any structural engineers out there? aquarium support

got a 155 bowfront w/ 30 gallon sump. i need to know will my floor support this. the joists are 2x10 and are 16" apart. the span is 13'. the flooring is the old tongue and groove boards, not plywood, and a hard wood floor over that. i want to put the tank on an interior nonload bearing wall. on the other side of this wall is a cast iron bathtub. the problem is the tank will run parallel with the joist and my only be one joist. the tank is 6' long and 2' wide in the middle 18" on the sides. it is going to weigh about 1700 lbs. will the floor support it?

 

Congrats on the tank! I am not a structural engineer, but have read a lot on this. From what I understand, the floor will stag and cause stress on the tank, potentially leading to failure. Floors as you describe are good up to about 75g-120g, without additional support, but that is assuming your running perpendicular to the joists. Hopefully a structural engineer can chime in though, I think there are a few here IIRC.

 

A single joist would scare me a bit. Can you beef up the floor from underneath the room?

 

If it were me I would add some soppier to thar bead from underneath. Even though your floors will spread that load out it still does not sound like a winning idea. On my 180 I was in the same boat but next to a load bearing wall. I was on 2 12" beams. I supported each and my tank is rock solid.

 

support from underneath is NOT an option. 9' pool table in the man cave. there is nothing under there not even to support the wall the tank is going on. they double joisted where the intewrior walls are by putting a joist and 4 inches away put another then back to every 16".

 

Is ripping into the ceiling of the man cave an option? You could probably tie the joist it sits on into adjacent joists with buckets or other structural supports to spread the load.

 

not familiar with "buckets" there is a strip of sheetrock i could rip out but i would really rather not. iif i would go that route wouldn't putting another joist beside the first one be the way to go.

 

As it sits, I would not chance it. Espectially with a bath tub on the other side of the wall.

I would also not just add in another joist. If that is the only option, then it is better than non. I would add a pair of supports that run perpidecular to your joists, supporting them that way. Would most likely be external to your drywall however, unless you boxed it in.

 

+1 to all the replies.

Another issue you would have is that, even if one joist could hold the weight, if you encountered a massive spill and water seeped through the cracks in the flooring, that T & G OSB subfloor is going to crumble and your tank is going to come crashing down. If you can't rearrange that room to place the tank perpendicular with the joists, I'd seriously recommend finding another room where you can.

 

Buckets are metal supports that go on the bottom of joists to tie two perpendicular beams together. What you can do is put additional 2x10s in perpendicular to the existing joists. This will spread the load to adjacent joists.

What I would do is call out a construction engineer to do a quick assessment. For a couple hundred bucks they'll tell you exactly what to beef up the floor.