Giving additional floor support for 150 g tank

[daboo]

I'm considering placing a 150 g marine tank (60x24x24) in my family
room at one corner of the room. It seems I will have 2 joists
underneath going parallel in addition to whatever support I get near
the wall joist. Do you think I will make out OK adding floor jacks to
those two joists? Any other advice some has?
Karl

[George Patterson]

daboo wrote:

> I'm considering placing a 150 g marine tank (60x24x24) in my family
> room at one corner of the room. It seems I will have 2 joists
> underneath going parallel in addition to whatever support I get near
> the wall joist. Do you think I will make out OK adding floor jacks to
> those two joists? Any other advice some has?

Former union carpenter here.

There are four possible scenarios here.
1) The two walls that form the corner are outside walls. In this case, the floor
close to these walls is well enough supported. You will need a single pole jack
to support the other corner of the tank. Place it under the first joist out from
the wall; that's the only one actually under the tank.
2) One wall is an outside wall and the other is not. The outside wall is
parallel to the long side of the tank. I would place a pole jack at each end of
the tank, again, under the first joist out from the wall.
3) One wall is an outside wall and the other is not, but the outside wall is
perpendicular to the long side of the tank. You should be able to get by with a
single pole jack at the other end of the tank. If there are no supports under
the interior wall, sandwich two 2x6s together with a piece of 1/2" plywood
between them. Cut it long enough to span the three joists at that end of the
tank and nail it to the bottom of the floor joists in a vertical position. Place
your jack under that.
4) Neither wall is an outside wall. In this case, install sandwiched 2x6s at
both ends of the tank. I would use four jacks with this scenario.

It's a good idea to check the floor to see if it's level before filling the
tank. If the house isn't level, you will have to make adjustments to the stand
to keep the tank level. If the floor is simply a bit warped in some way, you can
probably level the floor with the jacks you're putting in. In either case, get
the floor or stand top level in all directions before filling the tank. A 4'
level is a good thing to have about now.

George Patterson
We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop
playing.

[George Patterson]

George Patterson wrote:

> Place it under
> the first joist out from the wall; that's the only one actually under
> the tank.

Second thought. You will probably have that tank on a stand which will place it
away from the wall some. Assuming standard spacing, the second joist will be
about 32" away from the wall, and this will be close to or under the corner of
the stand. If this is your situation, place the jack under the second joist.

George Patterson
We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop
playing.