Tearing down my tanks

[rcmike]

Hello Everyone, I have almost decided to take down all my tanks in the basement...........and put tile in! Of course I am putting the tanks back up afterwards. I am just doing it in the small approx. 12ft. X 12ft. area where the tanks are located. I have had a couple of overflow malfunctions and the carpet around the tanks still feels kinda sticky after multiple carpet cleanings. The tile will be more tolerent to little spills and such. We did tile in my parents kitchen and it took 4 or 5 days with 3 people. Of course they had to lay backerboard and all because of the wooden floor. My basement floor is concrete underneath so it should be a lot easier. I am not sure how long it will take so I am looking for suggestions on what to put the livestock in and how to care for them during the process. It is a pretty small area and doesn't have any wierd angles so it shouldn't take too long. I am probably going to drill the tanks while they are down. Some of you have seen the tanks at the meeting and if you have any suggestions of other things to do while they are down I would be glad to hear them.

Michael

[lucent1123]

Mike,

How large are your tanks? I have a 55 you could use, and a spare fluval filter that you could put on one of your tanks to get the filter going.....

I also a ton of rubbermaid containers that can help,,,,,

Let me know if you need anything

Howard

[rcmike]

Thanks, I have a 55 running in the unfinished part of the basement that only has a few corals in it that I could put a bunch of stuff in. I have some rubbermaid containers. I have to decide exactly what is going in where. I have 2 30 gal. and 1 110 gal. plumbed together and a 55 freshwater. I'll let you know if I need anything.

[lucent1123]

I would love to see pics how your two 30's are plumbed to the 110. I have to connect my 75 to my 60 sump, for a frag tank, and still not sure what I need to do to make sure I dont risk an overflow....

Thanks

Howard

[reewik]

I do not really have a suggestions I only offer you my assistance when you do this project. I have found that many things can be done with many helpers vs. doing it all by yourself. Just let me know when and I will be there... Wait.... I do have one suggestion.... Build a false wall for the tanks to be viewed in.... LOL ... Annette please do not hurt me....

[rcmike]

Well, it looks like I have another reason to tile the area. My battery backup for the computer that is in the basement fried itself and spewed burnt gunk in the carpet! I'll post details in another thread.

Howard, I'll try and get some pictures for you. It is really simple. I have a pump going to the 110 and a pump going to the two 30s via a scwd and overflows on all three.

Eric, I like it! She might hurt you though.

[fishdoc11]

The only thing I can think of at the moment is to allow a day to level the floor. Slabs are prone to having little dips etc.. in them. The grout might serve that purpose though depending on how thick you want to make it. Boofer might have some suggestions. He's a concrete guy:-)
Chris

[lucent1123]

There are a couple of really good self leveling concrete products that will do a great job at that as well. I used them on my addition on my house....not cheap but for a small area, would not be that big a deal. Just get the high PSI product

[rcmike]

Yeah, I checked the back part of the basement to see if it is level in several spots and it is mighty close. Hopefully that area will be as well.

[boofer]

yeah if your not unlevel now...tile should go down fine. You can build thin-set up if theres small out of level spots if you need to.
its going on a smooth (slick finish) slab, right?
Ive only used the 8kPsi floor leveler and all I can say is work fast :)

[rcmike]

I think I am going to put the project on hold for right now. I am dreading moving the tanks. It is a smooth slab and the uncarpeted part is level so I assume this is also.

[kevlouie]

Hey Mike if you decide to go ahead and absolutely need something under lights, I'd be more than happy to babysit some stuff, and I also have an empty 55 gallon you could borrow.

[rcmike]

Thanks, I may do it sometime in the future but I think I am going to wait a while.