Setting up tank on a hardwood floor. I need advice!

[CindyKz]

Ours is on the bare wood, on the advice of our floor finisher. He stated what others have, that any sort of liner or "floor protector" would just trap moisture.

 

[Daltrey]

Did you have to reinforce your floor joists?

I laid the hardwood flooring on the concrete slab.

 

[M4rtin]

I would straight on hardwood, unless you have some sort of fancy hardwood that is extremely soft.
Reefer 525XL has 12 feet that will spread the load evenly.
It's not like you're putting all the weight of a tank on a single point.

I have Reefer 250, which doesn't have adjustable legs for level, I don't think yours has either.
So I had to grab some rubber shims to level it, even if yours is level you can always put those under for sake of mind, they come in various sizes and thicknesses.
Once in place I used inflatable contractors bag to lift and and shim it under.
Good luck

 

[mta_morrow]

Ours is on the bare wood, on the advice of our floor finisher. He stated what others have, that any sort of liner or "floor protector" would just trap moisture.

Thanks CindyKz. I’m leaning towards just setting it up on the hardwood and layout towels around the tank when I work on it

 

[jkapit]

I would just set it up on the hardwood. I have a 155 gallon on my hardwood and it is fine.

Agreed. I’ve Had mine on a hardwood floor since 2004 and no issues at all. I just wipe up any water drips or spills as soon as possible. And I have had numerous spills with water everywhere.

 

[JonJ]

My 750xxl is set up directly on hardwood floors. The stand is designed to sit off of the floor and allows for airflow underneath. Having water get trapped underneath something such as plexi or plywood that is in direct contact with the floor will destroy your flooring. I am basing this on personal experience-when I moved my last tank that had a flat bottom stand that sat directly on the hardwoods, the flooring was cupped and the finish was destroyed.

 

[Mark Derail]

(edit you on a slab)

(nothing to add lol)

 

[Mark Derail]

Once in place I used inflatable contractors bag to lift and and shim it under.
Good luck

Wow great info !! Never thought of using those bags before.

 

[MarsRover]

Ditto on others regarding the type of hardwood and the coating! If you have urethane coated hardwood, sometimes it can be soft (depending on application conditions and thickness) and yield to sustained, very heavy loads, and leave marks or stick your tank to the floor. If you just have waxed floors is another consideration. If they are engineered hardwood, water is a major consideration as well as settling of the core materials in the laminations depending on construction.

As for water, you inevitably will spill a little or a lot (or both). You need to be able to not only facilitate high fresh air exchange to dry under all feet fully, but additionally, be able to remove salts! Salts will wreck pretty much all coatings on all types of wood floors.

You also want to distribute the weight. If you're going to have a wood cabinet without discrete "feet", that's probably sufficient. If you will have discrete feet on your tank, you should consider a rigid solution to expand the contact surface area of these feet to the floor as much as is possible.

It's a delecate balance between spreading the weight but also being sure that you can dry under the contact surfaces.


I would be careful using those inflatable bags as a permanent leveling solution. No bags are perfectly sealing (I.e. It's not a matter of if, but when, they slowly deflate, a fully tank, off level a sufficient degree to produce shear in between panels, or even worse, in the glass panel itself, can cause sudden catastrophic failure of your tank!). Also, if you live in a seismically active area, non rigid supports, using a compressible fluid such as air, with a non rigid center of gravity of the loading structure (water in tank) is not a good idea!!!

(pardon typos and grammar ...on phone...)

 

[Daltrey]

I would be careful using those inflatable bags as a permanent leveling solution. No bags are perfectly sealing (I.e. It's not a matter of if, but when, they slowly deflate, a fully tank, off level a sufficient degree to produce shear in between panels, or even worse, in the glass panel itself, can cause sudden catastrophic failure of your tank!). Also, if you live in a seismically active area, non rigid supports, using a compressible fluid such as air, with a non rigid center of gravity of the loading structure (water in tank) is not a good idea!!!

(pardon typos and grammar ...on phone...)

Those are just to raise the stand so he can add shims underneath.

 

[MarsRover]

Those are just to raise the stand so he can add shims underneath.

ahhh good!

 

[M4rtin]

LOl, I don't think these bags would last a day inflated
Even when I lifted my tank just for a moment to add rubber shims under feet, I put piece of wood under the stand, in case bags would deflate while my fingers were under stand it would crush my hand but rest on wood.

 

[Robert Vacchiano]

Hard wood floor on top of slab.Just put the stand on it but make sure you level the stand.Different hardwoods have different degrees of hardness depending on The type of hardwood but all are hard enough to put tank on

 

[Jeff Evrard]

What is wrong with the self leveling foam like on the BRS 160? https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/52-weeks-of-reefing

 

[Firethorn77]

Just my 2 cents on what I did. When I was redoing my floors I was thinking hard wood, but I decided on vinyl planking. Looks just like wood and much more durable.

 

[SallyWho]

Does all this advice also apply to wood laminate flooring? Better to install little feet along the edges of the stand base to allow for air flow?

 

[jcole4455]

After a lot of research I chose to set the stand up on my hardwood. Don’t forget to check the level of your floor, you may have to shim your stand to make it level.

 

[Big G]

Oak stand, that is finished and sealed inside and outside, sitting on Oak T&G pre-finished flooring. I place a thin yoga mat on the flooring while working on the tank doing water changes, etc.

 

[rob G]

I live in a 170 year old home with heart pine and poplar flooring.
Tanks sit right on it and I just wipe up when I'm done a water change or anything that splashes a bit. If the stands had a solid bottom I might consider some precautions but mine have 2x4 bases instead of legs with the floor exposed inside. I like having the weight dispersed but floor open so I can inspect for any drips. If you have a stand with a flat bottom that sits in the floor, consider a rubber pond liner beneath your sump, just cut it larger than the footprint of your stand and fold the corners up. Look at a bath tub floor tent design for inspiration. On top of this, you can purchase removable rope style caulk that you can press around the outside perimeter of the stands base where it meets the floor to keep outside water from finding its way beneath.

 

[don_chuwish]

No 'feet' on my stand. I put adhesive backed cork all the way around the perimeter to protect the oak flooring and prevent any spilled water from getting under the stand. It's just one big gasket between the stand and the floor.