So right now I just have a 20-gallon (plus a 5-gal QT), and I'm trying really hard to restrain myself from expanding until I have a little more permanence - probably going to have to move for a job in the next 2 or so years.

But my question for those of you with larger/heavier tanks is this: especially if you live in an older place (and/or one where people live below you), how do you make sure that the floor where you want your tank to go is strong enough to handle the weight? Is it safe to just assume that this is the case, provided your house isn't in falling-down condition? Do you find somewhere that there's a beam or other structural help and put the tank there? Etc...

(Just dreaming about future plans!)

I lived in a much older house once and had a 75 gal. Just make sure its near a retaining wall and the stand sits on cross timbers.

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SUCCESS IS MEASURED BY YEARS, NOT MONTHS!!!
220 Tank build
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/sta...late-3253.html

When i lived in a older house with a wooden floor, i bought a solid core door, cut it to size, laid it down and my 90gal sat on that. The door spreads the weight across the whole door/floor surface rather than the stands 6 legs, far more stable and safe

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1x350L Goldfish, 1x 286L Planted, 1x190L Cherry shrimp, 1x140L Feeders, 1x130L Planted, 1x119L Peppermint BN breeding colony

First off.. if your renting.. talk to your landlord.. some of them frown upon tanks in rentals...Next up to try and figure out which way the floor joist run.. these are the vertical boards the flooring sits atop. If you've hardwood floors, the boards run perpendicular to the joists.. and you want to mimic the length of the tank to that same orientation. This spreads the load across multiple joist rather than one plus the header.. If you have access to the room below.. you should be able to discern the direction the joist run by looking at the ceiling..unless its been recently painted... There will be very faint stripes visible in the ceiling which is the contact point of the ceiling and the floor-joists..
I've had 125G's on a second story in a 80 y/o home.. Bill in Va.

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12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..

If you can, site the tank against an outside wall and across the joists

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Chris
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I would trust older homes more than newer homes. Usually have wider joists and a lot used hardwood. The house I'm in is like that.

It needn't be an outside wall as SOME interior walls are load bearing.. Bill in Va.

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12 Tanks, 900 gallons. Discus/Angels/Malawi/Lake Victorias. Just added a 135 & 2 - 29's..