What's a good rule of thumb on calculating total weight of a reef system. Sump and all included I'm looking at a 2 story house, and wanting a 250-300 on the 2nd floor needing to try and figure out lbs per sq ft
The weight of the tank and stand should be available from the manufacturer. Salt water weighs about 8.6 lbs so you're looking at 2,150-2580 lbs of just water (without accounting for displacement by rock, corals, etc.
So figure in a extra 200-250 lbs for rock, sand etc? The stuff I've found,online said a 225 is around 2158 full so that would be around 2350 including rock and sand? What about sumo? Would that be included in the weight provided by the manufacturer?
Divide that by the total square footage and you get a little over 156lbs per square foot which is average of a smaller framed person standing with both feet together in one area. Ima end up doing,some extra support before the install, so I guess extra wont hurt to prevent sagging
That would not include the rock but the rock would reduce the water volume some. I figure for mine the volume loss is probably made up for by the water in the sump. Most sumps are acrylic and their weight is negligible. I'm going to estimate a 225 would weigh about 2500 lbs including stand, water, rock, sump and sand. Divided by 13.8 square feet equals about 181 lbs/square foot. That doesn't sound like much but you have to consider time and deflection. It's not like 14 good sized guys standing together on your floor. It's that weight in one spot for years. That can result in deflection which eventually can cause tank failure. You also have to figure how the house is built and how the tank will be oriented to the joists and weight bearing walls. I would want a structural engineer to look at the site for the tank and give me an opinion on the safety. It would be money well spent.
