Tips on avoiding disaster

[g_langley]

Dear all,

Having just completed a (sort of) DIY project on a tank, I'm a bit paranoid about it going through the floor or the stand collapsing(paranoia runs in the family).

I have my tank placed across three joists on a wooden floor. I've checked the condition of the floor and it's OK as far as I can tell. My tank is 34" wide, 30" tall and 24" front to back and I estimate would weigh about 1/3" of a ton.

It's a sort of DIY project in as much as I had the tank and stand specially made (professionally) and then drilled the stand (tank already drilled) and did all the plumbing to the sump and return myself.

I'm wondering how to keep the weight of the filled tank as "light" as possible. I wanted a tallish tank so I could have a back wall of live rock. Does anyone have a solution on displacing about 25% of the water content to keep the weight down? If I'm not wrong, high quality or "ultra" grade rock is lighter than the equivalent volume of saltwater so that's a start. I am considering a large diameter sealed pipe framework for the reef wall to add to the displacement, has anyone done this already? Am I insane?

Please stop me from going back to a 24" freshwater setup!

Regards...

 

[PrivateJoker64]

I don't think you need to worry about it. The weight is spread out enough that it shouldn't be a problem, but even if you still worry about it, couldn't you go under the floor and brace the joists up with some cinder blocks or etc.?
BTW, you won't find any rocks that weigh less than the water they displace, but if you did they would float! Think about it...

 

[sullyfish]

they do make synthetic rockwork designed for reef set ups. It is very light wieght and made out of some type of foam product . not sure of the company but I have seen threads on it before.

3 floor joists should be good, but for POM you could put a steel stansion underneath for extra measure.

 

[AcroSteve]

Most of the lightweight "ultra" rock is light because it is very porous. But when you pit it in the tank, it displaces less water than a lower grade of rock.