Starting to regret buying a 180 and its not even set up yet

[neurosis]

So I think I'm having buyers remorse, or maybe I'm just overwhelm with all that could go wrong with where I'm placing my tank. My previous tank was a 90 gal that sat in our dinning/kitchen on the main floor, above the basement. This was great because I could run a basement sump because the tank sat directly above my utility room. We recently remodeled this year and put down engineered flooring new cabinets and appliances, I did most of the install myself, so I thought I'd treat myself to an upgraded tank.
Well I should have done more research because now I'm worried about reinforcing the floor. The tank runs perpendicular to the joists. Joists are 2x10 spaced 16". Its a 13' run to the next load bearing wall. I believe I have room to add columns but not just directly under the tanks corners, one side will be close, the other about 3' away. I could run a beam of two 2x6 and have the columns support the beams, I'm thinking of sistering the current joists as well. I'm no structural engineer though. Any help on this would be appreciated.
I'm also thinking I need to shim the front of the stand up. But from what I've read a tank this size should have a level flat base. Can I still shim?
I'm also worried about my floors, not so much small spill but a complete malfunction.
I could place the tank in the basement on concrete, but no one would see it down there.
Has anyone been in the same position as me?

 

[Zack K]

Anyway you can make a spectate room down their for just the sump. That means putting up another wall to hold the weight. Win win. Supports the tank and confines the fish stuff to its own room. Other wise I know @Brew12 is an electrician so maybe he can tag some other to help.

 

[neurosis]

Anyway you can make a spectate room down their for just the sump. That means putting up another wall to hold the weight. Win win. Supports the tank and confines the fish stuff to its own room. Other wise I know @Brew12 is an electrician so maybe he can tag some other to help.

Its a little tight in the utility room with the washer dryer, water softener, sump and so on. The columns are going to be tough to place where they're not in the way, so wall would be real hard to manage unfortunately.

 

[Zack K]

I personally would say your okay if it runs perpendicular with the joists. Other wise I like the pillars and beam. Just something to even out the weight.

 

[Zonly1]

I thought perpendicular was a good thing and parallel was an issue. [emoji848]

 

[Zack K]

I thought perpendicular was a good thing and parallel was an issue. [emoji848]

You are correct.

 

[tgp4274]

ok so my father is "somewhat" an architect.......
if you could give a sketch of joists and placement of tank and point of sale placement of beams and poles
i may be able help

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'll state I'm not an Engineer, but another possible solution is to sister the joists....add a second joist to a number of joists close to where the tank will sit. Suggest gluing and then double screwing about every 18 inches. This is what I did.

The other critical component of transfering load to adjoining joists is to include bridging / blocking. This really helps with load transfer....greatly "stiffens" the floor. You can see the bridging (X) in the photo above.

 

[neurosis]

I thought perpendicular was a good thing and parallel was an issue. [emoji848]

Yes it is but from my understanding I will still need to add more support, even though the joists are perpendicular and the tank will be on a load bearing wall (outside wall)

ok so my father is "somewhat" an architect.......
if you could give a sketch of joists and placement of tank and point of sale placement of beams and poles
i may be able help

I'll try to sketch somthing up in the next day or so, thanks

I'll state I'm not an Engineer, but another possible solution is to sister the joists....add a second joist to a number of joists close to where the tank will sit. Suggest gluing and then double screwing about every 18 inches. This is what I did.

The other critical component of transfering load to adjoining joists is to include bridging / blocking. This really helps with load transfer....greatly "stiffens" the floor. You can see the bridging (X) in the photo above.

Yes, I plan to sister the joists, problem is I can't run the sister the full run because one side is blocked with vents and water lines. I can only do 6' runs max on a 13' run.

Thanks guys

 

[tgp4274]

sistering the joists only doubles the weight....
from what i was told (dad) home floors are only built for a 40lb live load and 10lb dead load
so say tank weighs in at 2500 that puts load over 5 joists at 500lb live load..
so per say sistering turns that to 250 live load
but that does change by span length.
so i would say if you run beams and columns as close to the tanks placement would be best
you would only have to do this on the joists under the tank
so if said tank is 6ft and runs under 5 joists
would only have to have a 6ft beam under said joists

explained as best can

i could prob draw up what i meen if need better understanding

 

[TheAquarian]

I am not an engineer, I have 30 years in residential and commercial framing. If you can double the floor joist under the footprint of the tank 6’x 2’ and solid block between the joist ( at each side if the joist aren’t blocked the the bearing wall). And add a double 2x4 flat ( in the same way as top plates of a wall) and post the corners down to the basement slab. You could drive the tank in the bed of my truck into position.
I can sketch it for you if needed.

 

[TheKyle]

I am not an engineer, I have 30 years in residential and commercial framing. If you can double the floor joist under the footprint of the tank 6’x 2’ and solid block between the joist ( at each side if the joist aren’t blocked the the bearing wall). And add a double 2x4 flat ( in the same way as top plates of a wall) and post the corners down to the basement slab. You could drive the tank in the bed of my truck into position.
I can sketch it for you if needed.

+1

This is about what I did for my 210g with 50 gallon sump. I have the added issue that the tank runs parallel to the joists and honestly I think this was still overkill. Was able to sister full span and install blocking between. Used triple 2x6 as a beam held up by two jack posts I bought from Home Depot.

 

[ca1ore]

I'd think if the rear of the tank is right up against a weight bearing wall (or even sitting on the sill) and you're 'covering' four 2x10 joists that you'd be fine. The issue isn't so much floor failure as it is stability and deflection. I'm a charter member of over engineers Annonymous, so I'd throw a couple of jack posts in the basement as close to the front corners as I could. No problem shimming the front of the stand, just use them every 6" if you can. 180 is an awesome size for a tank; had mine for almost 20 years before putting it out to pasture.

 

[neurosis]

Ok thanks for the replies, I'm a bit less worried now. Here's a sketch up I did, its not to size but fairly close.
I wont be able to get the beam or columns directly under the tank because I have a drain in my floor and the cement angles downwards around it, I'll post a pic up in a comment bellow. So basically the foot of the column will sit on a slant. Also If I were to place it close to that corner, the column would be nearly in the middle of the room and its already pretty tight down there with my basement sump and washer dryer. In a perfect world, I would place the left column on the left hand side of the sump, but then it would be nearly 5' away from the corner.

 

[Kershaw]

My house is on a elavated foundation. I have floor joists that are 4 feet apart they are 6x 10 or something similar.
I had my 180 on an interior wall Running parallel with joists.
Had a hose clamp break leaking about 20 gallons of water into Stand and floor. There is a 6x2 water stain on the floor now. With that being said. I had it on this floor for 4 years no issue. Even with the water damage the floor is flat not and tank stayed level.
If you add any support you should be fine. I would advice maybe adding tile flooring where tank will be. If you are using pergo type flooring.

 

[neurosis]

Heres an actual pic of my basment. The tank footprint is outlined in red. As you can see if I were to to place the tank under the left front corner it would be in the middle, making water changes (sump on the left) and washing clothes (right) a pain. I would prefer to move the left column all the way against the left wall behind the sump, but thats 5' away from the corner

 

[neurosis]

My house is on a elavated foundation. I have floor joists that are 4 feet apart they are 6x 10 or something similar.
I had my 180 on an interior wall Running parallel with joists.
Had a hose clamp break leaking about 20 gallons of water into Stand and floor. There is a 6x2 water stain on the floor now. With that being said. I had it on this floor for 4 years no issue. Even with the water damage the floor is flat not and tank stayed level.
If you add any support you should be fine. I would advice maybe adding tile flooring where tank will be. If you are using pergo type flooring.

Yeah, I'm going to invest in an apex with leak detection. My electrical panel sits below my tank. If I get water on the main breaker I'm in trouble!

 

[TheAquarian]

Can you do this instead? The blocking and the beam would be the most beneficial closer to the tank, but with the span of 5’ your still fine. Solid block the joist the entire length of the beam and directly over the beam this will distribute the load across a larger area

 

[Kershaw]

Can you pull washer and dryer far enough from wall to add a beam?

 

[neurosis]

Can you do this instead? The blocking and the beam would be the most beneficial closer to the tank, but with the span of 5’ your still fine. Solid block the joist the entire length of the beam and directly over the beam this will distribute the load across a larger area

Actually I think I can do something closer to this (see bellow). Should I sister and block the entire length of the beam?

Can you pull washer and dryer far enough from wall to add a beam?

Yes, right hand side should be no problem, its the left column that is the issue