Salt water in wood

[Aquado]

I have a reef tank on the second floor of my house with wooden floors (a recipe for disaster but it's what I'm dealing with). I have had small leaks on occasion, and cleaned them up fairly easily. The issue I have now is that the salt water (and by extension the salt) has soaked into the wood beneath and immediately around the tank. Then, because of the hygroscopic property of salt, it pulls water out of the air and thus wets the wood. The salt can already damage the wood on its own, but the water makes it worse.

Is anyone aware of a way to get at least some of the salt out of the wood. I thought that using some fresh water (maybe wiping with a wet cloth?) could help pull some out. I also have seen online some places claiming that a 50/50 vinegar and fresh water solution can pull salt out and/or lower its hygroscopic effect, but I did not want to try anything yet in case I make it worse.

If anyone has any advice it would be greatly appreciated!

 

[griss]

I don’t have any experience, sorry. Best of luck. As you’re likely aware, salwater will rot wood faster than fresh.

@wvned might? Have some thoughts.

 

[wvned]

Thats a tough one. Extraction would be the only way. Vinegar would help dissolve the hardness saltwater leaves behind. I use vinegar on our wood flooring here and it has been fine so far.
I would get a sheet of vinyl flooring, move the tank to a new place and put it on the vinyl to prevent spreading the woe.
Then I would wet the floor and sop up the water with towels at first and then paper towels.
I use a carpet extractor here in the basement.
I have no idea how much water your floor will take but it may start doing bad things when it dries completely out like bending and warping.

 

[Aquado]

Thats a tough one. Extraction would be the only way. Vinegar would help dissolve the hardness saltwater leaves behind. I use vinegar on our wood flooring here and it has been fine so far.
I would get a sheet of vinyl flooring, move the tank to a new place and put it on the vinyl to prevent spreading the woe.
Then I would wet the floor and sop up the water with towels at first and then paper towels.
I use a carpet extractor here in the basement.
I have no idea how much water your floor will take but it may start doing bad things when it dries completely out like bending and warping.

Thank you, that at least gives me an idea of where to start. My tank is 350L, so it'll be a pain to move if I have to , but it is what it is I suppose. I'll have to have a look around my house and see if there's anywhere else the tank could feasibly go.

With the vinegar on your floors, do you mean that you've used it to remove salt/reduce the water-sucking property salt? Or that you've just used it on the floor for general cleaning and haven't had any issues with damage to the wood?

 

[wvned]

Thank you, that at least gives me an idea of where to start. My tank is 350L, so it'll be a pain to move if I have to , but it is what it is I suppose. I'll have to have a look around my house and see if there's anywhere else the tank could feasibly go.

With the vinegar on your floors, do you mean that you've used it to remove salt/reduce the water-sucking property salt? Or that you've just used it on the floor for general cleaning and haven't had any issues with damage to the wood?

General cleaning is what I meant. I havent tried to do what you are dealing with. But the point of the vinegar is the acetic acid will make the carbonates in the water dissolve so you can remove them. There is more in the saltwater than just the sodium chloride. Salt will easily dissolve into water but carbonates wont. I would put a cup of vinegar in a gallon of water at first and then switch to just water.
When we moved, I put the tanks in the basement on Vinyl tile covered concrete. I pour a bucket of water on the floor and suck it up with an old carpet machine. These tanks do harm walls and floors over time. It's part of living with them.
Maybe you could just move the tank away from the wall long enough to correct the floor and let it dry and then move it back? Or maybe I am imagining a much larger problem than you have and just cleaning around it will be sufficient.

 

[ironwill723]

The best solution as mentioned above is to move the tank, clean underneath, and either relocate or replace in the same spot. One "easy" way to do this is drain a majority of the tank water into a temporary holding tank or tub/bins and then simply slide the tank out to clean under. Once done just pump the water back in the tank. Furniture sliders work well for this type of work.

 

[C.Eymann]

I think @wvned probably described the most pragmatic approach and brings up good points that reef aquarium water is a chemical soup, full of different minerals other than just sodium chloride. Repeat rinsing with a dilute solution of RO water and acetic acid to both dissolve minerals as well as likely to inhibit mold or mildew growth followed by wet vacuuming it up seems like a solid plan. Might want to consider not force drying it too fast and allowing to dry slow maybe even set weights on top of the boards to help prevent curling depending on what type of floors you have
I have used heavy duty thick rubber weightlifting room / squat rack mats - not the thin foam squares to set tanks on before where there was concern over damaging the floor , in one build the owner had very expensive hand scraped mohagany floors, we used these mats and had the sump sit inside of a emergency drain tray that was tapped into the sewer line.