bearing wall as it’s a wall that sits on the cement perimeter of my house. However, the problem is the support beams will run parallel with the tank which is 48inches long. Do I need support jacks? Thanks in advance.

 

[Formulator]

No, you will be fine. Anything under about 250 gallons is nothing to worry about in most houses. I have had my 120g in 2 homes now without additional structural support. One house was almost 100 years old and the tank was placed in the center of the main floor above basement, against the center load bearing wall. The current house is more modern, built in the 90’s and the tank is against an exterior wall above the basement and adjacent to concrete foundation wall.

I always remind folks that your typical jacuzzi style bathtub in a high end bathroom holds 150-200 gallons and is installed on a second floor, usually without any additional support.

 

[hart24601]

I had a waterbox 150ext along the outside wall of the house, joists running perpendicular so it was sitting on 3 or so, directly supported by foundation. Under tank was unfinished section of basement.

While it might have been ok I didn’t like the amount of bounce in the large living room. Added a support under the tank and issue was gone. No idea if it would have eventually caused an issue, but very cheap insurance for me and peace of mind not having a springy floor and what that would mean being constantly under load for years plus the bouncing force.

Just my experience

 

[leon.1980]

No, you will be fine. Anything under about 250 gallons is nothing to worry about in most houses. I have had my 120g in 2 homes now without additional structural support. One house was almost 100 years old and the tank was placed in the center of the main floor above basement, against the center load bearing wall. The current house is more modern, built in the 90’s and the tank is against an exterior wall above the basement and adjacent to concrete foundation wall.

I always remind folks that your typical jacuzzi style bathtub in a high end bathroom holds 150-200 gallons and is installed on a second floor, usually without any additional support.

1. Modern doesn’t always mean better
2. Thst nacuzzi style bathtub isn’t full 24 hours a day 7 days a week.

With that being said this is only my own 2 cents.

 

[TX_REEF]

I would add floor jacks, cost vs. peace of mind is a no brainer imo

 

[saltyfins]

No. you don't need them. Until you do. peace of mind is just too simple, vs the disaster if something goes wrong.

 

[AKReefing]

How old is the house? It'

I have a 275G peninsula plus sump and steel stand sitting against a wall, but the joists run parallel to the tank. I was careful to place it equally on two joists. I'm fairly certain the floor won't collapse, but I decided to support the joists for two reasons. First, the floor could eventually sag a little over time (my joists are spaced 24 inches on center), and the water level will be uneven, so bracing in the crawl space is a simple, surefire way to prevent that. Second, I'm in a seismically active area (Alaska), and bracing will also help. Since the floor does pretty much all of the load bearing, the under-floor bracing doesn't need to bear the weight of the tank. It's just there to provide a little bit of stiffening.

Here's a pic of my crawl space support system. One pic shows the location of joists and the cross-beam used for support. The next shows how I supported them (the supports are actually plumb. The camera lens distorted the view).

My cost? I had the timber pieces laying around, so all I needed to buy were the jacks from Amazon (RV Slide Out Support Trailer Stabilizer Jacks) at just $55 for the pair. Each supports up to 5,000 pounds. They're just snug under the floor, not jammed in. Their only purpose is to stiffen what's already there.

 

[Dburr1014]

I have a 130 gallon acrylic tank with stand hood etc. without water it’s roughly 600 pounds. Plus 1080 pounds of water. Then add filter, rock…etc. so let’s say roughly total weight is 1880 pounds. I have a cement foundation with peir and block crawl space. My floor is real wood. The spot I want to put it in is against a load bearing wall as it’s a wall that sits on the cement perimeter of my house. However, the problem is the support beams will run parallel with the tank which is 48inches long. Do I need support jacks? Thanks in advance.

Can't say yes or no without more details.

Size lumber, construction, footprint, ect.

The room was rated for "x" . When they did the calculation, I'm sure they didn't know "y" tank would be there.

Without Jacks, the floor can also sag over time.

It's easy to put in a couple stands and cement blocks on the outer corners.

My 150(140 actual gallons) is on a load bearing wall on 2x10 construction. My building inspector(wife's coworker) suggested 2 Jacks under another 2 2x6 beam. I used 2x8 just because. My joists are perpendicular.