Deliemma

[dr_sudz]

I just got an amazing pickup, 180 for $100 including a piece of wood and gravel which I won't be using there. But here is the thing, I live in an apartment building, and I have had one flood that leaked down 5 floors on another tank which I got rid of, then last night I had my kitchen sink over flow and it wasn't alot of water but it leaked again down to the lady below. She really wasn't happy to see me this time.
The tank is going where all these cracks in MY floor are that seem to go right to the appartment below. I am torn because I so want to have my tank up and running but at the same time if I have another flood I don't want to distroy the woman below me. Anyone have suggestions for protecting from floods if it starts at all?

 

[demjor19]

all i can say is be very careful during water changes...dont spill any water or let the tank overflow. if the tank leaks or breaks you're screwed!
can a 180 even be on a floor that high up?
goodluck!

 

[dr_sudz]

Ya it shouldn't be a problem seeing that it is all cement floors here, but I really do not want to have a flood for sure. My wife suggested making a troft for the tank to sit in so that if it starts to leak we can catch it before it become a huge problem.

 

[mjmc]

How do you stop 180 gallons from leaking everywhere? Short of keeping your tank above an empty indoor pond, I'm not sure you can do anything. If your room was 15'x15', and the tank shattered completely (worst case) and leaked all 180 gallons on the floor, you'd have about 1.2" of water covering the room. How many towels does that take? Your neighbor downstairs would be inundated. I'd fill it up somewhere outside first and ensure it doesn't leak for a while. Water damage can be expensive to fix.

 

[demjor19]

i was hoping you had concrete floors.
you could use your trough idea and make a gutter going outside?

 

[Ozkar]

i was hoping you had concrete floors.
you could use your trough idea and make a gutter going outside?

Yeah! Sweet idea! Kind of like an overflow condensation pan used for air conditioning coils.

 

[demjor19]

Yeah! Sweet idea! Kind of like an overflow condensation pan used for air conditioning coils.

yeah! just make it big enough to handle a 180 gallon rush of water.

 

[wannaarro]

Do you know what kind of support the concrete has? By the time you have that puppy on a stand, filled with water, substrate, other stuff, and fish, it's gonna weigh over a ton!!

 

[sirasoni]

man, the lady living underneath you must hate you for even thinking about this

 

[circusvoodooninja]

Do you know what kind of support the concrete has? By the time you have that puppy on a stand, filled with water, substrate, other stuff, and fish, it's gonna weigh over a ton!!

Weight to me isnt the issue, after all lots of people have water beds in apparments. My concern would be "the cracks" and previous water damage. A trough would be awsome to build, but ugly, unless you put like little flowers on it!! If you had a proch or deck area that didn't get much sun, you could put it there. Grab some of those titanium heaters for the winter and call it a day.