Alternative storage for huge tank- HELP!!

[emma1981]

Hi,
I have recently aquired a 2nd hand tank, with help from the lovely people on this forum I am now confident on how to begin cycling etc.
I decided to do a calculation of water volume & weight.
It was advertised as a 4ft tank....and so it was but it is the old fashoned deep kind. After all my calculations Ive discovered that the tank is a 330 litre tank which when full of water will weigh 770lbs.... (55 stone)
That is before any fish, gravel, substrate or ornaments.
The problem im sure is becoming obvious....I cannot support this weight in my house!!
Its an old house & the floorboards are shot to pieces & they've had woodworm!
I am at my minds end!! Ive waited for this tank for 2yrs and just as my fish are much too big for there tank Ive found it & then I cant use it!!
Please, please, PLEASE...Any ideas for where to store/use it??!!
I have a garden with concrete flooring but in the winter the tank will crack (I left a mini tank out there this winter and it was trashed when I got it back!!) I also have no electric outside, but the house is off limits as its all wooden floors....Please there must be someone out there who thinks outside the box!!
Any suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Thyra]

The floor boards don't have as much to do with it as the supporting beams underneath. You can overlay the floorboards with new wood without tearing everything up if need be and spread the weight, but you need some one with structural knowledge to look at the structure underneath the area you want to put the tank. There may be ways to put additional support in place.

 

[frankenfish]

do you have a basement?

 

[emma1981]

arrrgh

Nope, no basement & the beams cant be that good if they've had woodworm for over 30 yrs!
Plus the place is rented so Im not allowed to so much as peel up a floorboard let alone mess around underneath them.......However if the tank goes thru the floor I AM liable for all repair bills....Nice huh!!

 

[Thyra]

Worm wood wouldn't necessarily hurt the beams under the flooring - depends on the type of wood, but 30 years is not old for many of the beams used in older construction. You need someone to go into the crawl space under the floor - someone who knows what they are doing. Depends on what was used for the foundation. Our farm house is 100 years old. The flooring probably won't last, but those beams will be there another 100 years at least!

 

[kb951]

i would stick with a 10gal until you move out just to be on the safe side, until than all power to you!

 

[emma1981]

Thanks guys I thought I may have to stick with the little tnks....its just soooooooooo disappointing!!

 

[aakaakaak]

Your 90 gallon tank should be about 1050 pounds once everything is said and done.

If you're concerned about the flooring boards you can buy a board that's bigger than your tank in all dimensions and place it on top of the old flooring. Don't nail anything down. This will spread the support over the wormwood so you're basically putting the pressure on the beams instead of the flooring.

If you're concerned about the beams themselves, be sure to position the tank so its over 2-3 beams. This will spread the weight more evenly and prevent sag.

If you're still concerned about the weight you can (or someone else can) crawl up under the house and daughter some 2x8's into place running the length of the beam. Or, instead of daughtering, you can add new beams in between the old beams at even intervals.

NOTE: If you can get 8-10 ladies (generalizing a weight of 100-150) to stand in the same section of floor and you're not concerned with it, you won't have a problem with a tank that weighs roughly the same.

 

[pateceramics]

Remember that you don't have to fill the tank up all the way. You could fill it halfway, or a quarter up and still have a nice amount of room for some fishies to swim around with half or a quarter of the weight. Could do something really fun with some of the semi-aquatic plants that like wet feet, but their tops out of the water. And remember that outside walls are definitely "load bearing walls" so the floor boards and joists there are better supported than the ones next to interior walls, which may not be "load bearing".

 

[symon_say]

Build a paludarium.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I rented for a long time and was restricted to a small tank. With wood floors and a concern about paying for damages, even if the wood does not break there is almost always water spillage. I have had some big tanks, a 55 and a 125 gallon, empty themselves while I was away. When renting I kept a smaller tank in the part of the house with vinyl flooring.

 

[paperdog9]

I like the paludarium Idea. You could make a big foam/cement scape and fill the tank like 1/3 of the way. that would proabably cut the weight in half (depending on the decorations ect)