anyone have a 300 + gallon tank on a first floor

[Biggestfish]

Hello,

Had a similar issue with my tank. Tank was 8'L x 2'W for about 250 gallons and would be sitting parallel with only 3 joists that spanned 15'. We had a structural engineer come out and put a solution in writting. He did and what we installed was (3) paralams (12"x4") running under the tank for the full 15' span supported by hangers. He then rated it safely able to hold up to 5,000lbs with I beleive no more then a 1/4" deflection. We also added in another point load of 1,000lbs toward the one side for make up water. Then to make myself sleep better I build some additional 2x4 vertial supports under the two hanger points in the basement. Tank has been up and running for over a year without issue. May be over engineered, but hope this helps....

Jon....

Any pictures ? I googled paralams.. Nothing. I want to do a 8ft tank . My floor sounds like yours.

 

[Jon]

Biggestfish,

Sure, here is a pic directly under the tank before that room got framed and sheetrocked. BTW, paralam may not be the correct term. I thought it was the common name that the engineer mentioned. But the beams themselves are definatly fabricated/engineered of some type. Also if you notice there are 3 other smaller beams inbetween the larger ones. That is what my original builder thought would be sufficient. Since he was just a GC I decided to hire an independent structural engineer to get an unbiased assessment. Turned out we would have had a number of issues with unacceptable deflection if we stayed with them. Something that I didn't originally consider. So my GC was technically right the smaller ones would hold it. But what I didn't ask was would it be stable under the tank and what would happen when my kids start running around on that floor in the room with the tank (ie lots of bounce).

Going from memory from several years ago, but hope it helps...

Jon....

 

[Biggestfish]

Thank you Jon, looks solid. I just bought a new construction spec house. Moved in over the weekend. We have a perfect room and spot for a large tank. Unfortunately it will only sit on 2 or 3 joists. I have a 125 to move this weekend from the old house. I think it's going in the basement for now. I have so much to do here. Including supporting the floor for a new tank.