200g 2nd floor apt safe?

[chrissreef]

I'm on the second floor of 12 yr old apartments (pretty new/modern in Dallas)

Everything is go for the following but now I wonder about support:

200g + 200lb rock + glass + stand + fuge + equipment (3/4 chiller, ca reactor, skimmer etc.)

Can 2-3 beams support this? Below the wall the tank will be against is the wall of a garage - with the body of the tank over the garage itself (car) on 3 beams (I'm ASSUMING these are beams - could they be less like 2x4's?

it just sounds soooOOOOO heavy - more than anything I've ever had.

48x36x30 cube


Thanks!

[saltman123]

200G X Roughly 8.36per Gallon = 1672 pounds
200lb Live Rock
Live Sand?

Sounds like a lot to me....but who knows, it will probably hold Good Luck.

[jeweldamsel]

It will be as heavy as a pick up ...

[Blown 346]

As long as the beams of the 2nd floor dont run with the length of the tank you will be fine. Those beams are larger then 2x4's and are made to support more than what one room on the 2nd floor weighs. If they were only made to hold furniture and 3 or 4 people alot of 2nd floor buildings would fall in.

[guardrail]

i say go to the apartment and ask if u can see the blueprints of the apartment and research how old the place is and get some opinions from people that know load bearing issues... no reason to get sued over something like this... i know if i lived in the upper floor of my apartment the tank would fall through like half full if not just with liverock... thank god i live on the basement floor.

[saltman123]

PS - 12 years old is NOT old. Many houses near me are easily 75 to 100 years old.....guess they don't build them like they used too

[chrissreef]

The apt said any size tank is fine, to just show that I have renters insurance (but I'm only covered for 8k... not enough if something did happen)... I don't really feel like paying for 30k coverage either =/

I'll ask to see blueprints, and I'll ask the lfs for an honest answer.

Yes the beams run the length of the tank... but it's almost a cube (48x36). I'd be lucky to get 1 more beam if I rotated the tank. I'm curious how strong wood is =) (or the nails holding them together!!)

[Zucker26]

You might not be interested in this solution, but I'v seen it done before by friend's of mine to support really heavy furniture.

You could always build a support structure, like a pedestal or a stage, that would raise the tank and stand up a few inches and stick out a few feet around the tank. It would increase the footprint and disperse the load. There are ways to make it look very elegant if you wanted to tile it to match other parts of your apartment, or even match your current carpet and make it look like there is a raised platform for viewing your tank. You would just need to extend it as far as you need to include more floor joists in the support.

[ACBlinky]

Is this a low-rise, or high-rise apartment building? High-rise buildings are made with concrete and steel, and I can't see much of a problem with 2000lbs over that footprint (I'm no engineer though).

I visited a friend who lived in a condo on the 11th floor, and kept two 180g tanks about 4' apart, with various smaller tanks throughout the place. No issues whatsoever. The large tanks were in the middle of a room - he had built a tank room between the back of the tanks and the outside wall - and the condo was fine with what he'd done.

I do recommend speaking with a structural engineer, but I think you'll be just fine. An apartment floor can handle things like water beds, large numbers of people (though live loads and dead loads like a tank are different types of stress), refrigerators, etc. If a large tank was enough to collapse the floor... well, I wouldn't want to live in that building

[Blown 346]

Originally posted by chrissreef
The apt said any size tank is fine, to just show that I have renters insurance (but I'm only covered for 8k... not enough if something did happen)... I don't really feel like paying for 30k coverage either =/

I'll ask to see blueprints, and I'll ask the lfs for an honest answer.

Yes the beams run the length of the tank... but it's almost a cube (48x36). I'd be lucky to get 1 more beam if I rotated the tank. I'm curious how strong wood is =) (or the nails holding them together!!)

Wood is very strong, thats why it is used for everything but high rise buildings for support. I know for a fact the the wood will hold the tank with no problem. Its just not nails that hold beams eertc together, the beams are supported by other structures of the house like cement foundations, brace beams etc. The beams your tank will be resting on also have support from other areas of the building, so one piece of wood doesnt take the full brunt of weight.

[MikeBrke]

I know in Florida through Geico renters insurance, they do not cover anything relating to broken fishtanks. So if it did break or collapse, and flooded your and someone else's apartment, they would not cover it.

In my opinion, make sure that the renters insurance will cover a fish tank breaking or collapsing before you put it up. If they don't (which is very likely) it is not worth the risk. If it broke or collapsed you would be out a whole lot of money/time/energy with repairs and legal action from the apartment owner.

You should just get a smaller tank :-)

[Ruskin]

I would doubt very much that they are 2x4's. They are probably at the minimum 2x8's but more likely they are some sort of engineered wood joist (assuming it is infact wood and not concrete). If you can find out which way the joists run all the better, the more joists your tank sits on the less you will have to worry. Assuming they run and your tank picks up two or three of them, they most likely bear on that garage wall right below your tank which would make it all the better.

[Ruskin]

Btw, how big is the garage? Id guess that the joists would run the smaller distance (probably parallel with the garage door)

[limitedslip]

Im glad my apartment is made outa concrete and steel ^^. 125 on a second story, no problems, usually, in the rent agreement, they have a max tank size they allow, and if they allow waterbeds, you can usually convince them that its not fair because waterbeds have more water, and you can add more ^^. thats what I did.

[chrissreef]

thanks, its 2 floor apts, not a highrise weight is all on the center of 3 beams over a single car garage. Guess I'm more worried about how the beams are support now maybe someone at lowes knows. I'll stop by new homes and see how garages are, maybe apts are similar.

[Mark426]

The Good News:
I am a building contractor and you will be fine for the reasons several others have stated. Keep in mind, its against the wall where its even stronger. I wouldn’t be surprised if you experience some bounce in the floor though. Even though most apts don’t allow 500 gallon waterbeds on the second floor ....1000's of people do it. Have you ever heard of one falling thru the floor? Didn’t think so.

The Bad News:
If you go to the apartment management and tell them you want to put in a tank that size, they will say NO WAY...GUARANTEED. Unlikely you will get your hands on the blueprints and asking will only raise eyebrows or a call to Homeland Security. Looking at other stuff wont help you, code changes so often and each engineer has their own way of designing load distribution, your just taking a wild guess.
If anything ever happened...you are on the hook for ALL damages. If your going to do it...just keep your mouth shut.

Now if it were me..... I would get a ground floor apt or do what I do ..NANO REEFING...its much more interesting than large reefs anyway.

[jeweldamsel]

Good idea on the ground floor apt. Easier for you to move the tank as well. When I had my 210 gal glass aquarium delivered to me, they sent four big guys to carry it in from the drive way to the living room. After that, they seemed to be out of breath.