125 Tank on Wooden Stand

Im not sure about homes built in 1981 but i know that we build homes to hold a dead load between 96-120 lbs per SQFT today. The beams you have are really a good beam to have for floor/ceiling trusses. they are actually stronger than the average 2X10 that most homes are built from today. As long as you place the tank close to a load bearing wall and allign the tank to spread the weight evenly along the trusses you should be perfectly fine. if you want to you can even buy a 6" steel lally to place at each corner of the tank under the trusses it would be sitting on. If you decided to ever finish that basement you could decorate the two lallies and put a bar/or what ever else you would prefer in that place.
 
That joist is most likely stonger than a similar sized piece of solid timber with that truss design. Take a picture of it to your local builders supply center and see what info they can give you.
 
Updated Picture

instead of trying to draw out the beams I've taken picture. Would the brick wall be considered load baring. These picture are from my laundry room, the rest of the basement is finished with ceiling. However with a flash light I can see that all the beam are the same throughout the floor. I thought to look because right about the laundry room is the kitchen. But the entire floor is the same style beams. Part of the beam seems to be built into the brick wall. This is a townhouse I have neighbors on both sides. and there is brick from the basement up to the third floor on both side. (You can't see the brick due to dry way. Hope this helps.

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USCavalry19d said:
Im not sure about homes built in 1981 but i know that we build homes to hold a dead load between 96-120 lbs per SQFT today. The beams you have are really a good beam to have for floor/ceiling trusses. they are actually stronger than the average 2X10 that most homes are built from today. As long as you place the tank close to a load bearing wall and allign the tank to spread the weight evenly along the trusses you should be perfectly fine. if you want to you can even buy a 6" steel lally to place at each corner of the tank under the trusses it would be sitting on. If you decided to ever finish that basement you could decorate the two lallies and put a bar/or what ever else you would prefer in that place.
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That's what I was thinking. Mine is against the load bearing wall and I also have a metal pole below it on the bottom floor. My house was built in '80 and the tank's 150 gallons with over 175lbs. of live rock.
 
Honestly I would not risk it. Chances are you would be ok but with a 125 gallon you are definetly in the danger zone of what a wood structure flooring will safely support over time. Especially if you are planning on adding weight by placing a sump and or refugium in the stand you are looking at over 1500lbs and it may not be worth the uneasy feeling or loosing sleep over a potential disaster.

I would recommend checking out this webpage: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html

I scrutinized this article VERY closely before deciding to place my 80 gallon on my wood structured flooring and I consider it a must read for anyone planning a 75+ gallon aquarium on the first or 2nd floor.

It's hard to tell scale from your joist picture but it appears that your unusual style joists are placed farther apart than the standard 16" (I would guess 24"?). If this is true, your floor may be weaker than most so take joist spacing into account. It's not to difficult to shore up the floor by adding extra joists or metal supports as were suggested earlier in the post but a finished ceiling would definetly get in the way.

Good luck, and if you decide to go with it with no further support make sure to be up against a load bearing wall perpendicular to the joist direction. Hope this helps.
 
Ok from an Architectural stand point those strusses are the best you could get. The design of those trusses were done by engineers so they can spread longer distances without the need of structural columns. For instance most houses have 2X10's some have 2X12's for their floor trusses. These trusses can only spread safely about 20-25 feet before they would need a structural column. The Trusses you have are designed to spread even further such as 40-60 feet depending on the depth of the trusses. The deeper the depth of the truss the further it can spread. The brick wall would most likely just be there for looks. The actual structure of any home today would be the 2X4 studs in the wall. Brick is only used for looks not for the structure. The wall seperating your town home from your neighbors would be called a "party wall." This wall should have the most support since it should be the thickest in your home and from a building Code stand point be the Most fire rated of the house as well. I hope that helps if not you can IM me on Aol Instant Messenger at USCavalry19d or e-mail me at uscavalry19d@alltel.net and i would be more than happy to help more with the structure of your house.
 
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USCavalry19d - thanks you for your input. I have decided to go ahead and put on the second floor close to wall where I know there is brick that separate the two houses. I've done research now for 3 weeks and I've never saw anyone have a tank fall through floor and I haven't any reason to believe this tank will be unsafe. I thank everyone for their help and be prepared for more questions in regards to setting up tank. I will try to keep picture coming
 
hey no problem man. Glad i could help. Hope to see some pics of the tank when it is complete and always feel free to ask questions.
 
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