The Dream Tank 400 Gallon Display - IN THE WORKS - Input appreciated!!!!

[obiwanthegoby]

Thanks Untamed.

The I beams themselves were level before the addition of the plywood or the tank. Over the weekend, the guys got together to put the tank on the stand. At this point the beams were bare. The beams were lined up to cover the bottom of the tank equidistantly. I then lifted them and put a thin (1/4") run of construction glue under them to hold them in place, we then grabbed the plywood out of the garage (Which had warped a little as it was being painted, dried, ect.) and construction glued it to the beams, the foam was placed on top of the plywood and the tank placed on top of it. This all took less than an hour, but... more than 30 min. Figured the weight of the tank would help even the glue out. The tank as it sits right now, is level... front to back and side to side as the pictures depict. Do you think the warped plywood would be shifting the 400 lb tank around? What is the fix... If I shim the area that is off,... and the plywood eventually settles back flat, then the shims will throw the tank off level....

 

[Ed Reef]

I think your warped plywood cause that gap. Try to put wooden wedge underneath that part of the plywood until the gap is fill up and the tank is level both horizontally and vertically

 

[melev]

Looking at this picture:

It appears the gap was there since the very beginning. It is possible that the tank isn't perfectly square, which occurs during the gluing process if the panels are perfect. I've seen this happen with a couple of sumps in the past.

What you want is a nice secure foundation. If the plywood won't sit level, it needs to be replaced. I known it isn't fun, but you could fill up the tank with tap water to see if it all levels out like it should. After all, you have a concrete and steel stand, which isn't going anywhere. Nice and solid, and hopefully 100% level in all directions.

Now if the tank has water in it and the corner is still floating, I'd be VERY concerned. A club member had that situation with his 200+g FOWLR, and I just about freaked out when I saw the right side of the tank floating over the stand, full of water and livestock. The owner wasn't a bit concerned.

You can shim up the entire area to support it if necessary, filling that entire area rather than just a few key points. Lots of shims, rather than a mere handful.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Melev, you dont think that filling it with water could create stress issues within the tank seams or the acrylic itself?

 

[melev]

It is a brand new tank, and you do have the builder handy. Seems like he would expect you to do a water test at some point, right? Let us know what he says tomorrow.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

I had planned to call him in the morning. Im just ticked that I got it up there and started getting pumped up about getting sand and salt waterin it in a couple of days, and then the wrench got thrown in. Better now than later though.... Thanks to everyone who has commented and Ill keep everyone updated on what is going on. again Thank You!

 

[obiwanthegoby]

..and Melev, You are correct... Looking back at some of the tank shots at full resolution I believe the gap was always there. I knew there was a reason I was documenting the crap out of this tank...

 

[Oldude]

Got your pm's. Tough call as what to do. I don't have much experience with acrylic so I am only guessing as to what would work. As Marc mentioned it will need a wet test eventually. I would also think there would still be a bit of flex room. Depending on what happens I would pull the tank off the stand and shim under the plywood. Good luck. Who knows, it may settle and level out when you test it.
Nice looking plumbing job although I would strongly consider adding stand pipes in the external overflows as an emergency overflow because you never know what can happen and that could prevent a serious flood.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Yes, Stand pipes havn't been added, I forgot to get the 2" thread X slip so I have to make a trip back to HD.

As far as the tank goes, I am calling the builder in a few minutes when he opens the store and see what he recommends. I pulled the tank off the stand this morning with the help of a friend, the plywood does dip a bit in the corner in question. Overall the plywood is level, but there are a few spots where it did warp, figured the foam would take a bit of that out,... I also went ahead and removed the paper coating on the bottom as I forgot to do it when I placed the tank on the stand. I'll let you guys know what he says.....

Thanks again
Obi

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Just got off the phone with Todd (The tank builder). He is confident that the tank is not going to have issues. The glue he used in the seams is a 60000psi glue. The action plan is to get the tank back up on the stand a fill it about 1/4 of the way. Let it sit overnight and check the seams for stress bubbles or cracks. Then fill it about 1/2 way and let it sit for a few days and watch. Continue this until its full, at which point it should have corrected itself back into position. The tank has shifted a bit as melev stated, could be while it sat on top of the two pieces of carpet for the past month and half to two months. He is sure that it won't leak and that this slow fill process should either correct the issue or show that the tank is fine and won't have any issues. Shimming it is an option that doesn't HAVE to be done, but I will probably do just to make sure.

 

[melev]

Glad to hear the builder chime in on this one. During your water tests, please update us with pictures.

One other thing that I forgot to mention, but thanks to Oldude's post reminding me: That Y connection you have is made for drains. The sockets that each pipe glued into is only 1/2" deep. You want a real Y connection designed for flow, which would have 1" sockets. Since you have to do the slower water test away, you have time to acquire the correct piece. Savko.com sells it, as does aquaticeco.com

 

[obiwanthegoby]

He did more than chime in. He's comming out personally to help me get it back on the stand and level on Thursday morning. I will swap out the fittings in a day or so I have other things to pick up also. Thanks!

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Him calling me back an hour or so later and offering to come out reminds me why I try to support my local fish store even though prices on the internet may be a tad lower...

 

[melev]

That's absolutely true. :thumbsup:

 

[Ed Reef]

Glad things are working out for ya....!!

 

[Oldude]

Great news

 

[token]

Great build and documentation! GL on the filling process!

 

[obiwanthegoby]

You nailed it on the head token. Im trying to get everything in one central spot plus I'm keeping all my pictures, ect. filed on an external hard drive so that if and when somethin goes wrong I can look back and see if I notice where I messed up, will do the same when tank is up and running reguarding tank parameters, stocking, water change ammounts and dates ect. I have had a few issues with previous tanks where I wished I had of documented, maybe this times a little overboard but its a substantially larger investment this time.

 

[melev]

Another great reason for a build thread that is updated often.

 

[obiwanthegoby]

Alrighty guys,

Todd from Aquatica came out today. The both of us put the tank back on the stand. Todd got it shimmed up, and we filled it to let it settle. Trust him with it much more than myself. The water level is just below the bulkheads until I get some time tonight or tomorrow to get the ball valves onto the returns. He's dead confident EVERYTHING will be fine, and I'm good with that, the tank looks like great. There's also no noticeable bow to the tank, which is awesome, I hate the distortion you get out of some of the poorly constructed acrylic tanks that didn't use thick enough material. Here's some phone pictures....

Let it sit till this weekend, then drain and fill with RO/DI and salt. Rock in a couple weeks.... it's coming along....