Marineland 250 DD Disaster

As far as tank build suggestions are concerned, I really appreciate them and am learning from every post. However, I will never have the skills to build a stand myself and am hesitant to weigh in on the issue with the LFS. However it does strike me as amazing that tanks are built to operate on the edge of their actual holding capacity. Is that normal or is limited to a few tank builders? I definitely think the LFS took the stand forgranted but wonder if it is because other tanks provide greater tolerance for imperfection. Is this possible?
 
brandonst878 said:
I know!!! I kept thinking.. Did he tell her to make lots of babies and then realize.. Shoot this is the Opposite of titanic. A little dark I know but I've desperately looking for some humor in all of this.
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That is really rotten...I was seriously heart broken about those nemos dying together. I even told my family about it. I only wish there was a tongue in cheek smiley face. I am just busting your chops...you got to have a sense of humor about these things. and a little gallows humor goes a long way.
 
This is what it looked like before his failure

: dryfit 2.JPG

Post #293 on page 12 of this thread shows the failure.

Mike,(prop-frags) hope you don't mine me using your pics. This information can be very useful.
 
I am so sorry for you. This is my worst nightmare. My tank has been up for about 4mo now and not only would the house be damaged like yours is but I have put so much time and heart into the tank and know each and fish/coral and would be devastated to lose them. I hope you do try again, it is so worth it when things go well.
 
brandonst878 hang in there.

This can be a very difficult hobby at times. If you ever stop to think about it the whole thing is just a disaster waiting to happen. But despite all the heartache, money and time it is still worth it. I have had many question me as to why and all I can ever say to them is "If you can't see why, you must be blind."

May your glass be thick and your next stand plumb and true. ;)

Stu
 
Ugh, like many I'm sorry to hear about this! Thankfully the LFS is working to take good care of you.

When it comes to large tanks I'm always a little worried about glass failures, especially in a mass produced tank.

For me I'll take acrylic over glass any day. Acrylic does have it's drawbacks, it scratches easily and you do have to be careful when cleaning the tank to avoid scratches but a quality built acrylic tank will last forever. Acrylic tanks are actually chemically welded together for seams that will never fail.

If your going to going to consider acrylic there's only one person who I'd have build the tank and that's James from Envision Acrylics www.envisionacrylics.com

James is known as one of the top builders in the world, yes I said WORLD! He's built many of the large tanks here on RC and only overbuilds his tanks. He's also one of the few people that can build Kreisels for zoos and large public aquariums.

I've had him build quite a few tanks for me now and his work is definitely second to none. His tanks are definite works of art. I highly recommend contacting him to build your next tank. He can properly crate and ship your tank anywhere in the world.

Here's a link to one of James' best known tanks http://www.oregonreef.com/sub_tank.htm Steve Weast's 850 gallon tank.
 
CRAZYFIZH said:
Don't think I said anything about designing the tank or said anything about knowing better so you should read the post and and understand tht question that is being asked and you can see in the pictures that there is no foam under the tank it also seems like most people say that the stand is the issue at hand and yes I have a 300dd
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Don`t lose your purse sister- I was agreeing with you- re read. I was speaking of jimmy frag as you were and saying if he was using foam under everything, he had better have insurance.
 
Blurry said:
Sorry to hear of your misfortune. If you have a moment look under the stand at the black bottom edge of the tank, go around the perimeter and see if the tank is touching the whole way around or if there are gaps from the wood being uneven.

When i built the stand for my 120 I had issues with the wood having "waves" in it. Had to put "flatter" wood in and work with it from there.
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these manufactured stands are not always plumb and square as the tolerance of the saws run off now and then from build up of dust, preasure...also the surface the stand and tank has been placed on(flooring) was the stand shimmed for level. from the pic of the cracked tank, it looks like its possible the stand was out of square alowing the tank to twist. if there was styrofoam used under the tank frame i believe the elevated corner the thank sat on would have compressed the styrofoam in that area alowing the wait to be equal around the complete foot print of the tank. no stess, no crack. Again, i alway use styrofoam and never had a problem. having said that...i never install a tank without so cant say not using styrofoam will cause the problem. to me it just makes sence to use
 
foam under a tank is used as a buffer and as long as the tank has a good trim there's no need for foam. rimless and euro braced tanks need foam. marineland dd's are designed to be set up witout foam. that stand is probably out of square. im a carpenter myself and believe me... 1/8" out of square over a 5' run equals disaster with 2,640 lbs of water on it. the stand is to blame imho. thus putting the blame on the lfs. they whole blame imo
 
where's my manners! trully sorry to see this happen to a fellow reefneck. my deepest sympathy for your loss and migranes that followed im assuming. keep your chin off your chest bro. happens to the best of us sometimes. hind sight is always 20/20. you live, you learn, you grow from your misfortunes and mistakes. even the ones that others are to blame for...
 
jimmy frag said:
these manufactured stands are not always plumb and square as the tolerance of the saws run off now and then from build up of dust, preasure...also the surface the stand and tank has been placed on(flooring) was the stand shimmed for level. from the pic of the cracked tank, it looks like its possible the stand was out of square alowing the tank to twist. if there was styrofoam used under the tank frame i believe the elevated corner the thank sat on would have compressed the styrofoam in that area alowing the wait to be equal around the complete foot print of the tank. no stess, no crack. Again, i alway use styrofoam and never had a problem. having said that...i never install a tank without so cant say not using styrofoam will cause the problem. to me it just makes sence to use
Click to expand...

I did not see them use a level at all when they installed the tank and no shims were used. I thought it was very odd that I didn't see them use a level but figured maybe they had that app on their phone. I really think they got sloppy and took the setup forgranted because they had never had a failure before. I think my situation was the LFS stores hard lesson to learn. I'm giving it another shot once the drywall and floors are removed and reinstalled but plan on using all of your input as aframe of reference before the next tank goes in. I've also instructed the LFS to fully run and test the next setup at their store during the reconstruction at my house.
 
CRAZYFIZH said:
if the center brace was 1" below the glass i would say that there is your problem so that would mean that your lfs is to blame.
that is why put a pice of 3/4" plywood on top of my stand and 2 2x6 center brace
'
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I agree...should have been plywood under there...rc is loading so slow, slower than most days, so I have read entire thread yet, but there is no reason not to have it under there...I also would have wanted 2 addtional supports under the tank, one on either side of the exisiting...
so sorry this happened...very sad to see the pics of the clowns together...
seems like you do have a solid case as it was brand new...
will read of thread as rc allows...too slow in here...
 
hvacman250 said:
Tanks like that where the bottom pane is elevated DO NOT have to be put on plywood and should not be placed on styrofoam. Styrofoam is a bandaid for sloppy craftsmanship or untrue/out of level/not plumb lumber. Plywood cannot hurt, but you only need lumber where the plastic trim touches.

An acrylic or custom glass tank where the bottom is a pane of glass should be on solid plywood and styrofoam.
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if elevated- agree...
 
Is is very sad, I just missed out on a brand new 300DD but still do believe it was a flaw in the tank stand
Corey
 
This looks simple to me.
The "perimeter support" is a ridiculous design and clearly the main reason for this disaster.
They should take full responsibility on your losses and finish the job properly.

If they are not insured or willing to pay for this they should be sued or put out of business.

Good luck...
 
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