support under the tank

[[email protected]]

Just curious, is there any standard requirement on how
wide from front to back you can have before you put support
frame members from front to back. My old tank was 27 inches
wide F/B, the frame holding the tank was 4inches from front
and 4 inches from back, so there was an opening of about
18-20 inches. The 1 inch bottom of tank was sitting on a 1 inch
particle type board 27inches front to back. I think there should
be some support from back to font between the 18-20 inches.
Is there a recommendation? The new tank will be 96Lx36Hx30W
Any recommendations?

thanks

[Steve \Srfmon\]

I'm not sure about a standard, But........You CANNOT over-build a stand!
If you think there might be a support problem keep building until you feel
comfortable!
Steve

> wrote in message
...
> Just curious, is there any standard requirement on how
> wide from front to back you can have before you put support
> frame members from front to back. My old tank was 27 inches
> wide F/B, the frame holding the tank was 4inches from front
> and 4 inches from back, so there was an opening of about
> 18-20 inches. The 1 inch bottom of tank was sitting on a 1 inch
> particle type board 27inches front to back. I think there should
> be some support from back to font between the 18-20 inches.
> Is there a recommendation? The new tank will be 96Lx36Hx30W
> Any recommendations?
>
> thanks

[Billy]

"Steve "Srfmon"" > wrote in message
...
| I'm not sure about a standard, But........You CANNOT over-build
a stand!
| If you think there might be a support problem keep building until
you feel
| comfortable!
| Steve


Second that. I just built a stand for my daughter's 45, and I just
kept throwing 2x4's at it until I was happy with it.<g>

[John]

If its a really long tank I'd suggest a 2x6 or 8 for the length support. Beams
work better for supporting weight horizontally. I have a smaller tank but I
still overbuilt. I used 2x6 for the lengths, 2x4 for the width, and 4x4 for
the height/posts.

Assuming your measurements are in inches, thats a 450 gallon tank, which will
be 3735 pounds of water alone! That's 186 pounds per square foot. I tried to
google for a span calculator for 2x4, 2x6, 2x8 etc. The best thing I could
find was this:
http://www.awc.org/technical/spantables/tutorial.htm Its a good read.
~John

[Margolis]

> wrote in message
...
> Just curious, is there any standard requirement on how
> wide from front to back you can have before you put support
> frame members from front to back. My old tank was 27 inches
> wide F/B, the frame holding the tank was 4inches from front
> and 4 inches from back, so there was an opening of about
> 18-20 inches. The 1 inch bottom of tank was sitting on a 1 inch
> particle type board 27inches front to back. I think there should
> be some support from back to font between the 18-20 inches.
> Is there a recommendation? The new tank will be 96Lx36Hx30W
> Any recommendations?
>
> thanks


are you talking about supporting the bottom glass in the middle of the tank?
You don't ever want to do that with tanks, if that is your meaning. The
only support you want is around the rim of the tank. You can have braces
bracing the wood frame, but nothing should ever be touching the bottom
glass.

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Mcfish]

I'm curious to know if your going to add extra support to the floor
joists under the tank? Obviously if it will sit on concrete there
will be no need for the additional support. What ya think???
__________________________________________________
Posted via FishGeeks - http://Aquaria.info

[Tre' Landrum]

I got under the house and used 4x4 posts on 2x6 ground pads to support the
joists just in front of the place my tank is going. Just behind it was
already a foundation support. I think it was over kill (infact when I bought
the house I asked the foundation inspector if I could put a few thousand
pounds of tank in that spot. He said it would be fine, but I am not sure if
he really thought I was serious or not... so I braced it just in case.) You
may be ok, but I would rater be safe than sorry.

Tre'


"Mcfish" > wrote in message
...
> I'm curious to know if your going to add extra support to the floor
> joists under the tank? Obviously if it will sit on concrete there
> will be no need for the additional support. What ya think???
> __________________________________________________
> Posted via FishGeeks - http://Aquaria.info

[[email protected]]

This is 1 inch thick acrylic, "not glass" there has to be support
on the bottom from front to back (bracing) depending upon how wide the
tank is going to be. With my support around the tank there is a gap of
19 inches from edge of front brace to back brace. There is a 1 inch
piece of wood sheating covering the top of the platform. But at some
point there needs to be support under that sheathing from front to
back. I am adding some to the platform now. but for the past 5 years
there was not any. Now that I pulled the tank out because of some
issue with seperation from the back panel and top panel in a few
places, I was thinking did the lack of support on the bottom
contribute to the problem on top.

Thanks






On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 23:55:09 -0600, "Margolis" >
wrote:

> wrote in message
...
>> Just curious, is there any standard requirement on how
>> wide from front to back you can have before you put support
>> frame members from front to back. My old tank was 27 inches
>> wide F/B, the frame holding the tank was 4inches from front
>> and 4 inches from back, so there was an opening of about
>> 18-20 inches. The 1 inch bottom of tank was sitting on a 1 inch
>> particle type board 27inches front to back. I think there should
>> be some support from back to font between the 18-20 inches.
>> Is there a recommendation? The new tank will be 96Lx36Hx30W
>> Any recommendations?
>>
>> thanks
>
>
>are you talking about supporting the bottom glass in the middle of the tank?
>You don't ever want to do that with tanks, if that is your meaning. The
>only support you want is around the rim of the tank. You can have braces
>bracing the wood frame, but nothing should ever be touching the bottom
>glass.

[CapFusion]

"Mcfish" > wrote in message
...
> I'm curious to know if your going to add extra support to the floor
> joists under the tank? Obviously if it will sit on concrete there
> will be no need for the additional support. What ya think???

This topic was discussed awhile back.
This the following quote / comment from -
***Quote***
=====================
Tank Weight (by Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr -
[Reef - NG]):
=====================
A standard 2x12 joist on 16 inch centers will easily support even a
300 gallon aquarium.
But it depends more on the stand itself and it's footprint.

Some stands only have 4 legs, if these legs are bent steel, all of the
weight is supported by less than 4 square inches floor surface.
In other words, you CAN expect it to break through the 3/4 inch of
flooring.
But if the stand has a 3-1/2 inch wide perimeter footprint, you will
have well over 500 square inches of resting surface to distribute the
weight.

Homes are built with the following codes:
Attic floors must support 20 lbs per sq ft. [2x6s on 16 inch centers
at span]
Dwelling Units (meaning all rooms in the home other than bedrooms)
must support 40 lbs per sq ft. [2x12s on 16 inch centers at span]
Sleeping Rooms must support 30 lbs per sq ft. (although most homes
are built at 40 lbs per sq ft or greater throughout) [2x10s on 16 inch
centers at span]
In comparison, commercial offices, such as office buildings are only
50 lbs per sq ft. [2x12s on 16 inch centers at 3/4 span]
***End Quote***

Does this help?

CapFusion,...

[[email protected]]

Yes this all helps, I should have mentioned that this tank stand is on
a concret slab, the house is 5 years old, in Southern Calif. with a
tension type slab with rods running through the slap and bolted
on each end (at least that is what is says in the garage) I assume it
is like that with the entire first floor slab. Anyway, I know the
stand is built correctly, I just wanted to determine what is the
maximum distance you can have without support beams from front to back
of the tank. Since the tank is 27 inches F/B it had a 4 inch beam
around the edge so a total of 8 inchs, so that leaves 19 inches that
did not have any support under the tank other then the blank of wood
that the tank sat on. From what I have read from other members, any
support I can put between the front and rear brace would not hurt.

Thanks

James





On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 13:13:10 -0800, "CapFusion"
> wrote:

>
>"Mcfish" > wrote in message
...
>> I'm curious to know if your going to add extra support to the floor
>> joists under the tank? Obviously if it will sit on concrete there
>> will be no need for the additional support. What ya think???
>
>This topic was discussed awhile back.
>This the following quote / comment from -
>***Quote***
>=====================
>Tank Weight (by Gary V. Deutschmann, Sr -
[Reef - NG]):
>=====================
>A standard 2x12 joist on 16 inch centers will easily support even a
>300 gallon aquarium.
>But it depends more on the stand itself and it's footprint.
>
>Some stands only have 4 legs, if these legs are bent steel, all of the
>weight is supported by less than 4 square inches floor surface.
>In other words, you CAN expect it to break through the 3/4 inch of
>flooring.
>But if the stand has a 3-1/2 inch wide perimeter footprint, you will
>have well over 500 square inches of resting surface to distribute the
>weight.
>
>Homes are built with the following codes:
>Attic floors must support 20 lbs per sq ft. [2x6s on 16 inch centers
>at span]
>Dwelling Units (meaning all rooms in the home other than bedrooms)
>must support 40 lbs per sq ft. [2x12s on 16 inch centers at span]
>Sleeping Rooms must support 30 lbs per sq ft. (although most homes
>are built at 40 lbs per sq ft or greater throughout) [2x10s on 16 inch
>centers at span]
>In comparison, commercial offices, such as office buildings are only
>50 lbs per sq ft. [2x12s on 16 inch centers at 3/4 span]
>***End Quote***
>
>Does this help?
>
>CapFusion,...
>

[John]

So you have this:
_______________
| |
|______________|

and you're wondering if it should be like this because of width front to back:
_______________
| | |
|_______|_______|

This is overhead view , where the tank sits, not from the side.

I would add it, not so much for weight though. The humidity will be high
around the tank and that makes wood warp. You want to make sure your front
length stays parallel to your back length otherwise your tank could break from
the uneven pressure.
~John

[[email protected]]

Yes, even thought the diagram is not lined up correctly, that is the
jist of my question. I am atually going to install 3 supports, one
in the center and then one each left and right centered between the
middle support and the end supports. Just want to play it safe. Even
thought I am going to loose some valuable space under the tank with
those support beams. But I will survive. Thanks Much




On 16 Nov 2004 17:14:10 GMT, (John) wrote:

>So you have this:
>_______________
>| |
>|______________|
>
>and you're wondering if it should be like this because of width front to back:
>_______________
>| | |
>|_______|_______|
>
>This is overhead view , where the tank sits, not from the side.
>
>I would add it, not so much for weight though. The humidity will be high
>around the tank and that makes wood warp. You want to make sure your front
>length stays parallel to your back length otherwise your tank could break from
>the uneven pressure.
>~John