# Do you think I can pull this off?



## Cory (May 2, 2008)

I should probably be asking this question in an engineering forum rather than a fish one but since it's a tank question I'll give it a shot lol. Right now I have a 75 gal sitting in my room which I adore. It is on a two tier metal stand though and the bottom rung looks really empty and in need of glass and water. My question though, is whether or not two 75 gals on top of one another should be ok on an upper floor? I think it should be fine personally as 150 gals go upstairs elsewhere but I don't want to find out Im wrong the hard way. Im a little extra concerned because my room is over the garage so the support might be different.. more or less not sure. 

What do you all think?


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

cant say I am an expert on this topic, but personally I would stay away from it. In addition to the problem that the room is on top of the garage with less support then usual. There is also the problem of a smaller footprint, so unlike a larger tank, where the tank weight is distributed over a larger surface area, there would be the same weight over a much smaller footprint. 

again, I dont have anything to back this up...but its just my hunch.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

Do you know if the tank is sitting on top of any sort of support right now?


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Is it against a weight bearing wall?

You may need to reinforce the floor. I don't know exactly how (as when I read such threads my eyes glaze over), but the floor joists need to be reinforced.


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## shrtmann (Feb 15, 2009)

shouldnt bee too bad as long as you are going across floor joists. may have to reinforce them but that is easily enough.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Lol I love how as you read the replies it goes from no to no with provision to maybe to yes with provision to yes  My dad might know about whether it's on a weight bearing wall or not, I personally have no idea. All I know is that my room is two feet lower than the rest of the upstairs .. which probably makes no difference here but it does mean I get to have a nifty set of steps in my room . The tank is actually a 48 x 18 footprint so it is spread out pretty well for a 75. I just tingle at the thought of another tank to stare at in here.. 

Stocking ideas for a 75g anyone?


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

hey! I stated my lack of experience with the issue  

but for the stocking:

PLECO!!! or a tank of corys and apistos.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Cory said:


> Stocking ideas for a 75g anyone?


Reef. Get on it.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

stay in the light.....dont go into the darkside...


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Cory said:


> Stocking ideas for a 75g anyone?


PACU. IIRC that's the correct name/spelling. Buy a fishing rod, a gun, ammo, and a shovel to fish, hunt, and dig up food for it because unless you got rolls of $20's each week that guy would eat you out of the house.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

AquaNeko said:


> PACU. IIRC that's the correct name/spelling. Buy a fishing rod, a gun, ammo, and a shovel to fish, hunt, and dig up food for it because unless you got rolls of $20's each week that guy would eat you out of the house.


a pacu wont fit in a 75 gal.....and you dont need to hunt.....a garden of fruits and vegies will suffice.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Just drop nuts in their shells in there and watch it go to town on them.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

But seriously. Get a SW tank. It'll change everything.


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## Consigliere (Jun 11, 2009)

The first step to knowing if you even have a chance of pulling an additional 75G tank off without compromising the structural integrity of the floor is knowing what supports the floor.

Do you have access to see what the floor joists are made of, which direction they run and how far apart they are? Also, what thickness of plywood?

The ideal situation is this: 2"x12" joists running perpendicular to the long direction of the tank spaced out 12" apart with 3/4" plywood as a subfloor. Ideally you would put the tank against a wall so the deflection of the joists due to the tank load would be minimal. Also of concern would be how the joists are attached to the house. Do they sit on a sill or are they just on joist hangers? Hangers are probably still OK but on a sill is better. 

If you are worried about the floor strength, the way to reinforce it is to nail additional joists to the existing ones to create thicker beams. Go overkill with the fasteners and ensure that you tie the new joists into both the ends and the subfloor. 

If your joists run parallel to the long direction of the tank you again want the tank to be against a wall but you want the tank to start where the joists start to minimize deflection. You will definitely want to reinforce the joists if this is the case.

Hopefully this is the engineering answer you were looking for.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

Definitely cons. Now I can have my dad look it over and make sense of what you said . 

As for what to do with a tank if I got one.. a reef would be nice but the plan is to set one up when I move out to save on trouble when I move out lol. Tempting though. 

Pacu is out of the question for two reasons. 1) They are mad jumpers and I dont like jumpers and 2) I hate single specimen tanks and one pacu is about all I could keep in a 75 gal lol. 

Discus maybe or hmmm a vivarium might actually be fun for something new and would suit a bottom rung tank. Or maybe just a 2nd community setup with totally different fish.. that might be incredibly nice to watch esp if the second was heavily planted. 

Then again, I just remembered the ultimate plan was to build a sump for the current tank and stash it on the lower rack.. but that was once I moved as well ... <3 aquaria


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Reef.

Seriously. Do a FOWLR or something.


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

FOWLR could work. ... .... hmmmmmm fish for now.. then upgrade to the 150 full reef later. As long as I get reef safe fish I can do a straight transfer down the road...


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Now you're thinking straight...

Just collect yourself some LR, a small skimmer (or a hugely oversized one), a few powerheads and you're good to go. If going FOWLR you wouldn't even need proper lights - T5NO actinics/10K would work great.

Also, this would be a good chance to learn a few nuances of SW keeping on a smaller tank before doing a relatively large system.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Consigliere said:


> The ideal situation is this: 2"x12" joists running perpendicular to the long direction of the tank spaced out 12" apart with 3/4" plywood as a subfloor.


I don't think you'll find any house in Toronto with 2"x12" joists. The most I've seen are 2"x8" but I could be wrong...

And there's a very little chance Cory'd be able to reinforce the floor if they are already covered up..


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## Cory (May 2, 2008)

My house is _relatively_ new so it's built in the cheapest fashion possible in the least time possible. I expect that everything is up to minimum code and that's about it lol.


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