I have a 65 in my livingroom, against a load bearing wall and across floor joists, but I still have incredible anxiety about it going through the floor or breaking. It is level from all angles. The floor is wood, the unit built in the late 40's to early 50's. The water jiggles when we walk by or when my kids scoot by.
Posted by General_Fruit_8135
36 Comments
it’s not a fish tank but my bearded dragon enclosure is 120 gallons, kept on the same tank stand is my 10 gallon aquarium. on the second floor. i’m no architect but it should be okay
Your floor joists will be significantly stronger than the stand the tank is sitting on. Should be fine. The small movements are normal. Even your mass walking around causes some flex, you just don’t notice.
If water is sloshing out the top as you walk by, then you may have a problem…
As long as it’s sitting flat on all four corners. Having it a bit off level is ok. If you are worried about it falling. What I do with my big tanks. I have four 100gallon tanks and a 125gallon. I attach the stands to the wall. I find the studs and use long screws. But first I use two 2”x4” as spacers to get off the wall a bit. Those are what I screw in to the studs in the wall. Then I screw my stand in to them. After i have confirmed that my stand is level and my tank is sitting on all sides/corners.
First floor. Sitting on concrete so I’m not really concerned at all. It’s a 90g.
Consider a bathtub holds like 40-60gallons and your floor is fine, I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless you have previous floor problems
The potential for falling through the floor is pretty minimal. The jiggling would give me the heebie-jeebies, but I’m more worried about water damage.
I’ve had a leak in a 40 destroy our wood flooring and had to move out of my home for two weeks. Now anything sizable is in my garage on a concrete slab, and that’s my advice for anybody who would be annoyed by a surprise eviction.
I had a 55 upgraded to a 75 gallon tank in the middle of the house (it was against a wall in my room that was centered relative to the house) for 12-15ish years, pier and beam foundation and it was actually not sitting directly on top of the beams as we thought it was. The tank also shook a bit when walking past it but not violently enough to cause any concern, I went under the house before setting up my next tank to check on the foundation and there were no issues at all.
I currently have a 125 gallon in the same room now against a load bearing wall and still across the joists, a 65g should be perfectly fine unless you have a serious foundation issue.
How many floor joists is it across, how far OC are they spaced?
I had my 75g fall through the sub floor because some dumbass(me) didn’t check the floor joist distancing and they ended up being 50” OC.
In the basement on a concrete floor. There is a drain in the floor and there is slight grade toward the drain. The only real way to be worry free lol.
Basement in my rec room
I have a 135G and 90G in my basement. Then a 55G in my main floor office (Bungalow)
I have an 80 gallon on our main floor in our living room and a 55 gallon in our foyer. With all that you’ve done to ensure the tank is level and supported, you are fine barring serious structural problems with the house or defects in the aquarium (which is more likely but still improbable).
We purchased an old house not too long ago, and I had a structural engineer inspect the house after old termite damage was found. I talked to him pretty extensively about this and learned that I was really overthinking it. I learned that house main floors are built to withstand a lot of weight, and that 85 gallons isn’t really big enough to worry about. Repairs made to the termite damage were likely just as strong if not stronger than the original joists so I didn’t have anything to worry about there either.
He told me 100 gallons + and you have some minor concerns, but even then a 100 gallon tank spread out on multiple floor joists up against an exterior wall shouldn’t be an issue for a house that is structurally sound.
Secondary floors are a different story though, and above 150 gallons he recommended additional supports added to the joists under the aquarium.
In my unfinished basement. Sorry…lol
If the stand can hold it the floor has 0 problems. The stand will break first
As long as your joist are not rotted or heavy termite damage your fine. Enjoy your tank.
I have a 75G in my living room basically center of my house. I’ve never once worried about the floor supporting it.
Basement. But I have really big tanks.
120g on the ground floor with boards and joists. I took my floorboards up and stacked bricks under the joists for extra piece of mind. Probably didn’t need to but the tank runs in the same direction as the joists so I was a bit anxious about it.
75 gallon in the basement. Nothing but vinyl flooring and concrete under that bad boy 🤣
I used to have a 100g for years and years on a first floor. No issues.
My husband had a three hundred gallon saltwater aquarium and he wanted it upstairs in his office, but I was always afraid it would fall through the floor.
The aquarium itself weighed a ton, plus saltwater weighs more than freshwater and he had almost 500 pounds of live rock.
He was adamant about it helping keep him relaxed and he wanted it upstairs. Fortunately, he was right- it never fell through the floor, although I moved everything expensive out of the room below it just in case 😂
Mine aren’t massive, but my house only has one floor, and the 2 bigger tanks that I have are supported well by the stands they’re on.
You are totally fine.
Single floor home,
https://preview.redd.it/fbaxnidg4pjg1.jpeg?width=5712&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=861989fb28dd7852e8e3a38566a6985231064f47
2 125g side by side.
I have a 125gal on first floor tiles. No problems for me but I would never dare to put something bigger than a 20 gal upstairs for due to the possibility of leaks (especially during vacation). If I am away for a 5 day vacation and a 20 gal emptied itself onto my second floor it is not as bad as if it were to be a much larger tank. Currently I am in the process of moving all tanks downstairs and will never place one upstairs again as a friend of mine did go through what I just mentioned but with a 40 gal and it ruined so many things.
125g 3rd floor for years.
I’ve got a 65 gallon on the second floor. The house was built in the 40’s and the tank spans across the floor joists close to a load bearing wall underneath it. The floor is oak. Been there for at least 15 years. I’m setting up a small rack system opposite that tank again, against a wall and spanning the floor joints across. That rack will only have a total of about 30 gallons on it.
On the ground floor..180 gallons plus huge stand and 40 gal sump… just moved into an apt abd that was the very 1st thing I brought up
120g on the ground floor of a slab house so I’m good. Only fear is the seams failing and finding 120g of water on the living room floor.
Well, take it from me… don’t have your 75 gal. in your library on the main floor on newly finished original oak floors. I found out mine had a leaky filtering system when I was in the basement working and the ceiling fell in on me. I have completely given up on this hobby after this mess. Didn’t help that my 13 year old piranha died 2 days later on my birthday! I may feel differently down the road, but this was about a month ago. Im just glad it wasn’t my 150 gal.
Mine are on the attic, the 1st one is a meter long turtle tank, filled 100% the 2nd one is a meter and 20cm long turtle tank filled for 30/40%
i’ve got a 90g in my living room against a wall, kind of wish i had moved it about a foot to the left but at this point i ain’t fucking with it
I don’t have a big tank but I have a few. Currently working on condensing them down but the idea is to have 2 5s and 2 20s
Mine is in the basement. The basement is finished but its in a portion of the basement where there is ceramic tile flooring. The previous homeowner left spare ceramic tiles too so, if I ever need to tear it up due to a big spill or something, I can.
The opposite side of the wall is also the sub pump crock. So the water would just navigate there I’d imagine.
If you and 3 other people stood back to back in one place in your house, how worried would you be that your were overloading the houses capacity to hold you? You would not be. That’s probably around how much this weighs.
I have a 40 gallon and a 60 gallon on the second floor on outside walls. I just hope for the best😭💔
Had my 120 gallon on a second floor for 8 years. Recently got rid of it, kinda miss it but I dont at the same time lol
I now have a 300 gallon bait tank in my garage keeping creek chubs and fathead minnows. So im still in the game
1st floor. Along the main beam, joists perpendicular, and two jack stands with a 4×4 post between them
It’s only a 40 gallon 🤣