125G on top floor....concerns

[PineHill]

I plan to set-up my new 125G on the 3rd floor(top floor) of my house.  This may sound stupid to some and it did to me too at first but for some reason I am still skeptical to put over 1500lbs in such a small area on the top floor.  I'm sure it would hold and not cause damage, however some (un-experienced and worryfull) people say it won't and this worries me.  Could someone offer some advice on this decision and tell me some other cons I might face while having a large aquarium on the top floor.  Thanks.

[babblefish1960]

The siphon for removing water and gunk during water changes will be unsatisfactory.  Additionally, the fish will become neurotic, not because of the floor itself being so at hand, rather that the unpredictable and fast moving feet that walk by throughout the day will teach them to scatter more often than not.

[beowulf]

I don't think he means right on the floor Babble but on the third floor of his house and on a stand..right Pinehill?  I would hope you would have a stand if not as Jody mentioned things can be annoying.  As for the weight on the small area of floor, how old is the house?  As long as the joists are in good condition and you place the tank perpendicular to them it should be ok.  I would also try and make sure you have in on the side of a load barring wall.

[babblefish1960]

Oh dear, with my new bifocals, "top" looked like "the".

Your house should hold that much weight, particularly if you follow beowulf's suggestions, the only thing I would add would be to put a piece of plywood on the floor under the stand to ensure that the load is indeed spread out over the footprint rather than just small point loads.

At the very worst, if it falls through, you would have a new atrium with a water feature on the bottom.  Sorry, couldn't resist, I have never heard of a tank going through the floor.

[BigDaddy]

SeanC has a 110 or 120 on the 3rd level of his place.  Has for a couple of years now.  No issues.  There is one example for you.. there may be others.

[hamstercaster]

Like Wulfie and others said, no problems for the floor holding up the weight as long as you follow the simple rules given by wulfie.  The problems I could forsee though are as follow:

- Water temperature:  Every house with a third floor I've been too is usually much other on the third floor  than the other floors... summer and winter.  You may have a hard time controlling your water temperature.

- Tank Maintenance:  I sure hope that you have access to a washroom at least on the second floor because I'm not sure you'll be a happy camper when you make water changes and have to haul a 5 gallon pail of water from the first floor up!!

- Direct light/sunlight: Third floors usually have lots of direct light/sunlight and that could be a problem for algae and water tempearture too

So choose your location well and make sure you know what you are getting into... Oh yeah, did I mention that you'll have to haul the tank itself all the way up to the third floor??  Hope you have nice strong friends lol 

[Alchemist]

With regard to temp fluctuations Can Tire sells a programmable thermostat controler with a wireless remote sensor to better equalise temps over the whole house (ie not just near the main thermostat sensor)...it'll also save you money on your HVAC  bills.

[PineHill]

Yes beowulf is right, the 125G tank will be in the master bedroom on the third floor of my house.  What's happening is my mom is moving out to Calgary so my brother and I get the house.  I'm taking the master bedroom and I want to setup my new Oscar tank in there.  So within the room I have a bathroom, with sink and shower so syphoning water and refilling won't be a problem at all. 

Temperature might be an issue but I'm sure I can figure it out.  The placement of the tank and stand is no where near any vents so I should be OK considering drastic temperature changes.

As for sunlight, it's on the opposite wall that the window is, also I have a roller blind that blocks 90% of the sun if need be.

So my main concern is finding the perpendicular beams and placing the tank with the plywood underneath.  Oh yea the house is only ~17 years old, I have lived here since it was first built, in Kanata so it's in good condition.

Any further advice? 

P.S.  Thanks for all the great advice on this topic so far, it's help a lot.

[sdivell]

As per finding the floor beams... They will be running the shortest span - load barring wall to load barring wall below.... if that isnt obvious then you could borrow a stud finder from someone and locate which way they are running that way.  you deffinetly dont want to put this tank parallel to the beams as you may have pressure points on only the subfloor which may end up being a major let down (literally it'll fail and break the floor) 

Luckily for you a house that old will probably have been built with plywood subfloor intead of chip board as most newer houses are.  Chip board is incredibly weak under point loads.

[dan2x38]

Here's a thread discussing that one:

http://ovas.ca/index.php?topic=18648.0

[PineHill]

Thanks for the extra advice considering the floor beams.  Might be a bit tricky to find them but my Uncle is a carpenter so I'm sure he can help. I won't be setting it up for another 6 months but no harm in early planning.  And thanks to Dan for the link, it also help a great deal.  Now I just have to design a sump and figure out all the odds and ends of how it works.  Thanks

Chris

[dan2x38]

Thanks for the extra advice considering the floor beams.  Might be a bit tricky to find them but my Uncle is a carpenter so I'm sure he can help. I won't be setting it up for another 6 months but no harm in early planning.  And thanks to Dan for the link, it also help a great deal.  Now I just have to design a sump and figure out all the odds and ends of how it works.  Thanks

Chris

Just an after thought... you can get water bed protection on your home owners insurance might want to check into it for an upper level aquarium... an awful lot of water with deliberate overflowing (into a sump)... 

[Lucie]

Just a thought... How about placing it near a wall (less strain on the joists), AND on top of a load bearing wall that would be on the 2nd floor. You might have a wall that is load bearing on both first and second floors, supported by beams in the basement. It would help putting your mind at ease...

[PineHill]

I had my uncle over this weekend and explained that I would be having over 1500lbs. on the top floor.  We got a chance to check everything out and the first answer he shot back at me was "not a problem", before he even knew were I was putting it.  However he said there are some safer spots it could be situated, as the rest of you had already advised me (thanks again).  Turns out where I want to put the tank is perpendicular to all the joists so thats perfect.  It will also be positioned against a wall that is on one of the 4 edges of my house, so I will also be doing exactly what Lucie recommends by taking the load bearings into account.

Thanks again for all the input, it was a huge help.  I will probably post something in a few months time to show my 125G setup on the 3rd floor.

Chris