Moving houses, need opinions on floor bracing
 

So I'm moving in a week and trying to get prepared for the fish tank. Its a 2 story house with a 4ft crawl space underneath. The fish tank will be going on an outside wall parallel with the joists. Its a 160 bow front(6x24x24(18 at the edges) The floor is 16 joist so the tank will be sitting on 2 joists. There are 2 support beams 63" from the left side of the tank and 29" from the right side of the tank.

My thoughts are to add 2 floor jacks under the front to corners were the tank would be, with a 24x24 cement block as well as a piece of lumber, probably 4x4 or rough cut 3x12(i have alot from work) to help spread the load over the cement. The crawl space is dirt floor but the water level is quite high right now so doing a footing may be difficult, but not impossible(would have to dig to find out)

Also I'm thinking of moving my sump into the garage, which is probably 8' ft away from the tank, on the rear wall. So i would be routing my plumbing behind the tank, then into the garage(which is sunken about 1' below the living room) Ive been looking at large plastic tanks to use as my sump(id imagine probably best bet would be to get external pump and skimmer) I suppose my main concern is the draining of the tank(right now im corner overflows with 1 & 3/4 bulkheads). Basically as long as my sump is lower then the highest drain point then will it still drain going that long of a run?

I dont plan on having the plumbing done before the move, but i know i need to get the bracing done before the tank goes into place. Any and all help appropriated!!!

How can you plan to be putting your sump in the garage?
This isn't California. Or will it be room temperature, and not be used otherwise?

Lol out of all my questions that's the question you ask 😝 I have a heated garage so it's stays nice and warm 😊 may also just build a small 6x10 room for the sump so I can use a open trough instead of a sealed unit

In order for your tank to drain you need a minimum of 1 to 2% slope over the entire run, there can be no dips or it will clog. A 1" and 3/4" bulkhead will not move much water at a 1% grade.
Increase the grade or increase the size of the bulkhead and increase the amount of water that will move through the line. You can always adjust the size of your return pump to meet the amount of water your drain will move. You do not have to have a large turnover in your sump to make the sump effective.

I am not an engineer but bracing a tank is not a bad idea. You would likely need a footing in to hard pan to work over the long run. A large 2'x2' concrete pad on the soil surface might work for a short period, but could be affected by the changes in soil moisture. You do not want your floor going up and down.

Best you could hope for is to add a gate valve to the drain and get it pulling a siphon.

Could you post a picture of the 2 joists and 2 beams in question? I have a feeling you might be good with just sistering the 2 joists and adding some blocking.

What's everyone using for posting photos now, I used to use Photobucket but last time I tried posting pics it was paid only. Been a while lol

My current plan is to just get 2 telepost on sidewalk blocks under the joist that the front of the fish tank is on. Joist are 2x10 and roughly 14 ft long

I use Flikr. It's free for up to 1000 photos.

If by 'sidewalk blocks', you mean some type of concrete paver, I wouldn't use that. It will shatter. Instead, place your jacks on top of some wood. It will absorb and distribute weight more evenly. A couple of 2 x 10's @ 12 - 24 inches under each jack will absorb and distribute weight more evenly. A few nails to secure the jacks will also help with any future shear stresses.

I'll post the photo I got from when I was at the house last. The only reason I say side walk block is to just get the wood off the dirt, but now I'm thinking sistering the 2 joist under the tank, maybe a few after, using something like a 4x4 concrete base with a 4x4 and one of those threaded elevated post braces to get it nice and snug

IMHO concrete is overkill, and costly. A wood base under the jacks is plenty. You can always place some vapor barrier between the wood and soil.