LARGE REEF vs. HARDWOOD FLOOR: Has anyone built a good system to avoid water damage?

[ReefMeister2]

I've just gone through some MAJOR remodeling of our home, literally gutted from top to bottom, wall stud to wall stud. Part of this project included laying down about 11g of hardwood flooring that I DEFINITELY don't want to damage prematurely.

Well yea, I know....a floor is just that....a FLOOR. Nonetheless, I don't want to trash it anytime soon due to water flooding, splashing, pooling, dripping, creeping, etc, etc. that is, if I can help it. We even went so far as to move an entire patio slider over 6 inches to accomodate this thing.

The problem is THIS:

L-Scutulatus, Tantus-Concepta, Aquariamaximus

Also fondly known as: "Tank-O-Saurus"


80"x60"x36", 1" thick acrylic, custom box-steel stand, form-fitted oak facad and canopy, corner overflow....

300 US Gallons and Chock Full of Sexy Reefy Goodness!


http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/reefmeister2/DSC09011web-1.jpg

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/508/63874DSC06398_web_.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/reefmeister2/Overheadweb.jpg

NOW, what the HECK do I do with this thing????

- plumb sump and all components outside.....yes, got that
- use all schedule 80 valves and plumbing components.....yea
- "pad" or shim the floor to help distribute the weight......uh huh
- use flood alarm and cut-off switches to prevent overflow....yep
- polish up the good 'ole home-owner's insurance plan....Ok

but other than posting a 24/7 French Foreign Legionare in my living room (no potty breaks for you, Frenchy!) what else can I do???

Inquiring Minds want to know

Thank you for your help RC!

[FFrankie]

What type of finish did you use for the flooring? Moisture cure is pretty resistant to salt water. I used it to restore teak on sail boats a while back with great results. The best thing you can do is regular maintenance checks. Spills can be cleaned up but salt creep is just slacking on routine cleaning imo.
Great tank you have there. I look forward to watching you plan it out.

[reef_only]

Great tank. nice curving tank and stand too. With these tanks don't put your eyes too close to the tanks when viewing. Do yo have pics inside stand? if you are careful enough there will be minimal of water that would have contacted to your floor. To be sure you may need to seal your stand so some minor flood/flashing won't find way to your floor. and when cleaning tank remember to put some towels on the floor. Water warning alarms are something useful too.

[ReefMeister2]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12570206#post12570206 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reef_only
Do yo have pics inside stand?

The was a picture I took during the leak test.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/reefmeister2/paper-towel-testweb.jpg

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/reefmeister2/Ballvalveweb.jpg


The floor was pretreated before it was installed, so there is no 'sealant" between the cracks so to speak.
I'm curious as to what would be the best material to sandwich between stand legs and floor surface. Obviously I don't want to trap moisture under there should I inadvertantly spill some water and can't get at it.

Someone suggested making a Pan out of fiberglass matt and resin to fit inside the interior portion of the stand and then route a drain to the outside

[reef_only]

So it's bare bottom stand. For long run the moisture, spills may be bad for floor, unless you won't put anything under the tank inside the stand. If not then you may want to place sump/fuge/... on top of a sheet of vinyl.

[speartheman]

I have sealed floors but once I drilled the floor just like you did the seal means nothing so what I used was roof rubber with contac cement that was used stick the rubber to the pipe and stand I also have a pipe that has a little sink drain screwed to the rubber I stick a peice of pipe in the drain when it's time for a water change. everything came from homedepot o'yea a peice of scrap rug from a carpet store with plastic taped to the back helps too

[speartheman]

I forgot to say the drain is piped to the laundry tub I glad I have a basment sump

[FishTruck]

Hey. I am dense... Are you putting the sump under the tank, or, in a remote location?

I have my tank on hardwood, I punched the drain pipes and return lines through the drywall and then through the floor between the walls... down into the basement. The idea to make sure that all waterchanges, water testing, skimmer overflows, ATO screwups etc... are down there on the unfinished cement floor.

If I want to move... I pull out the tank, patch the dry wall, and voila... back to normal!

The last hardwood floor I ruined was from leaving my RO/DI on making new water for my resevoir. Forgot about it and found my whole kitchen floor soaked in the morning. This a the most common screw-up... so... use an ATO for this in case you go to bed and forget.

Make sure your heaters will not run dry in your sump when you do water changes... else they will overheat and crack you sump.

Don't carry buckets or siphon water on your hardwood floor... and... keep a large stack of towels handy.

Just a few suggestions.

[sfsuphysics]

IMO, and experience with damaging a crappy hardwood floor there are some options you can do to avoid it.

1: (ghetto) simply put a big plastic type material that extends a good foot around all sides/

2: (classy) Cut the floor where the tank will go and put down a nice marble floor or something that you can easily clean up. Or to a lesser degree (i.e. cheaper) some type of ceramic tile.

3: (standard) Simply limit yourself to working out of the back of the tank, place down a good plastic liner behind the tank where you can't see it, very similar to those used on carpets for rolling chairs (just obviously a lot of it).

Btw really nice tank, however I'd hate to clean that thing with all that surface area.