The Floor Joist Headache (1 Viewer)

[Reefahholic]

I always worry about the tank because I’m on the 2nd floor. Am I overreacting or should this be a well planned execution?

The old tank leaned more to the front. As in 1/2” more after the water was in. This made me worried that it was inbetween floor joists. It was only 18” wide, but it seems no matter which way they are running that it would catch them. I think they’re 14-16” apart??

Here is a picture of the old tank, and the new tank will go here as well. I don’t want it to fall through the floor or tip forward and kill one of us so anybody that is familiar with floor and ceiling joists please let me know.

 

[PorpoiseHork]

If you are concerned about the weight distribution and overall level, cut a piece of 3/4" to 1" thick plywood that's larger than the stand to it spans to the set of joists closest to the walls. The larger the tank the ticker you want the plywood to be to resist deformation. It doesn't necessarily need to extend out much at all in the front or rear of the stand 4-6 inches should do fine, but the larger you go the more distributed the weight will be. User a router or set the saw blade to 45 degrees and cut a smooth bevel on the edges to prevent stubbed toes. You could also miter in some nice molding instead, and use wood glue and finishing nails to attach it to the plywood. If you router or cut a bevel edge I'd recommend leaving about 1/8" vertical lip edge on the bottom side to prevent chipping as well. Be sure to sand it really well then seal it with a silicone based water proof stain or paint that is meant for high traffic flooring that matches the room décor. This will provide a water resistant floor that better distributes the weight across more area, as well as providing a solid surface for shims to level the stand much better than attempting to do so directly on carpet.

 

[webster1234]

Is that an apartment or a house? You can tell the way the floor joists run if you can see where the walls are below it. They will be spanning the shortest distance possible. If it's an apartment, maybe your downstairs neighbors will let you look at what is directly under that area. Assuming they run left to right across those two walls, and are 2x10's, PorpoiseHork's suggestion is pretty solid in my opinion. Spanning 3 or more floor joists will help a lot. And my money is on they are on 18" centers. Nobody spends the money to set them on 14"-16" these days. That's what some might call "over-engineering" which seems to be a no-no in modern day construction....sad but true

 

[Reefahholic]

The 3rd pic was just random off the internet to give an idea of what it may look like under there. The 2nd pic was were my magnet found nails from the dry wall. It appears they are running the long way instead of the shorter distance across.

The plywood idea does sound good. That should even it out.

I just hope a 120 won’t go through the darn floor.

I think the nail spots that I taped are either the subflooring or sheet rock nails. The joists might be running the opposite way. If Webster is right and they’re 18” apart, that makes sense why the tank was leaning in front more.

 

[webster1234]

So is that picture of the ceiling ABOVE the tank? or of the ceiling in the room BELOW the tank?

 

[Reefahholic]

So is that picture of the ceiling ABOVE the tank? or of the ceiling in the room BELOW the tank?

It’s the ceiling above my tank. I’m on 2nd floor of 3 floors.

 

[webster1234]

If the floor plans are identical above and below, then its likely that the ones below you run the same way as the ones above you. That would also make sense as to why your tank was leaning. The floor joists get weaker the father away from the anchor point (the wall) you go. The distance between your nails on the ceiling is the distance between your floor joists. Using porpoisehorks idea, I would try and span as many of those joists as you can. Just drop down from the ceiling where they are and extrapolate that to the floor.

 

[Reefahholic]

If the floor plans are identical above and below, then its likely that the ones below you run the same way as the ones above you. That would also make sense as to why your tank was leaning. The floor joists get weaker the father away from the anchor point you go. The distance between your nails on the ceiling is the distance between your floor joists. Using porpoisehorks idea, I would try and span as many of those joists as you can. Just drop down from the ceiling where they are and extrapolate that to the floor.

I’ll have to come up with something. I don’t wanna hurt anybody.

 

[webster1234]

Why not just pretty up a nice 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood and go wall to wall with it? Or as far as it will stretch.

 

[Reefahholic]

Why not just pretty up a nice 4x8 sheet of 3/4" plywood and go wall to wall with it? Or as far as it will stretch.

I could I guess. Maybe I should just move. I’m worried these maintenance guys are gonna snitch me off.

 

[Cody]

Does the place not allow tanks? I didn’t have any issues at my apartment, but then again, I was on the first floor. They weren’t concerned with any damage though.

 

[Reefahholic]

Does the place not allow tanks? I didn’t have any issues at my apartment, but then again, I was on the first floor. They weren’t concerned with any damage though.

They haven't said anything and I don't see anything on my lease about not having a tank. So I gonna go for it again. I may install a ceiling to floor curtain in that area and surely black out the window again so my noisy neighbors don't see the blue light and wonder what it is.

I'm just trying to figure out if I can do a 120 on the second floor without it being too much weight.

Should I order a Planet Aquarium from Nick at Oceanlife, David at Urban Aquatics, or Dennis at FJW?

 

[PorpoiseHork]

They haven't said anything and I don't see anything on my lease about not having a tank. So I gonna go for it again. I may install a ceiling to floor curtain in that area and surely black out the window again so my noisy neighbors don't see the blue light and wonder what it is.

I'm just trying to figure out if I can do a 120 on the second floor without it being too much weight.

Should I order a Planet Aquarium from Nick at Oceanlife, David at Urban Aquatics, or Dennis at FJW?

A full 120g aquarium with stand, sump and various equipment will tip the scales at around 1400 +/- pounds. So definitely would want to distribute that across as many joists as possible.

Most leasing agreements have documentation on limits for permitted aquarium sizes listed in them. Failing that you could always call the leasing office and ask them and see. From my experience most either don't care or limit it to a 4' tank but no capacity specifications especially on the 1st floor. A few do list 50-75g being the largest size on the second or 3rd floor. Blackout curtains are definitely a good option for multiple reasons, but I would suggest also use shorter light colored ones between them and the window if is exposed to multiple hours of sunlight. Don't want the curtains turning into a giant radiant heater causing the tank temps to spike.

As far as who to order from. The price for the tank should all be about the same for all of them but you could call all three and compare. In the end it's probably going to come down to who's the most convenient for you to get to for ordering/pickup and who do you prefer to trade with. All of them are great to work with so take your pick.

 

[RR-MAN]

Personally I would not set up a 120/g nor a 90/g upstairs in a rental unit...WAY TOO MUCH LIABILITY. If you do decide to set one up make sure to get the best rental insurance coverage possible. You don’t want to drown in attorney fees and lawsuits.

 

[Reefahholic]

Personally I would not set up a 120/g nor a 90/g upstairs in a rental unit...WAY TOO MUCH LIABILITY. If you do decide to set one up make sure to get the best rental insurance coverage possible. You don’t want to drown in attorney fees and lawsuits.

I have 100,000,000.00 in rental insurance. I’m not joking either.

As far as the lease, it doesn’t say anything about aquariums. I reviewed it last night.

If you look at the picture, I may just put it in the nook on either LT or RT side. It’s about a 56” span. The only thing is that there is no room for my calcium reactor and it probably won’t fit under the stand. I do think it will be safer here because it’s a shorter distance with two walls.

 

[Reefahholic]

Going the other way gives me about 2’ on each side and is more ideal, but will probably not handle the weight as well. I did enjoy having the reactor up at waist level and on the side of the tank. It was very easy to monitor.

Maybe I can go with a 48x22x22 to limit it to 100/G. That will be better than 120 which is actually about 128/G when you calculate the volume because a standard 120 is really... 48.5 x 24.5 x 25

 

[Reefahholic]

But then I have to account for plumbing/overflow box and that’s gonna put my another 6” or so off that wall and put the tank out 30” off the wall. The plumbing will look like this because I do all my tanks the same way. How much inches does that look like from the back of the tank to the back of that plumbing? 6-8”???




That might be too close to view from the other side. It’s about 7.5’ from wall to wall and how the 75/G was originally set up. So if it’s 30” off the wall or so, that only gives me about 5’ on the other side to stand back and look into the tank. Maybe enough for a loveseat.

 

[Reefahholic]

I just saw they are remodeling the office at my apartments. I got some good pictures of what it likely looks like in the floor/ceiling of my actual apartment. Now I can see why at some places my magnet wants to grab a six inch area. There are some metal clips on the 2x6’s. I sure hope this is enough to support a 120/G. Looks weak to me.

 

[Reefahholic]

I’d like to think the tank is sitting like this??

 

[Reefahholic]

Will this be me?