How do you protect your floor?

[Ocean Lotion]

I had pool liner in cabinet, rubber mat under the tank, and carpet runners in front of tank. Had it on wood floor for almost 7 years. Went away for a long weekend...came back and return got clogged and auto top off kept going. Spilled maybe 50 gallons on wood floor.

Fast forward to today. Had to replace the entire first floor hardwood since I could not match the wood in fish room. New floor was darker....hmmmm....wife gets new cabinets. I was gently forced to move tanks to garage. Only good thing was that I got a deep dimension tank instead of a traditional 220 gallon.

If I were to do it all over again from the beginning. I would not have placed on wood floor. I may have placed tile in fish room or used the garage from the beginning,

Wow. We should start a thread on worst reef experiences. Glad you kept reefing. What are the dimensions of the new tank?

 

[Ocean Lotion]

We have brand new wood floors as well. I had my tank manufacturer build a custom PVC liner in the bottom of the stand under the sump. That way if anything spills in the stand or if the sump overflows the tray will catch it. I also have a leak detector in the tray connected to my Apex. Another thing I do is have a spray bottle of wood floor cleaner that I have near the tank so that if SW drips on the floor I can wipe it up fairly quickly. Auto water changes also eliminate the need for hauling and pouring large jugs of water that can potentially spill SW all over the place.

Some random thoughts....hope it helps!

For my water changes I am thinking of a syphon hose connected to rigid pvc at the tank. And for the pvc pipe that goes in the tank I will have multiE pieces f different lengths I can swap out for a 5, 10, 15, 20 gallon syphon. Then I will use a pump in the basement running a hose up to the tank and pump up that many gallons of new water.

 

[docs911]

I swapped to a DD200 and love it. Could have done a DD 250 or 300 but it would have taken more room out of my garage.

I loved having the tank in the house. But it's no too bad in the garage. Door to garage is right next to family room. Note that the neighbors probably think I am growing pot with all the actinics.

If I were to redo again I would also limit my ATO. Mine was hooked up to a RODI, so it had an endless water supply. Not sure I would do a rubber mat again. I would look for something that I could get air movement through. It would help with any accidental spills.
I would also have some sort of liner on the wall so salt spray does not destroy drywall.

 

[Pntbll687]

The only issue I had was when I spilled about 3/4 of a gallon. I thought I got most of it up, but some went under the baseboard. Now, when I did the floors, I thought it was a good idea to line the subfloor with killz, yea that didnt help me. The only places I couldn't get the killz to was between the walls, and the water found its way into the wall, and was dripping from a door frame in the room below.

My wife was not home, and shall never know of this.

My next tank, cause we're all planning one, will have some pond shield type liner in the stand, and some type of matting under the stand, so those spills dont seep into the wood.

As for day to day stuff, I try to have towel or two down when doing water changes, or anything similar.

 

[Ocean Lotion]

I swapped to a DD200 and love it. Could have done a DD 250 or 300 but it would have taken more room out of my garage.

I loved having the tank in the house. But it's no too bad in the garage. Door to garage is right next to family room. Note that the neighbors probably think I am growing pot with all the actinics.

If I were to redo again I would also limit my ATO. Mine was hooked up to a RODI, so it had an endless water supply. Not sure I would do a rubber mat again. I would look for something that I could get air movement through. It would help with any accidental spills.
I would also have some sort of liner on the wall so salt spray does not destroy drywall.

Good idea about protecting the back wall. I will have to ponder on that.

 

[JenArmstrong]

I painted my inside cabinet with white flexseal, made it waterproof and I could see everything with a little light! Good luck

 

[Ocean Lotion]

That is a great idea. The inside of my oak stand is sprayed with varnish but flex seal, as seen on tv, would be. Good idea. Maybe I will flex seal the floor 3' around my stand. Wife may not like that but I could then pull up the boards and make a boat out of them.

 

[leon.1980]

I had pool liner in cabinet, rubber mat under the tank, and carpet runners in front of tank. Had it on wood floor for almost 7 years. Went away for a long weekend...came back and return got clogged and auto top off kept going. Spilled maybe 50 gallons on wood floor.

Fast forward to today. Had to replace the entire first floor hardwood since I could not match the wood in fish room. New floor was darker....hmmmm....wife gets new cabinets. I was gently forced to move tanks to garage. Only good thing was that I got a deep dimension tank instead of a traditional 220 gallon.

If I were to do it all over again from the beginning. I would not have placed on wood floor. I may have placed tile in fish room or used the garage from the beginning,

How does the tank handle temp extremes?

 

[lester lloyd]

I redone my hardwood floors from the damage from my aquarium once redone I now use a clear mat fro Amazon that is used for a office chair it has worked great with keeping small spills neat ge aquarium off the floor and it makes weekly cleanup us easy and the floors look great

 

[vic5hands]

Put the tank in the basement

 

[cmoore497]

Has anyone put a drain near the tank so if there’s a big leak it would drain (hopefully) vs flooding the wood floors?
our HVAC is on the floor just below with the water heater drain so it seems maybe like a good idea….?

 

[cmoore497]

Anyone put a drain near the tank so if there were a huge flood the water would drain (hopefully)!vs flooding the hardwoods?
our HVAC and hot water heater are approx on the floor below so this seems possible. Thoughts?