Tank Weight and Apartment

B

binkyshin

New member
Hello,

I'm in the process of planning/setting up my first saltwater tank. I was thinking of doing either a 75gallon or 90 gallon tank with a 29 gallon sump/refugium. I was also planning on building my own stand using the template that seems popular online.

My main question is whether or not this would be too much weight for my apartment? I live in Logan Square on the second floor of a two-flat. From what I've read, apartments can generally support up to 125 gallons depending on placement. I've emailed my landlord to see if he knew which walls were load bearing and if he knew the direction the joists ran, but I'm a little concerned that he'll just shut down the project b/c he won't have the information available. I thought about hiring a home inspector to come by and give advice, but I'm hoping there was an easier/cheaper way to figure this out.

Any advice will be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Use an out side wall if at all possible, try and put it in a corner if you can just in-case the floor joists are running the opposite way. You should be fine weight wise though.
 
If you would provide a picture of the front of your building or address so I can possibly see the structural layout using Google satellite image.
 
I'm in Logan Square and have a 72G with a 30G sump, so far so good hasn't fallen through the floor.

I also had a 125G in my last apartment that was there for 2yrs up and running and also never fell through the floor.

I would say main thing is to make sure its leveled an unleveled object can cause havoc that's for sure.

I hope it helps and your more than welcome to come see what I got when ever you want.

Happy Reefing!!!!!!
 
Thanks for the feedback everyone!

@markitekt my address is 2335 N. Spaulding Avenue. The building is a weird Tetris shape b/c it's actually two sets of apartments. I live in the one closest to the street. Also my OCD kicked in a little (or a lot) so I drew a really crude diagram of the floorplan over the googl.

-the bedrooms are numbered
-B is the bathroom
-K is the kitchen
-the yellow line is a huge arch that acts as a bit of a room separator (possibly covering a support beam of some sort?)
-the brown line is the front door, part of bedroom 1 is over the stairway
-the blue line is a normal wall but is also where the intake vent for the a/c is located
-the red lines represent where I'm debating placing the tank, depending on if I can figure out which wall is load bearing and which way the joists run

View attachment 16327
 
you should be fine just put it anywhere along the wall near a outlet. the outside walls should be the strongest. but i have a 90 on the second floor of a 100 year old building. its a 4 ft tank so it should be supported by 3 - 4 floor joists.
 
Looks like the spot by the "blue" wall would be the best spot for the tank, but it's hard to say if that's a bearing wall. The other spot you chose is definitely up against a bearing wall. The yellow line could be a beam, linking joists between the yellow and blue line, which would mean that the blue wall would also be a bearing wall. You can make sure by going down to the basement and seeing if there's any support structure under where that blue wall is located. If you see any columns and beams in that location, then the blue wall is safe as well. I'm sure there is a line of columns in the basement that splits the building structure along the hallway location though. If the basement has an unfinished ceiling, you will see the exact structure layout.
 
markitekt said:
I'm sure there is a line of columns in the basement that splits the building structure along the hallway location though.
Click to expand...

+1 the wall of the bedrooms is probably where it is because the ibeam runs right under that. I'd say go with the red line next to the blue line because the floors can probably support it anywhere and you'll risk hitting the tank with stuff your're bringing in and out the front door if you have it on the red line there. Let us know what you decide.
 
Herbie said:
+1 the wall of the bedrooms is probably where it is because the ibeam runs right under that. I'd say go with the red line next to the blue line because the floors can probably support it anywhere and you'll risk hitting the tank with stuff your're bringing in and out the front door if you have it on the red line there. Let us know what you decide.
Click to expand...

I would actually stay away from the location by the blue line until I saw what's going on in the basement. If that blue line is not a bearing wall, then that spot is the worst location for the tank.
 
markitekt said:
Click to expand...

Holy crap Mark. What do I need to send you to have you do that for me? I've been smashing my face on sketchup every night and you whip that out in a few minutes. Sweet. I'd also completely defer to your obvious expertise in this matter. LOL.
 
LOL. I've been using AutoCad for a bit you could say. All I need is a rough layout with dimensions. I've done plenty of drawing sets involving these two and three-flats.
 
Make sure your renters insurance will cover water damage caused by an aquarium. Just in case something bad does happen.
 
Thanks again for the feedback everyone! Especially @markitekt with the crazy autocad skills! I'm planning on placing the tank next to the front door. I don't think I'll have to worry about anything hitting the tank b/c there's more clearance there than I drew. Plus my original freshwater tank was placed there. Also since the basement is "finished" I couldn't tell which way the beams ran so I'm a little worried about the blue line wall not being load bearing.
 
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