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Tank emergency: Need 2x2x4 120G stand ASAP

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Bud, May 10, 2011.

  1. Bud

    Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    I have a potentially serious problem and I need some serious help.  Does any have a stand for a 120 gallon 2x2x4 tank that I can borrow or buy ASAP?
    Many of you have seen this tank up at the dentist's office in Grimes:
    [​IMG]


    Well I took a real close look at the bottom today and noticed this gap
    [​IMG]


    And this pending disasterous seam failure
    [​IMG]


    Which may or may not be getting worse. I can see this in pictures going back to when I took over maintenance back in December of '09, but I have never noticed it enough to take a close-up picture. So I have no frame of reference. Regardless, the crack looks to be about 3/4 of the way through the bottom panel, which is 1/4" thick. The rest of the tank is 3/8". Oh by the way, Tenecor under-builds their tanks.


    Lucky for me, I purchased a glass 120 from Seascapes during the tank sale, and it's sitting empty at my house. All I need is a stand and I can transfer everything to that and repair this tank and correct the support system before it blows and all is lost.


    So right now I'm cleaning the !%$@ out of my pants. Please help.


    ASAP. PM or post if you can help.


    I can build one myself also, if anyone has a little experience and could lend a hand, I have a table saw and all the tools needed, just need wood and time, and it doesn't have to look pretty, just level and sturdy. I wanted to do this anyways, this has just jump-started the issue into emergency/need mode.
     
  2. Bud

    Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    Oh yeah, and for the record, F%&@ Adam's Aquatics for putting a 1000+ pound system on an inadequate stand, 3/4" laminated particle board and 1.5" steel tubing that isn't even located directly beneath the back edge of the tank, or at best, barely under it.
    [​IMG]


    Cabinetmaker's fault too. Suns a beetches.
     
  3. Zachstankostosmall

    Zachstankostosmall Well-Known ReefKeeper

    Good luck!!!!
     
  4. stew

    stew Well-Known ReefKeeper GIRS Member

    Bud - I have a used 48" 120 with stand that I was planning to set up sometime this summer. You are welcome to borrow that if it will help. I haven't set the tank up before so no guarantees. It's in Ankeny if you want to take a look.
     
  5. Reefman

    Reefman Inactive User

    Stew
    Good to see things like this occurring... This is a good example of working together to solve an issue and to help the fellow members out...
     
  6. Bud

    Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    I want to thank everyone who posted or PMd about loaning me a stand. Thanks to both Stew and Xmasia for offering. Shaun in CR even offered to build me a stand for cost of materials! Talk about support!!


    I took a look at a few that would probably have done the job, but the problem I'm running into is that I have no idea how long I will need the stand for. This could very well turn into a permanent situation, depending on if they decide to replace the tank. So I think borrowing a stand is kind of out of the equation, because I don't want to have to tear it down just to set it back up again if that's the case.


    So, if there's anyone else out there that has a stand that I could borrow indefinitely, with the possible intent to purchase, I would definitely still be interested.


    Unless I can find a stand, I'm going to make on based on the DIY stand plans on the RC thread
    DIY Stands Template and Calculator


    In the meantime, the crack has not progressed, and I cracked the return valve closed as much as possible to lower the water level in the tank (only 1/4", but...) and took the tops off, shortened the light cycle, and left the base cabinets open to help keep the temp down (was 82 yesterday morning)


    But, it's still way, way scary looking:
    [​IMG]


    I printed this picture out and took an engineering scale to it and figured out the the worst part of the fracture is just over 3/4 of the way through. So for about a 3 to 4 inch long stretch, there is currently 1/16" of material holding this tank together.


    And, according to James Steele (Acrylics on RC) the tank is pretty much junk - not repairable.
     
  7. Bud

    Bud Loves Bacon Website Team Board of Directors Leadership Team GIRS Member Vendor

    Fracture looked the same today. Tenecor said that there is a chance that the seam will go as the tank is emptied. This makes sense because the material will try to go back to it's original shape, and the fractured areas just won't push back together perfectly, there will be a fractional increase of space taken up which may push the rest of the seam apart. So now I'm damned if I do, and damned if I don't. This is bad. Getting way nervous. Getting headaches...
     

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