One of the Reasons I Don't have a Sump

[Rikko]

With that type of tank there's really no point in having a full sheet of plywood covering the bottom unless you have a foam there to actually pad the glass against the stand. Otherwise it does absolutely nothing - no weight is resting on the sheet of wood. I don't even think it's necessary - looks like a freak accident to me. What I'd be more interested in is how tight he cranked those bulkhead fittings on (that's a fair bit of pressure on the glass right there.. I'd sooner slightly hand tighten with a silicone seal than just brute force it) and what kind of forces were applied to the pipes attached to that fitting. Some geniuses will put a tremendous amount of piping running away from a bulkhead which adds several pounds of pressure persistently pushing against the glass... Geniuses like me.. Who just leave it because they want to see how long it takes for a failure to happen. Ever seen the plumbing in J&Ls fish only tanks? Looks like 2" PVC running down from the bulkhead, then across, then down again into the next tank. Problem? The design is great, but I cringe every time I look at it. If anybody were to smack that piece of PVC that tank would shatter.

Poor bastard, though.