Tank Weight?

I've read a few places to be careful of weight on larger tanks. We've decided to go with a 250 gal (60x36x27).

It will be on the ground floor against the middle of the wall. Obviously I'm assuming the corners would offer more support, but I want to be able to get around 3 sides of the tank.

There is a 3 foot crawl space under the entire floor area.

Anything I should check for? Any way to see if the floor can support that kind of load? Should I be concerned about weight?

 

When you look under there check to see if there are any supports going from the sub floor to the foundation. That would be the best place to put a tank and they usually position those under load bearing walls.

 

I had to brace the floor of a "manufactured home" once for a 55g long. It's not hard, I just put several 4x4 posts from the cement foundation slab to the flooring above, sort of like a tank stand under the stand. I wasn't against a supported wall tho.

I would imagine with a 200+g tank you' want to do that anyways... peace of mind and all.

If you're on a skirt foundation (dirt floor, cement "skirt" wall) then you'll need to put down a sub foundation. 5g buckets 1/2 full of cement work well. You could also use cinder blocks and plywood if you're in a dry climate.

You're looking at just over 2000 pounds for your tank, so safer is better than sorry later on.

You could also do a dry run test with a load of bricks... get 2000# worth and set them in the same area and see if the floor holds. If it does it will. If not, at least you don't have water to clean up

-Doug

 

try these.

Maximum Span Calculator for Joists & Rafters
http://www.awc.org/pdf/WSDD/C5.pdf

 

LOL thanks!

Thanks for the links!