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Is This Safe?

Noahs ark6

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Hi

I'm looking to get a fluval roma 120. It would go on the second floor. My house is 180 years old. The dimensions of the tank are:-
80 x 35 x 115cm inc cabinet. Would this be safe? (tank would be placed by a wall) :good:
 
The only way to tell for certain is to get a structural engineer in to look (which will cost you, unless you happen to know one!).

But I would have thought it would be fine; I have 240l tanks upstairs in my house with no issues. Make sure it goes across the joists, which normally run opposite to the floorboards, so you want your tank to go the same way as the floorboards do. You can probably find the joists by looking at the nails in the boards. An outside wall is best too.

Also, if you can stand the whole thing on a flat board (like a piece of ply) rather than legs or feet to spread the weight, that should give you some peace of mind.
 
I would think that all internal walls were load bearing walls 180years ago, am I correct? Any chance you can pull up the floor boards?
 
i made this, dont know if it'll help...
jjj.webp
 
120l is 120 kg...thats 264.6 so about 18.8571429 ... so find someone who weights about 14 stone and give them another 4 stone to hold? ... stand on the spot u want the tank for 10 mins...ish... if u see any problems then no... if not get them to jump... if they dont go though the floor your probably safe


youd be better to put it in the corner ... so its got 2 load barring walls


like where the blue rectangle is
rthkr.jpg
 
If the way you have it in your diagram is correct you would not have you tank where the green or blue areas are as the whole weight of the tank would be on 1 joist. Joists run the opposite way to your floor boards, so as you look at your diagram your joists will run from top to bottom, putting a tank in the corner wont be supported by 2 load barring walls as all the weight is on the joists which only go into oppositing walls not connecting ones. Its best to put the tank on an outside wall if possible not room dividers as them walls are usually thinner, as mentioned before take any feet that are on bottom of your stand so weight is distributed accross the base of the stand instead of 4 pounts. Check your joists for there condition, any that have got damp or have an infestation will heavily weaken them andwhat is the dimensions of your joists? I had a 200l on 3 6x2 joists and have a 400l spread over 4 8x2 joists, the 400l is also screwed to the wall to take some weight of the floor, both upstairs. I would say yours should be fine if your joists are in fine condition but if you are really going to worry about this then get a structural engineer in.
 

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