Mr. Saltwater Tank TV Friday Am Quick Tip #103: Keep Your Spouse And Your Tank Happy
Two things are inevitable around a saltwater tank:
#1: Your tank will need cleaning,
#2: You are going to spill some water while cleaning your tank!
A little spilled water isn’t a big deal to any tank personality, but your spouse likely won’t be amused. Here’s how to keep your spouse happy while also making your tank look great.
Browse the Store! Questions?
AMEN Mark… 🙂
Mark,
Thanks for the tip! Instead of a plastic drop cloth I use old towels and anyone who has a tank has some old towels. It absorbs the water. & keeps me from tracking water back and forth to the sink and other parts of the house
Dave
Hi Mark, definitely a good point. I don’t know how you can have carpeting under a 210 at all. I have hardwood under my tank and without fail there is always water spilled. Because I need to use a 4 ft. ladder to reach down into the bowels of the beast, a plastic sheet is not a good idea because of it getting caught under the legs of the ladder or your feet bunching it up and tripping over it. I have a old shower towel that I keep on the floor next to the work area and after a few spills you just step on the towel and wipe away. Whether it’s hardwood or tile , it’s OK to have the water sit on it for alittle while without damage. The wife has seen this method and haven’t heard a peep (unless I forget to wipe). Floors still look great.
Great tip….and you better listen! Another good method is a large bathroom floor mat. They are absorbent with a water-proof backing. That was my wife’s idea to keep her happy. What a smart woman!
Well, I’m the wife and I’m the one in the marriage who is the reef enthusiast! What I did when I had my 90g on carpet was use a plastic office floor mat I’d cut down to size. I’d lay that down on the floor in front of the tank before doing maintenance.
I’ve learned from my older tanks. When setting up a new tank, I get those rubber mats that you can get by feet from home depot/lowes that will be permanently under my tank stand. A lot of those mats come with thin carpet on top that help absorb water. I give about 8 inches allowance on all sides. When the water dries, I just vacuum the salt residue.
If you are using a non-waterproof/untreated stand, make sure you put a rubber mat under the tank as well and overlap the edges a bit on to the sides of your stand. This is to minimize spills from getting between the joints of your stand that will corrode nails or rot/deform the wood.
Thanks Adam and Mark.
I use the Pee-Pads that are used for dogs/cats; they are cheap, disposable, several sizes available and hold a lot of liquid. They work great as long as the cat or dog doesn’t try to use them while you are….
Why would you use plastic and not a towel. You can hang up the towel when your done with.
I use towels, I place around the tank when ever I am doing any maintenance.
I bought some drywall/paint drop cloths from Home Depot a few years back They are 10×20 nice and thick and wash well once they get to mucky. and…. They will be reusable for years and years and years
I have my sump located the basement (or man cave) and plumbed to the tank upstairs so most of my maintenance takes place downstairs, except for glass cleaning and daily feeding of course.
My wife and children are afraid to go down there…
My 2 tanks are down in the basement on a concrete floor.
So I don’t worry about water on the floor.
But if I ever bring the tanks upstairs then am putting a tile floor in first.
Howard..good call on putting tile down first. Now that I’ve had a tile floor under my tank I’m a big fan. Spills, even big ones, are no big deal.
Mark H…is your sump the monster that lives in the basement?!
Des Moines Developer…towels work ok, but will still leave some water on the floor that can soak into the carpet or wood if you don’t wipe it up ASAP. Plastic is a 100% impervious barrier
Phill…that’s a good idea. Knowing my dog Bart, he’s decide the pee pad is a great place to take a nap!
What type of my sis shrimp do you use and what brand
hi mark , just watch your friday tip , yes i know its saturday, is it me being carefull or over organised , but ive never spilt any water , honest.
one other thing , i had to quicly find a piece of glass to put on a quarantine tank a few months ago , the only glass i could get quickly was a piece of lightly tinted bronze coloured glass , and i havent got round to replacing it yet , but i suddenly realised there is no algea growing in the tank , took glass off, left it a while, algea start growing in the tank, put tinted glass back on and algea goes away aftr a few days. So next i put in a bit of coral just to see how much the light affected it ,and guess what, the coral polyps come out fine just the same.
So , have i found a simple cure for algea here, just have tinted top glasses, the algea dosent like it but it does not bother anything else
I would use towels as other said. when done hang them up or put in washer and wash them so they do not smell. I also they have drying pads for dishes that you can put around the tank and hang up and they are washable.
If the bitch bitches about the water, I punch her in the gut and roll her around in the water to soak it up!!
Wow