Fishtank load on floor

[medman]

I just moved into an older house and I'm a little concerned about my fishtank falling through the floor. The place I would like to put it unfortunately would result in it being parallel with the joists. The basement is unfinished so at least i can see the ceiling/floor of 1st level. From what I can tell the tank would sit almost perfectly even on top of two of the joists.

Estimate on weight:

125 Gallon Tank - 72.5" x 22"

1042.5 lbs - Water
250 lbs       - Gravel
100 lbs       - Other crap?

About 1400 lbs

The joists are 13" apart and 1.5" wide. running east-west. The floorplan of the basement is open, the "wall" that you see in fishtank3.jpg is just cheesy wood paneling. There is nothing running north-south. The only support(?) in the basement would be a 4"x4" pillar off to the side of the stairs as seen in fishtank1.jpg. You can sortof tell where the living room wall is in the basement pictures based on the cold air return and electrical wiring going up into the wall.

Just looking for a little direction. any input would be greatly appreciated!

 

[knight1fox3]

@Dexman PE PMP also went through something similar IIRC.

 

[Road Guy]

If your concerned i would add another joist (lag screw it in to the existing one) if you can run it to a support somewhere. I dont have the #'s on me but your average 2X12 supports some hefty loads..

 

[Dexman PE PMP]

My 180 gallon was perpendicular to the joists and was only a couple feet away from a major beam, so mine was never really a concern.

In this case, you're still only at about 160-175 lbs/sf. That flooring, while an older building, is legit and should be fine.  Especially with the cross-bracing in place to prevent any buckling of the joists.  If you're concerned, you could always run 3 or 4 2x4's perpendicular across the bottom of the existing joists and connect the 4 closest joists.