We have found a house we love with room for all our fish! The owner has agreed to let us do what ever we want to support the floor since it is a pier and beam house. Problem is we don't really know how best to support it. The tank is 230 gl and I don't want to have issues down the road with the weight sitting in the same spot for years. I read about people just adding extra beams and piers under the tank and along with all kinds of other tips like putting it against the wall (which it will be). The owner of the house is talking about pouring a slab and using rebar to strengthen it. Im just don't know what is best. We have pretty loss top soil and the ground shifts pretty regularly with moisture changes.
I Dont Know How Best To Support My Tank In My New House
- Thread starter jennsmith
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Finally ... something with which I'm more familiar than aquatics.
I'm sure there's a fair number of us who understand construction and engineering principles, but I advise you to hire a contractor experienced with home building to consult you on this.
EDIT: I am not nor have I ever been a professional home builder or contractor of any sort. I have helped build several homes and have either helped or have built myself garages, decks, shops, sheds, fences and all kinds of furniture. I've also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. However, I am still not by a longshot an authority on construction or engineering. With that being said ...
If the house is properly built, no additional support should be necessary. Think about some of the stands you've seen before. Many of them are little more than pine 1-bys. Your floor joists are probably 2x12's, which can each support at least 1500 lbs across a 12 foot span.
Google "load table" for references. I've always used this one from the American Wood Council.
Top soil is mostly irrelevant, because each pier's footing is at least 24" below grade. It's not like building a porch where you can throw down a deck block and go.
EDIT: The footing should be below the frost line. Down south, your pier may only be 6-8" deep. In Minnesota, they're often 5 or 6 feet deep. I believe most of America is 24-36".
Placing the aquarium near a wall isn't necessarily good advice, because beams and piers are more likely to be near walls and corners. You don't actually want all that weight resting right on top of a single beam or pier. Instead, you want the weight spread out over as large of an area as possible. If you could place it perpendicular to the floor joists centered between 4 piers, you'd be set.
You're better off sistering the floor joists beneath the aquarium. To properly add a new pier and beam, the area above the beam has to be jacked up and then set back down on the new beam after construction. Even then, the new pier is going to settle and throw off the load balance a bit anyway.
Properly adding a new set of piers and a beam will not be cheap.
I'm sure there's a fair number of us who understand construction and engineering principles, but I advise you to hire a contractor experienced with home building to consult you on this.
EDIT: I am not nor have I ever been a professional home builder or contractor of any sort. I have helped build several homes and have either helped or have built myself garages, decks, shops, sheds, fences and all kinds of furniture. I've also stayed at a Holiday Inn Express. However, I am still not by a longshot an authority on construction or engineering. With that being said ...
If the house is properly built, no additional support should be necessary. Think about some of the stands you've seen before. Many of them are little more than pine 1-bys. Your floor joists are probably 2x12's, which can each support at least 1500 lbs across a 12 foot span.
Google "load table" for references. I've always used this one from the American Wood Council.
Top soil is mostly irrelevant, because each pier's footing is at least 24" below grade. It's not like building a porch where you can throw down a deck block and go.
EDIT: The footing should be below the frost line. Down south, your pier may only be 6-8" deep. In Minnesota, they're often 5 or 6 feet deep. I believe most of America is 24-36".
Placing the aquarium near a wall isn't necessarily good advice, because beams and piers are more likely to be near walls and corners. You don't actually want all that weight resting right on top of a single beam or pier. Instead, you want the weight spread out over as large of an area as possible. If you could place it perpendicular to the floor joists centered between 4 piers, you'd be set.
You're better off sistering the floor joists beneath the aquarium. To properly add a new pier and beam, the area above the beam has to be jacked up and then set back down on the new beam after construction. Even then, the new pier is going to settle and throw off the load balance a bit anyway.
Properly adding a new set of piers and a beam will not be cheap.
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