Floor covering below Tank Stand

[lukebin]

I am about to move my 75G tank and stand to a new house which will have a brand new hardwood floor under the stand. I was wondering what others have done to protect the floors beneath their tanks. I am looking especially for those with hardwoord floors.

I was think of a piece of vinyl tile on top of the hardwood and then the stand. Will water get trapped under the tile causing the hardwood floor to be ruined? Comments are welcome !

The tank was on carpet.

Christian :rollface:

[davsreef]

Well I dont have hardwood floors but I did just have a house built, when I set up my tanks I attached some leftover vinyl to the bottom of stand and has worked very well.

hopefully someone with HW floors will key in soon.

[Steve175]

Tagging along.

[NosArtur]

What kind of stand do you have. I would attach some of those little plastic feet to the corners and maybe a few along the front and back of the bottom to keep it from marring the floor. Also if any moisture did get under it then it could evaporate. I would be afraid that vinyl would cause the water to be sucked under the cabinet by capillary action and then it would cause the finish to weaken and allow mold and mildew to attack the floor.

[Dargason]

I have hardwood under my tank, with nothing in between the stand and floor. My concern was allowing the floor to dry should water get spilled, as NosArtur pointed out. It has been two years now and I haven't found any damage to the floor, but I have to point out that my sump/refugium/etc. is in the basement so the only water that spills on the hardwood are a few drips from my hands and equipment when I clean the glass or do aquascaping.

[Reefraff]

I have HW under my tank and was thinking along your lines of putting something down. However, I could never think of something that would both keep water out from under it and not ruin the floor itself. So I put nothing down other than some rubber on the bottom so it didn't scratch the floor.

So far it has been okay, not great. Had a 5 gal spill that soaked everything pretty good and there is some warping in the HW seams near the stand, but not bad though. Only I (and my wife:( ) notice it. There have been a number of minor spills, but I just wipe up as good as possible. I fully expect the wood under the stand to be messed up whenever the day comes that I have to move the tank.

Given time (which I didn't have) and a little extra money I would put tile under the exact dimensions of the stand and put HW around that. Since our house is on pier and beam, I even toyed with the idea of a drain in the middle that would just go into the dirt below the house (since it wouldn't be draining regularly or that much anyhow).

Jeff

[hurrifan]

It may not be as pleasing look wise, but I did what reefraff said. I just laid wood in my new home and put tile under the space where my new tank is going . I left a 6"space around the front and sides of the tank. I really like the concept and it should work well. I just used the wood threshholds to transition from the tile to the wood.

[delta]

If its hard wood just never let the water sit for long periods or it may stain the wood.

Plastic/vinyl sounds like a bad idea as it would just trap water underneath and not allow it to evaporate.

I have had my tanks on hard wood for years and never stained or ruined any of the floors. cant say for a all out tank drain but for everyday spills and splashed are no real problem no worse than the mud tracked in from outside.

Only suggestion is to make sure the bottom of the trank stand is vented to allow for evaporation of any water you can't wipe up, or make it with opening so you can reach under it.


A few additional coats of urethane in the room would help waterborne over oil in this case where water is envolved.
But if it been finished within a month make sure you use the same type of urethane.

another note any plastic or vinyl you put down on a newely urethaned floor will be permanant if you dont let the finish cure.
28 days to be safe, if you go that route

[rmaurin]

Hi Christian,

I have the same issue. 58 gal tank on a brand new Santos Mahogany floor.

Before I setup the tank, I applied felt pads to the entire perimeter of the stand touching the floor. The felt pads are self adhesive and are ~ 1/4" thick. I also use the felt pads under my light transformers.

I purchased them from Home Depot. Loews has them also.

Rich

[lukebin]

I thank you all for your comments and suggestions. I think the best course of actions is going to be using thick felt pads underneath the tank stand to raise it of the hardwood so that any water spilled on the floor can evaporate. I hope it can stand up to the 100lbs of tank and stand, 200lbs of DSB and 640lbs of H2O and 40lbs of lights, wow that is 980lbs ....

Christian :eek1: