Can my floor hold the weight?

[Carrera07]

I'm currently have a 240 G (96 X 24 X24) acrylic tank in the works, and I want to put it in my living room. The room is on the first floor, but it is raised off the ground. I won't be able to get in the crawspace underneath to install bracings. I plan on placing the tank perpendicular to the beams. Will my floor be able to withstand the weight? I'm estimating that the tank will weight around 180 psi. (3000/16)

[gwrulzmylife]

you can lay sheets of 3/4 of plywood down to help distribute the weight (did this with a piano). Look at what LFS stands are made of, not much! You just need to spread out the weight.

Now, as a disclaimer, you really should get under and brace up the floor, call a handyman and for less than $100 he'll do it and you won't have to get dirty!

Cheers!

[DensityMan]

I was just a little nervous listening to the creaking and settling while filling up my tiny 75g (my home is on a crawl-space as well). I know that if the tank had been any larger I would have gotten under there and braced it up first (realistically I would have called someone in to do it) ;)

[eruss]

At the very least I would have a structural engineer come out and take a look/give suggestions as necessary. A couple hundred bucks is small price to pay for the peace of mind.

[Ken Sellick]

What's your floor constructed of? Thickness of sub floor, type of assembly? If it's wood what are the floor joist sizes and the spacing of such joists? How far do the joists span? Where is the tank located in relation to major support beams and columns?
When you know all this info you can give it to a local structural engineer and for one or two hours of there time they can usually give you the correct info for your location.

[Bridge Man]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aquarium_weight.php

http://www.african-cichlid.com/Struct.htm

Give this stuff a read through, full of good info.

[Carrera07]

Thanks for all the help everyone!