Flood. Under control...but....what happens to the water under the stand?

[Mr Cob]

So I wake up at 3am this mornig to a gurgling in sump Mag 18...there's water on the floor so I turn the pump off and I franticaly scope everything out to see where the leak is at... My plumbing! I fix it, clean up the mess and now I'm wondering what happens to the water that seaped under the stand and the water that seaped under my sump in the stand.

By the way I have hard wood floors. Anyone have this happen before?

Thanks.

[Mr Cob]

By the way I only lost about 5 gallons.

[Jonthefishguy]

Consider your hardwood floors damaged regardless whether it is sealed or not, where the water stands as saltwater will warp the wood more so than just plain freshwater.

[Mr Cob]

Consider your hardwood floors damaged regardless whether it is sealed or not, where the water stands as saltwater will warp the wood more so than just plain freshwater.


Thanks for the reply. Will this jeopardize the stability of the floors or cause any other effects to the aquarium?

Should I plan a tank tear down or just expect discolored floors if I ever move the tank from the water damage? Will the salt destroy and eat at my stand and floors or will it just dry up and ruin the colorartion of the floors?

Arrrrrrr.....so mad!

[Bill S]

Whatever damage you've done, is likely already done.

[Mr Cob]

Whatever damage you've done, is likely already done.

Thanks Bill, so there's no real point in tearing everything down?

I fine with a little water damage because I kind of expected it to happen to some degree considering it's a large fish tank...LOL. But I just didn't expect to have a mini flood and have been uncertain as to what I need to do if anything.

So the damage is likely done already and it will just dry up eventually and not cause any more problems like a hole in the floor or my stand.

[Bill S]

I'm not sure how much water is UNDER your floors, but...

Please beware, I'm not an expert, and this may turn out to be bad advice. I'd dry up what I could, and put fans on it. UNLESS you are looking to tear your tank down and redo it anyway... If I had hardwood floors, I'd have put a pan of some kind down. BTW, I bought a pack of 5 cheap water detectors on fleabay for $9 each. They have been lifesavers.

[Mr Cob]

Thanks for the info/advice.

[txav8r]

The weight of the tank should stop some of the warping. the boards are still gonna swell but they will shrink back down to a degree as they dry out. It will be discolored under the tank but the structural integrity should not be affected.

[Mr Cob]

The weight of the tank should stop some of the warping. the boards are still gonna swell but they will shrink back down to a degree as they dry out. It will be discolored under the tank but the structural integrity should not be affected.

Good info that makes the swelling in my head go down. :)

Thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.

Will the boards dry under the tank or will they possibly mildew?

[jc]

Bill, what are the names of those water alarms? Ebay has several different brands.

[Bill S]

These are the ones I bought. Come with cheap 9v batteries, but they last a few months. Replaced with alkaline. Even as cheap as they are, these have been bulletproof:

http://www.smarthome.com/7163P/Water-Warning-Leak-Detection-Alarm-5-pack-00002/p.aspx

[Mr Cob]

Thanks Bill.

[brewercm]

I'm guessing that your hardwood floors are on concrete foundation and not peer and beam. Is this correct as it could cause damage to the plywood underneath if peer and beam structure. Other than that like they said already you'll have some damaged flooring when you tear down. Maybe you can get lucky if they aren't too old and get a case of matching planks before you can't find the exact ones any longer.

[txav8r]

Leak Frog is another good water alarm. You can get them from Woot.com for super cheap every once in a while.

Rob,
The boards will dry but you may have some mildew. Aim a fan at the base of the tank and let it run for a few days. The fllor is already wet so spraying mildew killer (bleach and water) on it won't hurt much other than maybe a little more discoloration of the wood. Just keep it out of your sump!

Jack

[txav8r]

I'm guessing that your hardwood floors are on concrete foundation and not peer and beam. Is this correct as it could cause damage to the plywood underneath if peer and beam structure. Other than that like they said already you'll have some damaged flooring when you tear down. Maybe you can get lucky if they aren't too old and get a case of matching planks before you can't find the exact ones any longer.

He's on concrete.

[Mr Cob]

Thanks everyone for taking an interest.

-Rob

[medi]

I had a pesky leak on my 110G that I never could get to seem to get under control. I took out my sump and built a 4 inch high acrylic pan around the inside of my stand, but before I did this I had several gallons leak on to my floor, on several different occasions. When I finally moved I was expecting the floor to be trashed under the stand, but to my surprise it was in perfect shape, could not even tell an aquarium had been there. Maybe you can get that lucky. There is always hope

[Mr Cob]

I had a pesky leak on my 110G that I never could get to seem to get under control. I took out my sump and built a 4 inch high acrylic pan around the inside of my stand, but before I did this I had several gallons leak on to my floor, on several different occasions. When I finally moved I was expecting the floor to be trashed under the stand, but to my surprise it was in perfect shape, could not even tell an aquarium had been there. Maybe you can get that lucky. There is always hope


I hope :)

[seaurchin]

Don't feel bad. I think I hold a world's record for flooding floors, wood, carpet, etc. The horror stories about flooding, I have some major ones. lol