thinking of upgrading to a 125, will the floor hold it??

[markrxdi]

I have a 55 gallon now with a 30 gal sump, it is over a 2 car garage on the 2nd floor and is not on a load bearing wall. It is over the center of the garage on an interior wall because that is the only spot it will fit. It does run parellel to the joists and the joists sit on a beam which is made up of 3-2"x10" s which looks like it runs the length of the house and is supported by 4 total posts. there are 2 support posts underneath the beam in the garage. the posts are the circular steel type with the middle of them filled with concrete. They are about 15' apart and one of them is pretty close to being right under the tank. I am thinking about uprgrading to a 120 or a 125. Would i need to add some additional support or will this be sufficent? I am unable to access the floor joist because of the plaster cieling in the gargage. the center beam is exposed if needed. Just dont want any accidents happening. thanks

[ihopss]

A Structural Engineer would be the person to talk to,

[anjhof]

There are a lot of different opinions out there on this subject, but remember that unless they have qualifications to know the answer, you may be trusting some random person with an important decision.
With that being said, here are my thoughts:
Joists running parallel to the tank are not a good thing. You want the weight distributed across multiple joists. The closer you are to a support beam, the better. Most floors won't collapse, but you may get some deflection in the floor which at minimum could be annoying, at worst it could cause structural damage or cracking of the drywall.

[markrxdi]

edit, the tank would be running perpendicular to the joists, not parellel. was getting confused after a long day at work

[rbursek]

Perpendicular is a good thing, that would mean that the beam is running parralel to the tank which is good. The closer the tank is to a wall if there is a wall below the wall your tank is against is a good thing also.
Bob

[markrxdi]

unfortunatley, there is no wall beneath where the tank would go, there is only one load bearing wall in the room and it would not fit on that wall. But like I said there are to posts underneath the beam which is right below the wall it would go against.

[The_Browns]

I agree with ihopss - Structural Engineer

[rbursek]

Sometimes at your local lumber yard and home improvement center, in there buildind/planning department they can do a load calculation, you do not need to be an engineer to do this. You can take a classe for it, one semester class at most Jr. colleges. They may have someone there that can.
Bob

[TropTrea]

Actuallyyou do not even need the class. 10 years ago I know I found an on line calculator for calculations like this.

Some points to remember is how far will the tank be from the nearest suport be it either the load bearing wall or your 3 2X10's. How long is the span between these suports. What is the size and spacing of your floor joists.

When we built our sun room 10 years ago we used 2 X 12's spaced 12" on center with a 14' span in order to suport my tanks which was prescribed by our building inspector. With a double 75 gallon tank set up near the outside wall we had some floor deflection noted when we rebuilt from our fire. Under my new tank we are now running double joists at the ends of the tank where we found the deflection before.

My general thoughts on your situation is that I would not try it. However I do not have all the particulars and prefer holding to the a good margin of saftey.

As an added note even though something designed correct does not mean that the after the carpenters rough tolerances everything will line up correctly.

Dennis

[rbursek]

Just a thought, after reading TropTrea reply, check with your building inspecter, he might run the calculation for you, and some advice.
Bob

[anjhof]

Or he might hit you up for a building permit, which would cost you a fee. Some villages are tough on these things. I also wonder if he would be willing to take the liability of telling you that it is safe.

[rbursek]

Permits are usually required if you have work down, I quess the liability is up to him and his training and education, it does hurt to ask. IMO
Bob

[tkeracer619]

To me it sounds as if it is load bearing. You have posts underneath supporting the main beam that is made up of (3) 2x10's. Then you have the rest of the floor supported by that beam. To me that is a load bearing beam, if you cut it out, the house would collapse right?

If this is a 6 foot tank the wieght will be about ~110lbs per square foot.

How many beams would this tank cross over?

I put a 100 gallon tank above my garage no problems. I have a large beam accross the garage but its all finished so I have no clue what it is made of. I also parked my $60,000 honda underneath it with full confidence.

[markrxdi]

ya, i guess it could be considered load bearing because of the two posts underneath, i will have to check when i get home how many joists it would be crossing over but im guessing at least 6 or 7

[tkeracer619]

Originally posted by rbursek
You can take a classe for it, one semester class at most Jr. colleges.
Bob

I'm not sure I would want to just jump into Statics and Strengths of Materials. That is a 300 level class with a 400 level attitude. My exams consisted of 3 hours and 7 problems, choose 5 .

They might offer an easier course that is similar to a standard trig class, which could also be sufficient to give a rough estimate. But that might be like asking a financial person for legal advice.

If your good at math and physics then the class is fun, otherwise it would be like running over your foot with a truck. I did enjoy it though .