Placing tank on new wood floor -

[Paula]

Hi everyone,
A neighbor of mine is installing new wood floors. Her SW tank will be moved back into this room once the polyurethane has cured. She asked me if there was something she could put under the tank - or some sort of tray-like thing to sit the cabinet into to protect the new floor.

The dimensions of the stand are 21 x 48. Since my tanks have always been placed on carpet - and I don't particularly care if it gets ruined, I wasn't sure what most people use.

Any suggestions? I use the trays that fit under washing machines to spread my rock out when re-aquascaping, but the size is wrong. Could someone make a tray of those dimensions out of acrylic?

She has about a month to find something. Oh, and did I mention that it should look nice?

Thanks in advance,
Paula

 

[Behrmon]

For scratching or scuffs it seems a lot of people use foam sheets or thick felt, also helps in leveling. I would think for catching water in case of a leak the lips would be rather high.

 

[ShelleyBoston]

I have felt (bought at Home Depot) under my 30G stand in my living room, I have hardwood floors and I can push if I have to. Very very slowly of course but it does not scracth the floor.
It comes in a patch with a sticky side and you can cut it to any shape and size you want.

 

[delta]

problem is anything you put down in contact with the floor has potential to trap moisture and that is worse than spilling and wiping it up. Nothing will work for an all out flood.

The ony real solution is to ad more coats of Urethane. And keep plenty of towels handy. Problem is is most companies only put 3 coats of urethane that is just enough to get a build.
The other option is to use a commercial urethane. Basic coatings street shoe is nice it wears like Iron and handles water well, but it is expensive.

 

[Firedancer718]

I agree with Delta. We don't have anything under our tank. But we keep towels around while we're working in the tank & H2o changes.

 

[KAS]

They should put towels down on the floor when working on the tank. Also, I would have an acrylic 'tray' fabricated and put INSIDE the stand to catch minor leaks and sprays that happen. I know when I put epoxy in my tank my skimmer goes crazy and spray stuff. I've had my calc reactor line fall out of the sump. Stuff like that is caught by the tray.

 

[NateHanson]

I'd say the best way to protect the floor would be to put sturdy 2" felt-bottomed legs on the stand. That way they can always wipe under the stand, and there will be plenty of airflow. The problem is not so much drips on the floor, but moisture getting trapped between the floor and some covering. Anything laid on the floor to protect it will IMO cause more of a problem. In addition to adding more coats of urethane, they can wax the floor with a hard floor wax (Butchers polish, or Minwax for floors). Two or three coats wiped on with a barely damp cloth, and then buffed off after it hazes over will add a lot of moisture protection to any wood product. Don't confuse these waxes with a liquid or spray "polish" of some sort. Those are evil (often containing silicone) and should never be used on anything wood, in my opinion. The waxes I'm talking about come in a big old metal can, like shoe polish on steroids, and have a consistency like beeswax.

 

[marco67]

I just ran into this with a customer, our solution was to design the stand so that air can flow under, Then we used fiberglass in all the seams before gel-coating it all. Now the stand is the sump and the sump is the stand. Any leak that would end up in the bottom of the stand ends up in the sump.
Any leak or spill outside can be wiped up or if under dried with a fan.

 

[Paula]

Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies. I will print this out and let her decide how she would like to proceed. I will be helping her move the tank out of the room on Saturday - to its temporary home. Then, as soon as the floor is ready we will move it back. At least it is only a 75 gallon tank!
Paula