My Father's Day Present (to myself =)

[AJ_77]

Got this from EmilyB yesterday - many thanks to Deb and esp. to Trevor and Barry for their mighty acts of strength. 72x18x21" outside dimensions.

http://members.shaw.ca/AJ_77/newonstand01.jpg

I like 2x4's... :biggrin:

http://members.shaw.ca/AJ_77/newonstand02.jpg

Except when they cause ONE corner to dip slightly - the front right. :confused: I've got a couple of shims under the corner, but it hasn't taken out the twist in the frame (whatI think the problem is)... will a half-ton of water do it?? There's 1" of styrofoam as well.

http://members.shaw.ca/AJ_77/standright.jpg

Any suggestions at this point?

[whaase]

Looks good! One suggestion would be put some water in and maybe some lights on :biggrin: First I'd drill it if you plan on a sump. Are you building a skirt around the bottom? Doors? What are your lighting plans?

Hey!, if you have Debs old tank, that must mean there is a skimmer not being used somewhere at her house! :lol: :razz:

Walter

[AJ_77]

Going sumpless, Walter. Good luck on the skimmer, though... :razz:

Just wondering how the cement (basement) floor is, just under the FR corner... got 3 cedar shims under there now, and that side is level, but now the whole tank tilts slightly end-to-end (R to L)... :confused:

[kari]

I guess all you can do is keep shimming it until its all levelled up.

Might be good to add some sheathing or cross bracing to the frame before adding the water.

[EmilyB]

I remember having a whole pile of shims under the 155g bowfront when we set it up. the carpet took a while to settle evenly. Some water weight may help, just FW of course in case the whole thing suddenly tips to one side.... :eek: :biggrin:

Walter Walter Walter.....I have three tanks and three skimmers...... :rolleyes: :razz:

[Canadian Man]

Looking good Alan, Sorry about the mixup.

I would get it reasonable and then add some FW and see how it is after a few days of sitting. Half a ton does wonders :biggrin:

[AJ_77]

I would get it reasonable and then add some FW and see how it is after a few days of sitting. Half a ton does wonders :biggrin:
So what would be an acceptable tolerance for the 6' length? 1cm?

[Bob I]

Going sumpless, Walter. Good luck on the skimmer, though... :razz:

Just wondering how the cement (basement) floor is, just under the FR corner... got 3 cedar shims under there now, and that side is level, but now the whole tank tilts slightly end-to-end (R to L)... :confused:

Basement floors are never level. they are sloped toward the floor drain. My 50 has a one cm. slant from one end to the other. It usually does not matter as long as the tank is fully in contact with its support on the bottom. Moderate sloping end to end or front to back does not matter as long as the bottom is not twisted. :mrgreen:

[andestang]

Nice gift Alan, hope you thanked yourself :biggrin: Me, myself and I should of gotten this guy something for his hobby, but ... :rolleyes: So what are the plans for this tank ?

Ande

[christyf5]

Congrats Alan! About time you stepped up :razz:

Christy :)

[AJ_77]

OK, we're full of FW - looks about the same level-wise (I think the freakin tank weighs 300 lbs by itself)... guess we'll give it a few days.

This is clear across the basement from the floor drain - the 50 is much closer to it and has zero tilt, go figure. It is the twisting thing I'm worried about as there is a slight front-to-back as well as the end-to-end slope... :confused:

I don't want to have the base teetering on stacks of shims... :eek:

Yeah I thanked myself for the present - with a hernia! :biggrin: Plans for the tank are to combine my 50 and 29 into it, and have The One Tank. I'm going to partition off the one end (about 10") with a glass-and-eggcrate divider to make my version of an in-tank refugium.

Time to step up, sure... thanks! :wink:
The smaller tanks are jammed with their own success - definitely need more growing and swimming room.

[Delphinus]

Does the right front corner of the stand lift slightly off the floor, too?

I think as long as you're shimming the stand (and not the tank) to get it level, you should be fine.

That said, I have no idea what I'm talking about, so, um ... yeah, don't listen to me. :razz:

But hey, it looks like it's gonna be a wicked little setup once it's going. Good luck, and can't wait to see it in person. :cool:

[kari]

How about an easy fix. Cut the carpet out since carpet is a PITA and modify stand to match the conc floor. :biggrin:

Just kidding, not easy.

Wide shims, maybe glue them together and in place.

[Pisces]

My tank is 6 feet long, and from one end to the other it's out almost an inch. Been like that for around 2 years....no problem! :biggrin: I'm on the 5th floor of a concrete building...for a while I had a 110 on another wall perpendicular to my 130. Good thing the building manager didn't see them both! They were a little worried when I had my 55gal before I upgraded to the current 130! :eek:

I think if it's out 1cm, you're doing pretty good! :mrgreen:

[DiscusZ]

Nice Tank Al, maybe when i get over there to get that Frag you will have it cycling :)

[AJ_77]

Frag? What frag?? :razz:

Had "Ross the Stand Doctor" over tonight and I think we have it worked out. Looking much better all around. We'll give it a couple days half-full again and see for sure...

:biggrin:

[Buccaneer]

It IS about time Alan :razz:

past due maybe hehehe

Looks great so far ... any plans for new stuff now that you have the room for it or just to grow out what you already have ?

Cheers

[AJ_77]

It's always past due, isn't it Steve? :biggrin: OTOH, I think I've shown remarkable discipline to this point to resist the Bigger Tank bug... :smile:

As for room, I need to wait and merge the 50 and 29 into it first, then look at plans. The initial plan is to let it build up populations as per Eric B's recent posts on tank maturity (if I can wait, and if it will make a difference, and if things can stop growing into each other in the meantime)...

Not sure how it will be impacted by moving 2 smaller, stable systems into it, one at a time - after it has cycled with some used LS and some new LR.

BTW - Did I lend you Bandit or rent him to you??
:mrgreen:

[Buccaneer]

BTW - Did I lend you Bandit or rent him to you??
:mrgreen:

If you put a net in my tank and he voluntarily swam into it then you can have him back ... if he hides and cowers yelling in fish language to " plllleeeasssseee let me stay " then I guess he will have to stay ... we can try it and see anytime you want :razz: :mrgreen:

Actually he is a model citizen and has never been a problem ... my girls would kill me if I tried to remove him ... sorry :redface:

[AJ_77]

... my girls would kill me if I tried to remove him ... sorry :redface:
I am SO kidding, and would never do anything to upset your girls... :biggrin:

Speaking of kids, my son already picked out our next fish, once we're ready of course... :biggrin:

[Buccaneer]

[quote=Buk_A_neer]
Speaking of kids, my son already picked out our next fish, once we're ready of course... :biggrin:

Bandit Jr is my guess :cool:


OK ... what did I win ? ... what did I win ? :razz: :mrgreen:

[Buccaneer]

Speaking of kids, my son already picked out our next fish, once we're ready of course... :biggrin:

Bandit Jr is my guess :cool:


OK ... what did I win ? ... what did I win ? :razz: :mrgreen:

[AJ_77]

ha! nope, he wants a Convict Tang... a beginner tang. I can get into that, maybe...

:biggrin:

[Delphinus]

Interesting progression from "Bandit" to "Convict." Nice to see the wheels of justice still work now and again!

[AJ_77]

Maybe this one won't get away!

:razz:

[Scavenger]

Hey AJ, Keep us posted on how this comes along. I got myself the same fathers day present; a 110. I'm going sumpless too. Hell we even framed out the stand exactly the same. I got mine set up on Sunday with some supplies from Ganowicki. I'd like to hear your plans for lighting and filtering your tank. I'm still tweaking and twiddling this and that so if you have any good ideas, post em!! I'm always looking for better ways to run things. PS looks good so far, glad your floor leveled itself out :lol:

[AJ_77]

Very cool about your tank and stand! :cool:

My son found a curving scratch in the "front" pane here, so Quagmire (Greg) and I spun the thing around 180. It didn't like the way the styro was sitting after that and went back to un-level... :evil:

Then CanadianMan (Jonathan) happened by on the weekend, we lifted the thing and spun the styro around so it's happy and level again... now to get the divider put together so I can have my 5-ft display and 1-ft refugium... :biggrin:

I'd post more pics, but it looks much the same for now. :confused:

Lighting is still "yet-to-be-determined" but I do have a few 36" fixtures in use here and there, mainly armed with 55W PC. I'd like to get some more puch over at least part of this new tank, though... so we'll see.

Got a skimmer, a couple HO filters, some MJ powerheads... I'll have to work it up to full throttle as I merge the other 2 tanks in over the next few months or so. First the 29, then the 50 slowly I think...