Floor vs new tank

Inkmouse · Jun 27, 2024

Hello, I started down the salt water tank hobby about a year ago.
My first tank purchased was a 65 gallon and I began my journey and
questions at my LFS. I was given what was probably not the best advise
as to most likely just make the sale at the time. Long story short, flash
forward a year later and I have a 65 gallon with a crapton of HOB equipment
all over it. At this point I'm looking to upgrade into something much
larger and will last me for years to come. I've been eyeing the WaterBox
INFINIA Reef 190.

After a good bit of searching though this forum I know this question
seems to come up a bit and the overall definitive answer is to get
a professional to come and inspect. However before I go that route
and call and pay for someone to inspect. I would just like anyone who
has a little experience to weigh in as to whether or not they think
the flooring in the spot I've elected to try and place an aquarium
of this size. Will even possibly support it.

Below is the placement of where I would like to place this tank.
The horribly drawn red lines depict the direction of the joists in the
floor. This wall is not an exterior wall but does appear to be load
bearing.

This is a picture of the joists that are in the floor along with the
reason why I belieave that wall to be load bearing. There is a steel
i-beam that runs under that wall with a jack point on the end of it.
you can also see the type of joist in the flooring are I-Joists.

This picture is where that steel i-beam runs across in my basement
and is directly under that wall.

Again I know only a professional who is qualified and comes out to inspect would be able to say for sure.
I would just like some collective opinions. As for the putting it in the basement option that I have seen
suggested in other threads. I would like to somewhat avoid that as there is no walk out to this
basement and trying to get a tank of this size down a flight of stairs that has an L bend in it would be painful.

ScottD · Jun 27, 2024

The fact you have the steel beam underneath and the floor I joists are running perpendicular to the wall and long dimension of the tank are a step in the right direction.

hoffmeyerz · Jun 27, 2024

I will preface this with I'm not there in person and am going off your images alone.
I am, however, a hardwood flooring contractor and a licensed residential builder. From your description and what I see in the images you should be good to go. The weight of that tank will disperse across those joists and travel down the beam directly to your basement floor.
Keep in mind those joists are made to go longer spans but do give more deflection so you may see movement in the tank when walking by. This isnt necessarily bad, if something can't bend....that's when it breaks!

javajaws · Jun 27, 2024

Just make sure the stand base isn't on legs - those wouldn't spread the weight around very well. A base with full contact would be suggested.

CO2TLEY · Jun 27, 2024

I’m not an engineer by any means, considering that the tank would be parallel to the floor joist and sitting on a steel beam suggest this is a load bearing wall. I think you would be fine

gbroadbridge · Jun 27, 2024

Inkmouse said:
Hello, I started down the salt water tank hobby about a year ago.
My first tank purchased was a 65 gallon and I began my journey and
questions at my LFS. I was given what was probably not the best advise
as to most likely just make the sale at the time. Long story short, flash
forward a year later and I have a 65 gallon with a crapton of HOB equipment
all over it. At this point I'm looking to upgrade into something much
larger and will last me for years to come. I've been eyeing the WaterBox
INFINIA Reef 190.

After a good bit of searching though this forum I know this question
seems to come up a bit and the overall definitive answer is to get
a professional to come and inspect. However before I go that route
and call and pay for someone to inspect. I would just like anyone who
has a little experience to weigh in as to whether or not they think
the flooring in the spot I've elected to try and place an aquarium
of this size. Will even possibly support it.

Below is the placement of where I would like to place this tank.
The horribly drawn red lines depict the direction of the joists in the
floor. This wall is not an exterior wall but does appear to be load
bearing.

This is a picture of the joists that are in the floor along with the
reason why I belieave that wall to be load bearing. There is a steel
i-beam that runs under that wall with a jack point on the end of it.
you can also see the type of joist in the flooring are I-Joists.

This picture is where that steel i-beam runs across in my basement
and is directly under that wall.

Again I know only a professional who is qualified and comes out to inspect would be able to say for sure.
I would just like some collective opinions. As for the putting it in the basement option that I have seen
suggested in other threads. I would like to somewhat avoid that as there is no walk out to this
basement and trying to get a tank of this size down a flight of stairs that has an L bend in it would be painful.

Of course any advice you receive here is worth exactly what you paid for it

If you're concerned (obviously you are or you would not have posted in the first place) you should engage a professional engineer who will do the calculations and give you a written opinion which will be worth more than you paid for if disaster strikes.

The tank will be there a long time, and sometimes just when you think it must be okay and nothing is going to happen something does.

Like this pictured below that suddenly failed in the middle of the night after 8 years and flooded the basement.
I thought it was fine even though technically was not rated for the continuous pressure.

IMO

ChrisfromBrick · Jun 27, 2024

i would think the steel beam is great but also thinking that a jack of some sort pressed up against the a piece of very rigid metal spread across the load will be an extra insurance policy to help carry the load and avoid deflection.

Inkmouse · Jun 28, 2024

Thanks for the feed back so far guys. Gives me a little piece of mind that I'm working in the right direction. I will be looking to have someone come out and calculate just to be sure.

Now I am just working on the logistics of getting the tank delivered. Which will most likely be going to my local reef shop since my drive way is inclined. I'll have to trust them to inspect for damages and accept delivery or somehow time it right that I'm there when it gets delivered.

And then with my lack of friends with muscle I will most likely be renting a uhaul which also comes with the option of hiring muscle to help you load and unload.

ca1ore · Jun 28, 2024

Frankly, tank is not THAT big, and you appear to have good structural support; so, with all of the usual caveats, were it me I would not be concerned. Hard to tell whether the basement is finished or not, but in the spirit of overbuilders anonymous, you could always slide in a couple of additional jack posts. I did that for my current 110 - not because I thought the floor would fail, but because i was trying to reduce floor bounce with two teenage sons.