Reinforcing the floor for a big tank.

Well let's see, 150g of water weighs 1251 lbs. (1g=8.34 lbs. X 150) Uh, unless there's a reason you think your floor isn't OK as is I think you'll be OK. I wouldn't think you'd need to reinforce anything but if you really thought you needed to, sure. You could brace it from underneath.

i agree it should be fine permitting your floor is structurally sound.
as long as the weight is distributed across the beams and close to a wall there should be no problem.

Just to point out, I had a 55 gallon on my wood floor..It is a house built in 1930s...The wood began to break near the tank..If I left it there, the wood would have probably broken thru..I had to move the tank to a different spot so the wood would not break..

When I got my 110 gallon, my wife got upset that the wood would break thru...All my tanks are in the basement now..

People say that under 125 gallons is okay, generally..

Your in the grey area. Most consider a 120G to be at or over the limit for an above ground floor unless its reinforced, or maybe would be ok right up by a load bearing wall but I would be really worried about putting it anywhere. I am putting a 150 upstairs but its right overtop of the main beam and also has a steel jack under it. BTW after figuring in a stand, canopy, gravel, etc. etc. a 150g is usually 1500 pounds or so.

Also depends on what 150g your talking about... 4', 6'? The longer one would probably be a little better since it will be supported by atleast one more floor joist.

In this case I'd consider 1500lbs to be on the light side of things. If I'm thinking right a glass 150g should be about 200lbs by itself. Substrate could easily be 150lbs (depending upon footprint). Say 140 gallons of water at 8.3 pounds per gallon and you have another 1160lbs. That already gets us to 1510lbs. If he uses a wet / dry set up we have to then add that to this figure. I have to think a proper stand for this would have to be an easy 200lbs and then you add weight for whatever you have sitting on top. I'd figure on having something like 2000lbs of static weight sitting on the floor. My best guess is that this would occupy some 10 square feet of space. Personally speaking I'd probably talk to an engineer first if at all practical. You don't say if this is a ground floor or an upper floor, but if it is a ground floor with a crawl space cinder blocks and shims may be enough.

manowar669 said:

It would be ove a basement, so above ground. The area I had in mind would be against the load bearing wall, which has the main beam underneath with a steel jack pole under that.

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That's exactly where my 150-gallon is and I've never had a problem. I also have a sump and another 20-gallon tank underneath it and over 300lbs. of sand and rock.

If they are 2x8 joists with no rot you are fine. Get 10 - 200Lb men and stand in the middle of the floor. It will not cave in unless there is rot. Floors are designed at 40 lbs per sq ft overall. That is TOTAL floor space not just where you sit the tank. Unless it is sitting on steel legs that have to support that weight on 4 spots you are very safe. I build homes and put 2 tons of lumber in one pile in the middle of a floor that some people worry about a 55 gallon aquaruim sitting on.