75 Gal Tank/stand On Carpeting??????

[SIReefer]

I'm starting up my 75 gal tank. I used to have my 55 gal in basement on cement floor. Tank was leveled w/shims & never had a problem. This was also good if I spilled water (which was every day almost). Now the only place for my tank after we moved is in the family room/basement which is carpeted. Is it advisable to do this? I don't want to rip up the flooring to lay tile etc. Would a piece of plywood under the wood stand help to level tank or would there be settling over time? I need ideas. Also what to do about water spillage??? Something that would look good. WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO?????

 

[PalmTree]

I've known a lot of people who have placed tanks right on top of carpeting without any problems. I don't know weather laying a piece of plywood underneath would be benificial to help level the tank but I can't see it being a bad thing. I'm sure others will chime in.

 

[tosiek]

Should be ok just laying the stand on the carpet. Just level/shim it up and support it the right way and you'll be fine.

 

[rperrice]

My 30 gallon tank is on carpet on a wood stand with no problems, although it is burba carpet, so it's relatively flat. If you plan to keep your tank right up against the edge of the wall it may be uneven because of the carpet tacking along the floorboards, but if you keep the tank a few inches from the wall I would imagine the weight of your tank should settle it evenly. I'm sure plywood under the stand would work, but it might not look so good.

To protect against water spillage, I just keep a couple of towels around the tank when working and lots of paper towels handy.

 

[SIReefer]

Thanks for the input. I remember seeing a thread discouraging tanks on wall to wall carpeting due to the possibility of stress cracks from settling so I was leary about this. Since I have no other alternative I'll try on carpeting. For water spillage during maintenance I have a few scraps of carpeting to put out. Thanks... :smile:

 

[PalmTree]

You should pick up a heavy duty wet dry just to be safe!

 

[fritz]

(If the carpet is directly on top of concrete without padding or with a vapor barrier of sorts, disregard the rest of this post.)

Carpet padding is irregular so you WILL be placing this on an unleveled surface regardless of how well you shim it out.

It's a bad idea. Cut the carpet where the tank will go and remove the padding etc. Staple it back down around the tank stand once you're done shimming. An unleveled tank WILL eventually leak.

I second the heavy duty wet dry vac.