How can I convince my family to let me put a tank in the living room?

[Willanhanyard]

I am in the stage of planning a ~200g reef tank for my house and I am having some trouble convincing my family to let me put it in the living room where we sometimes visit. I am sure some of you guys with bigger tanks have had this problem and I really need some help. Some of the things they are saying are:

1.) "The floor won't support it" I have roughly estimated that the tank is around a ton without the stand, sump/pump/other tanks, fish/coral, and rocks. That probably means I will have to put some extra supports under the floor, but if someone could please tell me if those numbers are right, that would be great.

2.) "Too much noise" I have seen other people's aquariums before and there isn't much noise from the water and pumps. You're too busy looking at the awesome corals and fish :D. For some reason they can't understand that. How else can I say it to them?

3.) We just got new hardwood floor so "It will wreck our nice new floors if it leaks" I tried to tell them that it is very rare for it to leak if everything is leak tested, done properly, has overfill protection, etc. I don't know,t hey still don't get it.

4.) "It smells" I don't really know what to tell them on this one. My last tank was a simple 30g with goldfish and it didn't smell that great lol. Other people's reef's I have seen do not smell at all, so I don't know really what I was doing wrong. Maybe I could tell them that a few fans to ventilate could do the trick?

Anyways I really want to get it in my living room so it can be enjoyed my lots of people, not just whoever I want to come stroll by my room. It's not very practical that way. When people have a nice tank no matter how simple, it always makes the space it is in look a lot better in my opinion.

Thanks! :D

[Neptunes World]

Who's name is the house in?

[Alex T.]

I lost this battle. Now I have a big tank in my home office off the laundry room that they all regret not allowing me to put in the family room. They all come in to stare at it from time to time, and I jokingly close the door to my office reminding them not to look because it's so ugly.

Keep in mind too that many family members refuse to understand how sensitive our reef tanks are. Someone may forget that they can't spray aeresols in the air, light candles or all that other stuff that can hurt a tank quickly. If you have a basement....put it there. Putting a 200 gallon tank on a hardwood floor probably wouldn't be the best thing to do though. Truth is, you're going to have some spills now and again no matter how hard you try not to, and reef tanks aren't exactly known for being quiet enough for spouses. My next tank will be installed in the garage with the viewing pane on the other side of the wall in my family room. The kids will most likely be in or just out of college and I'll tell my wife it's my reward for paying their educations. Then she'll remind me that we have girls and need more money for weddings...not reef tanks. :rollface:

Always remember...it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

[Neptunes World]

Wow! What ever happened to give and take? Its not like were going to be entertaining the queen of england!? I am sitting here in my chair and I have my computer to the right, TV in front of me and my 6 foot of adulterated sea life just to my left. I get to enjoy it every time I glance over at it. I cant imagine these poor people who have their tank in the basement, unless they live down there? :(

[Sleepyhead]

Can you have the sump etc. in another room. Laundry room/fish room? If the 200g tank leaks it probably will ruin your hardwood. Your reef should not smell. Dont know about the first question...

[CoralReeferGal]

I won't put my tank anywhere that my kids go for fear of something being put into the tank that shouldn't be there (like nails, screwdrivers, toy cars, or whole cans of fish food) :headwalls: I say, if no one else wants it somewhere to be enjoyed by all, their loss then! :) Just like Alex said; close the door and tell them "you didnt want to see it in the living room, you cant see it here!" LOL No, really... I don't remember the weights when I did the research before, so I can't confirm or argue your guesstimate. But, if the house is older especially, I would recommend adding support from the basement, just to be on the safe side. Our tank doesn't make that much noise, at least not to the point of being bothersome (or maybe I'm used to it? lol idk) unless the water is getting low, the sump makes some funny noises. But as soon as we throw in a few gallons of water, its back to normal. The hardwood floors is a lost battle to you. No matter how hard you try, sometimes, some water will spill/splash on the floor, and could potentially damage the hardwood. Lastly, our reef tank doesn't smell one bit. I've never heard of a "stinky" tank; but in comparing reef to goldfish, yes, goldfish are quite messy/dirty and can cause a bit of smell. God, I hate goldfish. (I dread my kids winning one at fairs anymore...:headwallblue:)

[Neptunes World]

Not that I would invite a leak, but, if it did leak, I would just consider it a battle scar in the war of the life "I" want to live in. Except for life, everything can be replaced in this world, enjoy it while you can! :celeb1:

[Charley Diesing]

I am in the stage of planning a ~200g reef tank for my house and I am having some trouble convincing my family to let me put it in the living room where we sometimes visit. I am sure some of you guys with bigger tanks have had this problem and I really need some help. Some of the things they are saying are:

1.) "The floor won't support it" I have roughly estimated that the tank is around a ton without the stand, sump/pump/other tanks, fish/coral, and rocks. That probably means I will have to put some extra supports under the floor, but if someone could please tell me if those numbers are right, that would be great.

Probably won't need supports...

2.) "Too much noise" I have seen other people's aquariums before and there isn't much noise from the water and pumps. You're too busy looking at the awesome corals and fish :D. For some reason they can't understand that. How else can I say it to them?

If not done right. Tanks can be extremely noisey... If done right, almost dead silent.

3.) We just got new hardwood floor so "It will wreck our nice new floors if it leaks" I tried to tell them that it is very rare for it to leak if everything is leak tested, done properly, has overfill protection, etc. I don't know,t hey still don't get it.

hardwood floors in water don't mix... I would be more worried about a spill not getting cleaned up then a leak

4.) "It smells" I don't really know what to tell them on this one. My last tank was a simple 30g with goldfish and it didn't smell that great lol. Other people's reef's I have seen do not smell at all, so I don't know really what I was doing wrong. Maybe I could tell them that a few fans to ventilate could do the trick?

Reefs don't smell to my knowledge. Also if a 30g goldfish bowl is the only tank you've had I hope your prepared what your up against... I would suggest starting smaller.

Anyways I really want to get it in my living room so it can be enjoyed my lots of people, not just whoever I want to come stroll by my room. It's not very practical that way. When people have a nice tank no matter how simple, it always makes the space it is in look a lot better in my opinion.

All in all I hope you get your families approval. :)

Thanks! :D

[CoralReeferGal]

OK, so it bugs me when I "know" an answer and can't remember, so I had to refer to my good friend, Google. I couldn't find anything on 200 gal, but a 180 tank with water weighs approx 2100 lbs. you'll typically want 1 lb of rock per gallon, so thats another 200 lbs in live rock. From what I found in doing my own research, it breaks down to approx 1 1/2 lbs of sand per gallon, so that another 300 lbs. minus the water displacement of the sand and rock (not sure how to calculate that) but you're probably looking at about 2500 lbs; not including sump and other equipment, so well over a ton.

[yongpanda]

if and once you get your tank started, make sure you keep it nice and algae free or else your family will think that they made a mistake in letting you have a rectangular glass container full of algae! :D

[CoralReeferGal]

Originally Posted by Willanhanyard
I am in the stage of planning a ~200g reef tank for my house and I am having some trouble convincing my family to let me put it in the living room where we sometimes visit. I am sure some of you guys with bigger tanks have had this problem and I really need some help. Some of the things they are saying are:

1.) "The floor won't support it" I have roughly estimated that the tank is around a ton without the stand, sump/pump/other tanks, fish/coral, and rocks. That probably means I will have to put some extra supports under the floor, but if someone could please tell me if those numbers are right, that would be great.

Probably won't need supports...

2.) "Too much noise" I have seen other people's aquariums before and there isn't much noise from the water and pumps. You're too busy looking at the awesome corals and fish . For some reason they can't understand that. How else can I say it to them?

If not done right. Tanks can be extremely noisey... If done right, almost dead silent.

3.) We just got new hardwood floor so "It will wreck our nice new floors if it leaks" I tried to tell them that it is very rare for it to leak if everything is leak tested, done properly, has overfill protection, etc. I don't know,t hey still don't get it.

hardwood floors in water don't mix... I would be more worried about a spill not getting cleaned up then a leak

4.) "It smells" I don't really know what to tell them on this one. My last tank was a simple 30g with goldfish and it didn't smell that great lol. Other people's reef's I have seen do not smell at all, so I don't know really what I was doing wrong. Maybe I could tell them that a few fans to ventilate could do the trick?

Reefs don't smell to my knowledge. Also if a 30g goldfish bowl is the only tank you've had I hope your prepared what your up against... I would suggest starting smaller.

Anyways I really want to get it in my living room so it can be enjoyed my lots of people, not just whoever I want to come stroll by my room. It's not very practical that way. When people have a nice tank no matter how simple, it always makes the space it is in look a lot better in my opinion.

All in all I hope you get your families approval.

Thanks!

+1 very well stated and honest answers. I agree with everything said above! Good luck! (BTW, a SW tank; and a large one at that, is MUCH different than a 30 gal goldfish tank. Goldfish IMO are feed and forget tanks, SW is constant responsibility and attention!)

[Below Radar]

All relationships are different but if it were me I'd just make sure you have all of your ducks in a row and go for it. You will have to weather the storm while it's being built/installed, afterwards they will love it. Like panda said, keep it algae free, algae filled tanks are not pleasant to look at.
DISCLAIMER: I am not responsible for divorces due to fish tanks.

[Neptunes World]

if and once you get your tank started, make sure you keep it nice and algae free or else your family will think that they made a mistake in letting you have a rectangular glass container full of algae! :D

Oooooh, I dont know.... Some people see the green algae and say nice grass! Just keep it of the glass and they my never know any better. Just dont tell them it is not supposed to be there. :eek:

[yongpanda]

^ that's hard when you're in a relationship with a gal who was born, raised and lived in hawaii where there are algae free reefs only 20-30ft from the shore..

haha

anyways, good luck!

[yongpanda]

^ that's hard when you're in a relationship with a gal who was born, raised and lived in hawaii where there are algae free reefs only 20-30ft from the shore..

haha

anyways, good luck!

[Teddynola]

Here is a reef volume calculator, this should help you calculate weight.
http://reef.diesyst.com/volcalc/volcalc.html

[cbbram]

I have my 125gal tank in the master bedroom. My younger son has autism and though he really enjoys looking at the tank, he MUST be supervised while doing so. So I had to compromise...

[rogermccray]

I just got my wife to let me put a 125 in my living room and I am so glad she said it was okay. If you can get the sump in the basement it will cut down on the noise, run the pipes through the wall and not the floor. If you get LEDs it will cut down on the noise from the lights.

If your fish tank smells then something is wrong with it.

Sent from my DROID2 using Tapatalk 2

[Steve175]

I have always used 10lbs/G for an estimate of weight: 1 ton exactly. Although not cheap, I had an engineer formally consult to confirm that my floor would support my 2 250G displays in the living room. You will definitely leak from the sump occasionally when you do something stupid (which will happen): the only way I would put a tank on hardwood (after fully replacing them in my last house after ruining them) would be to have my sump plumbed to it remotely (basement, garage, etc). The latter would make it silent. It will never smell/crazy talk.

It is a bit more pressure putting the tank in prime real estate: you have to really resist allowing a full and proper cycle and not adding too much bioload too quickly.

[Neptunes World]

Just barter something with the wife. Promise to rub her back every night for 20 minutes for the duration of the time you have the tank. Small price to pay. :lol2:

[SushiGirl]

Who's name is the house in?

^^ That.

[Neptunes World]

^^ That.

lol

Dont get me wrong though. Its everyones house, but, if the wife does entertain friends a LOT in the living room, even "I" would reconsider, but, other than that, if that was my passion, and I worked long hard days, I would want to come home to my passion in my living room, giving me joy and self worth. Then, eventually, I would go say hi to the wife. :smokin: :wavehand: :lol:

[alphamalle]

Bring up sacrifices you have made for all of them. Then bring up how badly you want it and how much they would enjoy it as well.

[Neptunes World]

Just put it in the house when no one is home and play dumb. Tell them when you got there, uncle Billy already left it as a present. When you got home, good ol uncle Billy was pulling out and said there was a surprise in the house for you. You had no idea and when you found out what it was, good ol uncle Billy was long gone. It just so happens that uncle billy is going on vacation in Tahiti for 2 months and cant be reached til later, so, everyone is stuck with it.

[SushiGirl]

If someone has to "convince their family" I read that as meaning parents, otherwise they'd say "convince my wife/husband" because I've never heard of anyone checking with their kids & their spouse LOL. To me it seems it's a young person still living at home. Just my take on it, and I could be totally wrong.

[CoralReeferGal]

If someone has to "convince their family" I read that as meaning parents, otherwise they'd say "convince my wife/husband" because I've never heard of anyone checking with their kids & their spouse LOL. To me it seems it's a young person still living at home. Just my take on it, and I could be totally wrong.

I thought the same thing at first; wasn't sure if I read too into that or not.

[frankyrivera]

If the wife already hates the idea of having the reef tank in the living room wait until she realises how much day to day work is involved plus the cost of every little thing that never ends such as supplements test kits food frags it goes on and on. It's a big commitment to take on. If it was me I would say screw u and do it. I don't ask permission on how to spend my hard earn money. I would drill down to the basement and put the sump down there just to keep the maintenance and noise off site. And anyone who says tanks don't stink are lying especially if your sump is under the tank the skimmers skimate can get quite nasty. Good luck I hope u do get to get your tank somewhere in the house it does make a beautiful addition once established but it comes with a steep price tag. My wife at first was hesitant but once I made two holes through the floor it was too late to go back. Now she tells everyone at work about this beautiful tank she has at her house it cracks me up. Personally I would try convincing her if not the living room then how about the dining room

[Neptunes World]

If someone has to "convince their family" I read that as meaning parents, otherwise they'd say "convince my wife/husband" because I've never heard of anyone checking with their kids & their spouse LOL. To me it seems it's a young person still living at home. Just my take on it, and I could be totally wrong.


Yea, me too, but, since I am an adult, I was running with the adult theme since the OP never answered back :artist: .




If it was me I would say screw u and do it. I don't ask permission on how to spend my hard earn money. I would drill down to the basement


Drill baby drill, do it, do it, lol ( I love stirring up trouble).


she tells everyone at work about this beautiful tank she has at her house it cracks me up.

Hah!! Tell her if she wants to call it "her" tank, she is gonna have to join the ranks of skimmer cleaner and sump inspector. Gotta earn that title, lol.

[frankyrivera]

Tell her if she wants to call it "her" tank, she is gonna have to join the ranks of skimmer cleaner and sump inspector. Gotta earn that title, lol.[/QUOTE]

Lol I give her a pass on skimmer duty in exchange for no questions asked on any vortech products and $100 1" frags lol

[Decadence]

I am in the stage of planning a ~200g reef tank for my house and I am having some trouble convincing my family to let me put it in the living room where we sometimes visit. I am sure some of you guys with bigger tanks have had this problem and I really need some help. Some of the things they are saying are:

1.) "The floor won't support it" I have roughly estimated that the tank is around a ton without the stand, sump/pump/other tanks, fish/coral, and rocks. That probably means I will have to put some extra supports under the floor, but if someone could please tell me if those numbers are right, that would be great.

It depends on how far you are from the main joist or a structural wall and what style of construction the studs. My 75 gallon (total system volume) defeinately started to sink the floor where it was about 7 ft from the steel joist.

2.) "Too much noise" I have seen other people's aquariums before and there isn't much noise from the water and pumps. You're too busy looking at the awesome corals and fish :D. For some reason they can't understand that. How else can I say it to them?

You can make it silent through proper design. My tank only has a faint hum and the sound of running water similar to a small fountain. My first tank sounded like a draining bath tub.

3.) We just got new hardwood floor so "It will wreck our nice new floors if it leaks" I tried to tell them that it is very rare for it to leak if everything is leak tested, done properly, has overfill protection, etc. I don't know,t hey still don't get it.

A very slow leak which I didn't know about ruined the hard wood floor. Now all of my tanks go in the basement which we recently redid all of the electrical and floors in just for tanks.

4.) "It smells" I don't really know what to tell them on this one. My last tank was a simple 30g with goldfish and it didn't smell that great lol. Other people's reef's I have seen do not smell at all, so I don't know really what I was doing wrong. Maybe I could tell them that a few fans to ventilate could do the trick?

There is no smell unless you have a serious problem.

Anyways I really want to get it in my living room so it can be enjoyed my lots of people, not just whoever I want to come stroll by my room. It's not very practical that way. When people have a nice tank no matter how simple, it always makes the space it is in look a lot better in my opinion.

Thanks! :D

[Neptunes World]

Lol I give her a pass on skimmer duty in exchange for no questions asked on any vortech products and $100 1" frags lol

Uhm, yea, thats a couple of free passes and a car wash or two AFTER you do all the dishes. :o

[Reefermandan]

I had the same question myself as to where to put the tank. Finally, I took the advice of my local reef store and put it in the living room. The family did not think it was a great idea, at the time, but a year later would not want it any other way. It has become the focal point of our living room even though there is a 60 inch tv in it as well. When we have company, we are now prepared to have to repeat things numerous times because it is mesmerizing for those that visit. My wife is always asking where my father-in-law is because he seems to disappear and we always find him in the LR watching something in the tank. If you put the tank somewhere else you will wish you hadn't unless you spend as much time in that other room. If I want to watch TV, I end up going to the bedroom because if I try to watch in the LR, I end up watching the tank instead :)

Mine is a 150XH which I piped to a basement sump. It really has no smell at all, what little sound there is, you do not notice and underneath the living room floor, I added a few floor jacks for piece of mind. As far as leaking, has not happened yet and if it did, I will deal with it the same way I would if a water pipe bursts somewhere else in the house.