SpankythePyro Posted February 25, 2015 Share Posted February 25, 2015 I'm about to pull the trigger on a beautiful 80g deep blue rimless+40g breeder sump+stand. I've tried multiple resources and just wanted to hear from a few experts on here about loading. I have two options, obviously the less safe if the more "ideal" for placement Option 1: 1st floor of house (with a basement underneath) up against an interior wall. Stand is running perpendicular to floor joists (I heard one source say parallel and the rest perpendicular, to me it makes sense to split it across multiple joists though. Option 2: Unfinished basement, concrete floor, basement being finished in the summer/fall. Thanks! Link to comment
Dan R Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Option 1: Can you put the sump in the basement under the tank. When you finish the basement will there be a partition under the tank to support it. Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 :/ Can't drill into the floor, let alone thats about 10ft of head pressure (high basement ceilings) Link to comment
Dan R Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Can you put any support under the tank Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 I could probably put some floor jacks under the joists thought the rents will probably nix that plan. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Do you know what the joists are? Thickness and material? I have a 75g (330l) tank with another 10g (50l) in the sump on the first floor (we have a house above 4 garages, only one of the garages is ours and we rent so I can't put plumbing through the floor) with currently no issues. I'm pretty sure the joists are 8x2 inch wood spaced 12 inches apart and rest on the concrete fire walls between the garages and the floor is 3/4 inch chipboard. The tank comes out from the exterior wall into the room about 5 feet. The tank is 3X2X2 and runs parallel to the joists, I'm thinking it must rest on at least 3 of the joists if not 4 with the chipboard spreading the load as well. Currently the tank is still in my front room and not in the neighbours garage lol. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 It's probably fine... That's not that much weight. Is it poorly constructed? Link to comment
Psychosis Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 Depending on the stand, I'm going to ballpark your set up at around 1300lbs, which should easily be supported without floor Jacks imo. Option 1. That said, for peace of mind it certainly couldn't hurt. Link to comment
Simplicity Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I'm pretty sure option 1 would be ok as long as you run it perpendicular to the joists so its spread out over as many joists as possible and obviously option 2 is a great option. Floor support would give you peace of mind and would be pretty easy to do since your basement is right underneath. Link to comment
CJJon Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I would go with the concrete floor just for the fact that it is soooo much easier when doing maintenance. I have a tank in my 1st floor studio on carpet and one in the shop on concrete. Maintenance on the carpet is a PITA. If Option 1 is on carpet, forget it. Although, I would want the tank where I am the most, which is why I have one on carpet... Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Joists look to be 2x10's at the one measurement is around 9.75". Red paint on their sides and ends. Tank would be on an interior I'm presuming load bearing wall since its perpendicular to the joists and divides the 1st floor bathroom and family room as well as den/office. it looks to also be in close proximity 5feet to the cinderblock foundation or atleast a portion of the outside foundation. The other thing that worries me is the tank being on the opposite side of the 1st floor bathroom tub. Link to comment
Benny314 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 The bath tub will probably hold a similar amount of water and there for same sort of weight, is there anything different below the bath to support it? I take it you mean the opposite side of the dividing wall. It does sound like the wall is load bearing, and as it may well be in place to support the tub, should handle the tank as well. Link to comment
ajmckay Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 I think you should be okay... There are load calculators available online where you gather some information on what kind of wood the joists are, their length, and the spacing and that will tell you the max load they can support. In PSI the result is usually higher than you might think! Floors are pretty strong. I have a 40 gallon on top of a 30 gallon and a particularly huge stand (skinned 2x4's and slate tile) and mine rests parallel to the joists. I didn't have any issues for the year or so I had it up. Though to be fair when I re-did parts of the floor I did install a "Sister joist" underneath. That's basically where you nail another joist to the one that's already there. I think I would have been fine without it but it was cheap and easy to do. The main difference installing a few of those made was reducing the "bounce" I had in the floor. Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 Yes the opposite side of the dividing wall. Nothing different beneath the bath, part of the flooring was cut out underneath the bath's drain to replace plumbing at one point but nothing large taken out of the flooring. Spacing between the joists is 16in Link to comment
Benny314 Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 If it holds the bath one side, the other should have no issues with the tank. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 It makes sense for someone with like a 500g tank to think this through. Unless your floor is rotting it's really just not that much weight Link to comment
SpankythePyro Posted February 26, 2015 Author Share Posted February 26, 2015 nice, looks like I'll have 80g and a wheelbarrow full of money tied up now Link to comment
Simplicity Posted February 26, 2015 Share Posted February 26, 2015 nice, looks like I'll have 80g and a wheelbarrow full of money tied up now Lol! Link to comment
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