Water Damage to Home?

[MattinIdaho]

Another question I have that I cannot find an answer to is possible water damage. We will be placing our tank on a hardwood floor. We are going to design the stand the tank sits on. I will be using a sump for our tank. Does anyone line their stands with anything to prevent water damage to your home floor? I have seen water damage to several of the stands I have seen and would like to prevent this especially on our floor. Is there anything I should or should not do? Things to watch out for?

 

[djb8407]

We just ran to Home Depot, the carpet section and bought some plastic runner and laid it out under our stand an inch or two out from the bottom of the stand each way. Don't know if that helps but it's an idea.

 

[NWDiver]

I have seen people line the inside of the tank stand with pond liner or paint it with epoxy. This keeps the water spills inside the stand from seeping onto your floor. I would love to find an extra large car floor mat to put under the stand

 

[ac7av]

Water proof paint will do the trick but most stands will not hold much water before spilling over. If your really worried about it you could install a drain in the stand to under the house if on a bottom floor. Or install a alarm on a float switch in the stand to let you know you have a problem. I just water proofed the stand. Small leaks are going to be contained and you can get them repaired with no damage.

 

[REEFER JOHN]

I am going to water proof and chalk inside stand and install a drain inside and plumb to outside....just incase..hehee

 

[MattinIdaho]

Water proof paint will do the trick but most stands will not hold much water before spilling over. If your really worried about it you could install a drain in the stand to under the house if on a bottom floor. Or install a alarm on a float switch in the stand to let you know you have a problem. I just water proofed the stand. Small leaks are going to be contained and you can get them repaired with no damage.

I not necessarily worried about a tank blowout or the obvious leaks. Just the little ones that Waterproof Paint or Epoxy will solve is what my main concern is.
Thanks!!

 

[MattinIdaho]

Just got back from Lowes with all of the lumber to build our stand. I really think we are going to like it and it's going to look really good in our home I think. After looking at all of the different options we decided to go with pond liner. I think it will work very good and let me have peace of mind. Can't wait to get the stand built and the tank up and running!!

 

[tgfrench]

I wouldn't use a liner under the stand, it will trap water under it if you do have a problem which will cause staining. I would advise making the stand with feet that lift the stand off the floor. Any real problems would be limited to those areas only. Depending on the current floor finish you could use a good quality poly/varnish under the tank that would seal that area off. Primarly, you just don't want water to be trapped under the tank, the quicker it drys the better off you are.

 

[Frankie]

I wouldn't use a liner under the stand, it will trap water under it if you do have a problem which will cause staining. I would advise making the stand with feet that lift the stand off the floor. Any real problems would be limited to those areas only.

Fully agree. Condensation will mare the finish under the stand. Lifting the stand up some and providing air flow is what will be best.
I would not put anything under the stand period. Raising it up some is the best option.
Without air flow your wood flooring will oxidize with any finish, water based or oil. Same go's for area rugs over wood flooring. They need to be lifted every so often to prevent this from happening.
I am a hardwood flooring specialist, if you have any questions please fell free to PM me if I miss your post here.
Frank

 

[returnofsid]

I wouldn't use a liner under the stand, it will trap water under it if you do have a problem which will cause staining. I would advise making the stand with feet that lift the stand off the floor. Any real problems would be limited to those areas only. Depending on the current floor finish you could use a good quality poly/varnish under the tank that would seal that area off. Primarly, you just don't want water to be trapped under the tank, the quicker it drys the better off you are.

I have to disagree with building a stand, with feet. Your stand supports the entire weight of the tank. The stand ALSO transfers this weight to your floor. If you build a stand, with feet, all of the weight is supported by those feet, instead of by the entire bottom of the stand. For instance, a 55 gallon aquarium, will weigh approximately 550-600 lbs. If you have a stand, that supports the weight properly, the stand will actually weight 140lbs per square foot, spread over the entire 4 square feet of the stand. A stand with feet, will concentrate all of the weight onto 4 small areas of your floor. Now, with a larger tank, you're talking much more weight, concentrated onto 4 small areas, while with a larger tank, on a correctly built stand, the pounds/square foot doesn't really go up much, because the tank/stand have a larger footprint. For instance, my 200 Deep Dimension and stand, probably weigh close to 2500 pounds. However, since my stand supports the weight, throughout the entire perimeter of the stand, my tank puts approximately 200 lbs/square foot, on my floor, as apposed to 625 lbs, over 4 small areas, if my stand had feet.