WATER PROOF YOUR STANDS

[Ebone]

Soooo... important lesson learned last night, longish story... My ATO is linked to my apex with a 15 max run time... I get an alarm and it cuts off automatically at that point. I have option to restart. Usually when the alarm is triggered it means my ATO reservoir is empty, so great alert to refill. Some occasions it is just I took too much water out fragging or what not. Last night I found my salinity a little high so I pulled some tank water out to allow the top off to adjust. Got an alarm, hit reset knowing I took water out and prob was above the time limit...got alarm again. hit reset one more time (whoa guess I took out more than I thought).... got it a 3rd time... went to look... BUILD YOUR STANDS TO HOLD WATER (and keep electronics high)... at some point I ripped the ATO line out of my tank and it was filling my stand... close to 3.5 gallons of water in my stand I caught it just be fore it over flowed.... I am grateful that when I built it I thought ahead because it could have been a lousy night. (sidenote: tank is on carpet)

 

[rfgonzo]

Been their myself before. Now when I build my stands I always put down a PVC shower liner. It has saved me quite a few times.

 

[Ebone]

I used both that and waterproof paint(rubberish) and caulked all seams.. built a 3" lip as well

 

[Wolf89]

I coat my stands with 4 or 5 coats of polyurethane.. what else can you do?

 

[SeaJay]

I coat my stands with 4 or 5 coats of polyurethane.. what else can you do?

Flex seal

 

[Skynyrd Fish]

Good advice. Also add a leak detector.

 

[HTXReefer]

I’m setting up a 180 now. Built a 6” lip inside my stand and fiberglassed it in. Wife would freak if I ruined her hardwood with saltwater

 

[Ebone]

Good advice. Also add a leak detector.

funny I have 2 place where overflow and return are... have 2 more in storage, they are in my stand now... guess lesson learned

 

[BighohoReef]

Anyone have any pictures of how their setup looks? We just got a new tank, I was thinking of adding the shower liner under the sump with about a 2-3' lip. Wondering how folks tucked the liner into the corners. I'll post some pictures once I get the liner.

 

[Saltyreef]

Ya but what happens when your drains clog up or restrict enough and the display tank overflows? This happens more to me than my sump overflowing.
dang snails.

Almost need a floor drain under the tank lol.

 

[BighohoReef]

Ya but what happens when your drains clog up or restrict enough and the display tank overflows? This happens more to me than my sump overflowing.
dang snails.

Almost need a floor drain under the tank lol.

I did order some leak detectors for the tank... I might have gone overkill but I ordered three in addition to the sump overflow monitor. My wife would kill me if I destroyed our HER hardwood floors as well.

 

[Saltyreef]

I did order some leak detectors for the tank... I might have gone overkill but I ordered three in addition to the sump overflow monitor. My wife would kill me if I destroyed our HER hardwood floors as well.

Luckly I installed our hardwood floors, so I just keep telling my wife it will be fine.....you wanted to change the color eventually right??

 

[Saltyreef]

I did have an idea to build a floor drain with pan kinda similar to a 2nd floor washer machine.
Would be pretty easy as my tank sits in a room over my garage. And i wouldnt mind the entire contents draining into there versus onto the subfloor and my joists.
Already did that once.....one tank.....two rooms
Destroyed lol.

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Ya but what happens when your drains clog up or restrict enough and the display tank overflows? This happens more to me than my sump overflowing.
dang snails.

Almost need a floor drain under the tank lol.

Wouldn’t an emergency line stop that from happening? How was your drainage set up (Herbie)?

 

[Saltyreef]

Wouldn’t an emergency line stop that from happening? How was your drainage set up (Herbie)?

It would but not everyone is fortunate to be setup with bean animal plumbing.
I havent replumbed my tank in years i just deal with it.
Single hole eshopps hob overflow. It works....until it doesnt lol.

 

[dadnjesse]

I coat my stands with 4 or 5 coats of polyurethane.. what else can you do?

Actually polyurethane is not the best for water proofing. Spar Urethane is what they use for water proofing.

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

Actually polyurethane is not the best for water proofing. Spar Urethane is what they use for water proofing.

How about an exterior water sealant?

 

[n2585722]

I built my own stand and it will hold water. From past experience with another tank. Things like described here are the most likely causes of spills. I also have two seperate float switches that will trigger an alarm and shut down all pumps with the excpetion of the mp10's and email an alarm when stand starts to fill and trigfers the float switches. I even went as far as testing this once the tank was in place before I filled the tank. This has saved me more than once. It is too easy to accidently knock something loose or forget to turn something off. A water proof stand is a must. You would not want the stand to collapse because of water damage.

 

[dreamcatcherr9]

I built my own stand and it will hold water. From past experience with another tank. Things like described here are the most likely causes of spills. I also have two seperate float switches that will trigger an alarm and shut down all pumps with the excpetion of the mp10's and email an alarm when stand starts to fill and trigfers the float switches. I even went as far as testing this once the tank was in place before I filled the tank. This has saved me more than once. It is too easy to accidently knock something loose or forget to turn something off. A water proof stand is a must. You would not want the stand to collapse because of water damage.

Flex seal? Or?

 

[n2585722]

Once painted I used something I got form Home Depot. I don't know if it is the same stuff but they now sell a Rust-Oleum product call Leak Seal. What I used was white. All my areas that are exposed to water are white. Areas for electronics are painted black. It is the stand that is in my build thread if you click that banner.