Tank stand over floor hvac vent

imperialrobot · Oct 11, 2021

I'm starting a new tank build with a 6ft 125 gallon and the perfect location for it happens to be over one of my hvac vents.. I would obviously add vents for the air to escape under the toe kick of my stand but is there anything else I should consider? Would this be a bad idea for tank temp fluctuation? Has anyone else done this?

A quick search only finds the occasional mention of keeping your tank away from vents and windows. If anyone can chime in who has done this. My stand would have a sump inside the stand.

JumboShrimp · Oct 11, 2021

I know your question has more to do with things like temperature, but is that a structurally weakened place in the floor (load capacity wise) due to the cutout for the vent?

jgirardnrg · Oct 11, 2021

I wouldn't be concerned about the floor being weakened... those come out in between floor joists. I would be concerned about the temperature. My last house had a vent in the toe kick under the kitchen cabinets. Any pans I took out of that cabinet in the winter were toasty warm and were nicely chilled in the summer. If it were me, I'd shut that trunk off and close the vent.

malacoda · Oct 11, 2021

I agree with jumboshrimp in making sure the floor vent was properly installed ... e.g. no floor joists were cut through for ducting passage ... and that the floor has not been weakened.

imperialrobot · Oct 11, 2021

It is a concrete slab, probably should have said that this would be right next to an exterior wall as well

mdb_talon · Oct 11, 2021

I am confused about a floor vent in a concrete slab, but ignoring that i think biggest possible issue is condensation. You are going to have warm humid air from the tank getting blasted by cold dry air from ac. This can cause condensation to form on the walls/floor of your stand.

Big Smelly fish · Oct 11, 2021

Just block off vent and it not going to be an issue with the tank, but will be blowing more air out of other nearby vents. JMO

the best way to block is in the duck work as far from the floor as possible, if you remove the cover and look down into it it probably has an elbow, block there .

imperialrobot · Oct 11, 2021

Big Smelly fish said:
Just block off vent and it not going to be an issue with the tank, but will be blowing more air out of other nearby vents. JMO

the best way to block is in the duck work as far from the floor as possible, if you remove the cover and look down into it it probably has an elbow, block there .

This is a really good option for me. I'm going to try this out before actually putting the tank there to make sure there are no bad effects from losing that 1 vent but I doubt It because it is pretty close to another one.