# Stand floor waterproofing



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

I am working on the finishing touches on my new shallow frag tank and stand - which is made out of extruded aluminum. The bottom of the stand Is open to the floor and I'm considering a piece of acrylic for the base but I'm concerned that water could seep onto the wood and go undetected. What are my options here to prevent this from happening?


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

Hey Roger,
Not sure if you saw what I did for my display sump when you were here, but I built a 'tray' out of some half inch pink rigid foam. I built mine pretty tall and it's been great for catching spills. Acrylic woul obviously look prettier, but it's all going to be enclosed anyhow.

For yours, I would just build a shallow tray with a 2-3" wall height. Place the tray in the stand on the 2 braces and put your sump in that tray. Leave the floor bare, so that 1) spills will be easy to clean up, 2) minor drips can just dry on their own if missed

Make sure you post some pics of that bad boy when finished


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

kookie_guy said:


> Hey Roger,
> Not sure if you saw what I did for my display sump when you were here, but I built a 'tray' out of some half inch pink rigid foam. I built mine pretty tall and it's been great for catching spills. Acrylic woul obviously look prettier, but it's all going to be enclosed anyhow.
> 
> For yours, I would just build a shallow tray with a 2-3" wall height. Place the tray in the stand on the 2 braces and put your sump in that tray. Leave the floor bare, so that 1) spills will be easy to clean up, 2) minor drips can just dry on their own if missed
> ...


Hey Kamil, no I missed that detail...I like the idea of the tray, do I get the foam at Home Depot? Thanks!


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

Yup Home Depot sells it. Let me see if I have any pictures


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

You can get either white or black ABS sheets cut to fit from Plastic World.

Run a bead of LePage Quad to bond and seal the two materials.

You will have to run a bead on all inside vertical corners and in the grooves as water will leak through. Otherwise you can get the ABS sheets cut to the height you want and bond/seal with Quad.

HTH/JME


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Thanks Wilson for another option...

Kamil, It looks like the pink insulation is a no go for the sump to rest in... The sump is 15" cube and there is only ~16" of usable depth in the stand once I put the panels into the profile. I'll have to investigate the foam and ABS ideas as under stand setup... Kinda like a shallowish tray that I can just slide in and out from underneath...think birdcage tray lol. It won't hold much but should catch the odd spill that I am famous for


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

fury165 said:


> Thanks Wilson for another option...
> 
> Kamil, It looks like the pink insulation is a no go for the sump to rest in... The sump is 15" cube and there is only ~16" of usable depth in the stand once I put the panels into the profile. I'll have to investigate the foam and ABS ideas as under stand setup... Kinda like a shallowish tray that I can just slide in and out from underneath...think birdcage tray lol. It won't hold much but should catch the odd spill that I am famous for


Man talk about cutting it close, lol. Just looking at the CAD for the stand, and you have exactly 15 3/8" from the face of the back panel to the door frame. You do have one other option if you want to keep things off the floor. If you flip the stand over, you can cut some plexi that's about 1/4" shorter all around, and you would also have to put 1" cut outs for the feet to clear. Then you can drill some holes and use the extra hardware I gave you to attach it from the bottom. It would contain the drips, and still give you access to clean under the stand. Panel dimensions would be 23.75 x 17.75, with a 1"x1" square taken off each corner for the feet.


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Excellent Idea! I like that . Yeah, didn't I tell you I was bad at measuring lol.. I didn't account for the doors and For some reason I was only thinking that the skin would be on the perimeter of the stand and not integrated into the slots of the profile lol .


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Actually, I should be attaching the back panel to the outside of the profile so I can mount the power bars, modules etc to the panel. that will give me a bit more space


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

fury165 said:


> Actually, I should be attaching the back panel to the outside of the profile so I can mount the power bars, modules etc to the panel. that will give me a bit more space


Easy enough to do. You have plenty of hardware, lol.


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

kookie_guy said:


> Easy enough to do. You have plenty of hardware, lol.


That's for sure


----------



## Crayon (Apr 13, 2014)

Think dog cage liner, it is thin, is designed to contain water (or pee) and is black. Trick would be finding the right size. And just as an FYI, ALL rigid insulation is highly flammable. I don't understand the concept of using rigid insulation for any aspect of building an aquarium stand. It's insulation, not water proofing, or self leveling. Do you know the building code requires that all rigid insulation be enclosed (usually by drywall)? So if you are using any type of rigid insulation just make sure it's completely covered so you don't have a chance of it catching on fire. If you've never seen rigid burn, just google it.


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

A pan will have to be made to accommodate the levelling feet within it. 

If the sump is to be set within the extruded base, a glued polymer panel on the bottom extrusion will not hold the weight of the sump as depicted.


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

Crayon said:


> Think dog cage liner, it is thin, is designed to contain water (or pee) and is black. Trick would be finding the right size. And just as an FYI, ALL rigid insulation is highly flammable. I don't understand the concept of using rigid insulation for any aspect of building an aquarium stand. It's insulation, not water proofing, or self leveling. Do you know the building code requires that all rigid insulation be enclosed (usually by drywall)? So if you are using any type of rigid insulation just make sure it's completely covered so you don't have a chance of it catching on fire. If you've never seen rigid burn, just google it.


Good point Cheryl, thanks.



wtac said:


> A pan will have to be made to accommodate the levelling feet within it.
> 
> If the sump is to be set within the extruded base, a glued polymer panel on the bottom extrusion will not hold the weight of the sump as depicted.


The bottom of the stand has two cross braces made to hold the sump et al. The panel would be underneath those


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

wtac said:


> A pan will have to be made to accommodate the levelling feet within it.
> 
> If the sump is to be set within the extruded base, a glued polymer panel on the bottom extrusion will not hold the weight of the sump as depicted.


Like roger said there are cross braces, just didn't take the time to put them in the CAD.


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

Hey Roger how are you making out with the stand?? Did you get the frag tank all set up and running yet? Mine is still in the same bag you brought it in, in the basement on the floor, lol. No time.


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

kookie_guy said:


> Hey Roger how are you making out with the stand?? Did you get the frag tank all set up and running yet? Mine is still in the same bag you brought it in, in the basement on the floor, lol. No time.


Same boat, no time and still deciding on what to do about the panels lol.


----------



## kookie_guy (Oct 15, 2014)

fury165 said:


> Same boat, no time and still deciding on what to do about the panels lol.


lol, lets see who will get theirs done first


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

kookie_guy said:


> lol, lets see who will get theirs done first


My money is on you, I've created quite the rabbit hole with your help ...damn you!


----------



## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

Run a bead of LePage Quad along the inside perimeter of the extrusion profile and set the stand without the feet on it. Put some weight on it to make it a god seal. Run a bead on the inside corners and especially in the slot where the corners meet.


Allow to cure for 24hrs and put some low profile head screws with a washer every 4" for extra hold. In time the polymer sheet will sag a little but this will allow water to pool. You can glue and screw along the cross members but water will only be contained per section unless you drill a bunch of holes to allow water to flow into each section...if you can visualize what I'm trying to explain...LOL


----------



## fury165 (Aug 21, 2010)

wtac said:


> Run a bead of LePage Quad along the inside perimeter of the extrusion profile and set the stand without the feet on it. Put some weight on it to make it a god seal. Run a bead on the inside corners and especially in the slot where the corners meet.
> 
> Allow to cure for 24hrs and put some low profile head screws with a washer every 4" for extra hold. In time the polymer sheet will sag a little but this will allow water to pool. You can glue and screw along the cross members but water will only be contained per section unless you drill a bunch of holes to allow water to flow into each section...if you can visualize what I'm trying to explain...LOL


Lol thanks for the suggestion, but I'm going to have to reread when my head isn't so fuzzy from this flu


----------

