The after disaster 650 gallon build

[fixmgood]

It is about one week short of 2 years since disaster struck.This is of course a whole other story.







I just took delivery of a new custom built tank from AGE (Acrylic and Glass Exhibits) out of Garland Texas.

First off it is an awesome tank well built and very nicely put together. Doing business with them was effortless and an absolute pleasure. The tank was shipped to California where I had to pick it up, as too big for a home delivery. I arranged to pick it up on a Friday and had a bunch of guys from the club (SCMAS) come over on the Saturday to help get it into the house.

A huge thanks to the people that came to help as well as the guys who kindly lent me their professional glass suction cups.
Tank was well crated in a really heavy duty pallet structure. The truck was about two inches higher than the stand and after lifting it off of the pallet onto the truck bed it was really not difficult to get it onto the stand. The tank is really heavy as it is 96”x36”x30”, 450 gallons of ¾” Starfire glass and a 1” PVC base. The steel stand was mounted and zip tied to a few furniture dollies and was taken into the house and set in place with really very little effort.


Now of course the fun begins....plumbing,new pumps,Oceans Motion and so it goes.
I hope I as well as those who are going to follow (or is that wishful thinking) will find this useful

[fixmgood]

The tank is drilled for a closed loop system.

Some of the inside plumbing roughed in.



The sump system is outside housed in a 17ft cabinet(you can see it in the first few pictures).

[woodnaquanut]

Wow! Good, no GREAT, comeback!

Props to the crew, too. One of the great things about fish clubs!

[IvanTheTerrible]

Glad to see you're back. The story of your loss gave me nightmares. Good luck with the new build.

-Ivan

[fixmgood]

Originally Posted by IvanTheTerrible

Glad to see you're back. The story of your loss gave me nightmares. Good luck with the new build.

-Ivan

Thanks. I still think about it.Pleased that my wife let me have another tank

[jcgorla]

Welcome back from the disaster! I know how it can be, we are just over one year since our disaster--toilet overflowing all day long on the third floor of our house. Just this past week I ordered the new tank as I had to break down the old one and put the fish in a temp holding tank for the last year. Good luck with the rest of your build, I'll be following!

[ForeverNoob]

Back with vengeance. Great looking new tank. Following along with the rebuild!

[SPotter]

on board to watch this develop!

[KevinsHVAC]

Thats 650g, god help me if mine ever does that.....between the wife and the basement I will probably just pack my bags. Mines double that...lol

[sixpackgarage]

new tank looks sweet. Amazing the glass didn't break when it fell off on the first tank.

[champion6sigma]

Tagging along for the comeback .

[fixmgood]

Originally Posted by sixpackgarage

new tank looks sweet. Amazing the glass didn't break when it fell off on the first tank.

The bottom silicon came loose,and it landed on the ottoman,I also have wood floors and there was a huge ding in the floor.That glass is heavy.I am sure if you do a search on tank disasters you will find the original thread.I don't really want to harp on that aspect right now.
There was another tank failure by the same manufacturer this past month,720 gallons.Seam failed.

[jbvdhp]

Wow scary stuff. Hopefully your flooring isn't damaged.

Say, why are you using leveling feet/nuts whatever they're called on your stand? Doesn't that make the weight really focused at those four points, instead of evenly distributed around the frame? Just asking as I am getting a frame made in the mean time. Also, why no gussets?

[ForeverNoob]

Originally Posted by jbvdhp

Wow scary stuff. Hopefully your flooring isn't damaged.

Say, why are you using leveling feet/nuts whatever they're called on your stand? Doesn't that make the weight really focused at those four points, instead of evenly distributed around the frame? Just asking as I am getting a frame made in the mean time. Also, why no gussets?

I was wondering the same thing. I mean I like the idea of being able to dial in the levelness, but hope the threads can stand the weight!

[fixmgood]

Originally Posted by jbvdhp

Wow scary stuff. Hopefully your flooring isn't damaged.

Say, why are you using leveling feet/nuts whatever they're called on your stand? Doesn't that make the weight really focused at those four points, instead of evenly distributed around the frame? Just asking as I am getting a frame made in the mean time. Also, why no gussets?

The whole downstairs was damaged, look up tank disasters and it is all there.

As far as the stand,which I built myself,it is 1.5 square tube with a 1/8" wall thickness (I have been welding and fabricating stuff for the longest time so I am confident in my work). In my opinion it is way strong enough with good weld penetration that the chances of it failing are pretty minimal.For it to shear it will have to break the welds in 16 places.Let me put it this way that if we have a big enough earthquake that has the potential to damage the stand it will be the least of my worries.As far as the adjustable feet go I think they are rated at between 2500 and 3000lb each,if you need an exact number for their load bearing capacity I will gladly look it up and report back.The load is spread out and not concentrated on one foot.Without adjusters you would need some way to level the stand,pick your poison,much easier with adjusters.Hope this helps.Most stands are overbuilt,purely my opinion.

[fixmgood]

Got to do some work on the system today,as I was away on a boat dive yesterday.One gets such a different perspective on the ocean currents fish etc when you see it from a fishes view.
Cleaned out the cabinet that houses the sump system as well as the sump,it was not as gross as I had anticipated since I have not really touched it for 2 years.Well it is clean now,and cabinet needs to be wiped down with bleach and painted,all these things I was going to do before will now finally get done, so if it takes an extra week or so before I do rock work and fill so be it.
New pumps should be in tomorrow and Oceans Motion later in the week.

[d-man]

Nicely done sir, nicely done. It's always nice to have someone with that much perseverance in the hobby, it's what help keep a lot of people going

[jbvdhp]

Originally Posted by fixmgood

The whole downstairs was damaged, look up tank disasters and it is all there.



As far as the stand,which I built myself,it is 1.5 square tube with a 1/8" wall thickness (I have been welding and fabricating stuff for the longest time so I am confident in my work). In my opinion it is way strong enough with good weld penetration that the chances of it failing are pretty minimal.For it to shear it will have to break the welds in 16 places.Let me put it this way that if we have a big enough earthquake that has the potential to damage the stand it will be the least of my worries.As far as the adjustable feet go I think they are rated at between 2500 and 3000lb each,if you need an exact number for their load bearing capacity I will gladly look it up and report back.The load is spread out and not concentrated on one foot.Without adjusters you would need some way to level the stand,pick your poison,much easier with adjusters.Hope this helps.Most stands are overbuilt,purely my opinion.

Could you pm me your plans, info on the leveling feet? My stand is getting made as early as tomorrow.

[Mrpunkracing]

Good luck on your journey!

I would love you stand build specs if your willing to share. Thanks

[fixmgood]

Originally Posted by jbvdhp

Could you pm me your plans, info on the leveling feet? My stand is getting made as early as tomorrow.

I am not sure what plans you are looking for,most of it comes off the top of my head with a lot of measuring and common sense I guess.I will get you the name of the place for the adjusters in the morning sometime, as I have it at my office. PM me and I will give you my e mail in case you need any further help with the stand.

[fixmgood]

Originally Posted by Mrpunkracing

Good luck on your journey!

I would love you stand build specs if your willing to share. Thanks

96"Lx36"Wx32.5H without adjusters.1.5"square tube 1/8" wall thickness.

[fixmgood]

[fixmgood]

[champion6sigma]

I like the stand a lot. Did you build the previous one also?

[fixmgood]

Originally Posted by champion6sigma

I like the stand a lot. Did you build the previous one also?

Yes I built the other one as well,it was a little heavier duty.2" square tube and it was around 3/16" wall thickness you could park a Sherman tank on it and it would not have moved.
Thanks for all the compliments.