Tank Near Stairs

[Cave Dweller]

I have a 75g that I would like to move to my fiances house, primarily in the living room. The only problem is that with the furniture etc, the only vialbe location is along the stairs. There are stairs that go up to the 2nd floor as well as down into the basement all against this wall.

My concerns are as follows:
Is this okay to put a tank along a location even though it is not of substantial size but still has some weight to it?

Can the tank still go here even though the floors supports go length-wise on the tank as opposed to multiple boards?
I will only be able to measure the spacing between the boards when I get out there later this week so I do not know them off hand.

 

[Aquadicted]

I have no idea where you want to put the tank and I've read your post 3 times.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Sorry for any misunderstandings. I am looking to put a tank against a wall the joists are parallel to. On the other side of the wall it goes down into a stairwell and am trying to see if it would need additional support.Can't really draw it from my job here but will try to give a general idea. There are doubled joists (dotted lines) on both sides of the stairwell (Bedroom) ---------------------------------------------- Doubled Joist (Wall)---------------------------------------------- (Stairwell to basement)---------------------------------------------- Doubled Joist (Wall)-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Single Joist Possible Tank Location---------------------------------------------- Single Joist (Living Room)Will have to attempt to draw it and load from home later.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Well that got shot to crap with the way my work comp displays it. Will try from home in a few hours.

 

[Cave Dweller]

What I'm trying to find out is can a tank go against a wall that has parallel joists and virtually nothing really on the other side of it.

 

[Clink51]

if it is a load baring wall then definitely. if it is not, then i dont suggest you do it, not enough support

 

[albano]

What I'm trying to find out is can a tank go against a wall that has parallel joists and virtually nothing really on the other side of it.

Are there any columns under those joists? how long is the span of those 3 joists without support?...
This probably isn't a problem with a 75g, but...

 

[Cave Dweller]

I will have to get actual measurements on it no earlier than Friday, sorry. The tank is a standard 75 though so likely it will only hit the first joist from the wall and 1 more. Despite it being out about 2 feet, thoughts about possibly putting up a piece of post 2 floor jacks under it just to be precautionary. Will see if I can get an in-law to give me some measurements.

 

[Cave Dweller]

In the area that the tank will be there currently are no supports/columns under it bracing it to the concrete floor.

 

[Nandez13]

A few questions you can answer to get better feedback:
- Dimensions of the joists?
- Spacing between the joists?
- Positioning of the tank, will it catch more than one joist?
- Horizontal distance from where the tank will sit on the joists to the location of the vertical supports/columns below?

Wood is much stronger than people give it credit for (otherwise why would they build houses out of it?). If it's catching a couple of joists, I'm sure it'll be structurally sound enough to not cause damage to the joists. The concern is the amount of deflection that the joists will incur and the effect that it will have on the flooring/walls. Excess deflection of the joists may lead to cracking of the sheetrock or flooring. Deflection calculations are fairly straightforward but there's a few variables involved that need to be considered. My wood floors definitely squeak a bit when you walk around the tank but I have no concern about the floor caving in, lol, it would take a lot more than a 75 G tank to cause that.

 

[lrasser]

What is under it? if its a basement just put a lolly column in. I did that also. $50 and your done.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Yes it is a basement below where the tank would be. My concern at that point is that the basement is active between a 3 and 7 year old and the support would be almost dead center of where they would walk to a play area.
Considering the tank would be running parallel to the joists, would I need to put in more than 1?

 

[lrasser]

I used one support on the center most beam for my fully stocked 125g. Been that way for over a year that's more support then you should ever need. Standard homes use two to support the entire house.

 

[Cave Dweller]

Again my concern is that the tank will be running the length of the joists and not crossing 3 or 4 of them. If I do put in the post, would i only do the single center one or 2 split over the length of the tank? Also will post the previous information about how long the span is before it is supported etc.Single

Double
If I'm lucky the span won't be epicly long and wont even have to worry about the additional support.

 

[Kworker]

I know the tank in question is twice the volume, but for about 15 years I've had a 29 gallon tank in the same location (on wall near stairs that leads up to second floor as well as stairs that go to basement) It was never a worry.

I believe you would be fine.. If you really are worried, add some support if possible.

 

[masterswimmer]

I also had a 29g in that exact location. I had no fear of support failure, however, there was absolutely some bounce on the floor around the tank.

I would definitely add one post. Just run a short double 2x10 perpendicular to the center of the existing joists in the center of the span. Support the 2x10's with the one post. Oh, make sure the 2x10's are standing on edge. Not laying flat on the sides.

If you're worried about kids, just wrap the post with some padding.

Hope that helps.

 

[Aquadicted]

+1 for lolly column and you will definitely be fine