Asylumdown's 275 Tank build

[lastlight]

That's really bad man. I'd never fill that sorry. Stand needs to be level even with foam. Foam is not really for compensating for an overall unlevelness in a surface but more for imperfections in an overall level surface.

[asylumdown]

yah, I thought so too. I just got off the phone with the builder, they're halting the finishing and are going to try and fix the plywood in the morning. If they can't get it to flatten out by adding more bracing to the underside, the entire enclosure needs to be ripped out.

This would be where I wish we could swear in this forum.

[Magma]

be thankful you caught it now and not later when its enclosed and the tank cracks after you fill it....

[asylumdown]

Man this is gutting.

Hopefully we can fix it with a thin layer of self leveller or something. Literally the entire enclosure is at some point anchored to that piece of plywood.

What's worse, I now need to explain to my fiancé that my aquarium will be the reason for another week or two delay to us moving in to our already months late house.

[mseepman]

Eek...I feel your pain. Every step in my new house feels like I'm centering it around the tank and no-one seems to understand why except me. Things like this seem okay to builders but to us....no way! I'm glad you caught it now.

[Delphinus]

Egads!!!

You've already been given this advice but you'll hear it once more from me: under no circumstances can you fill that with water. Sorry man! But like said, a delay here of a couple days to a week is peanuts compared to what you'd be facing with a blown tank.

[Mrfish55]

Shoot some expanding foam underneath the foam board you already have on there, don't overdo it or it will lift the tank and don't use the low expansion window/ door foam as it dries soft, you want the one that dries stiff, you can stick a piece of rigid tube on the end of the nozzle so it can reach to the center, works great seen it done a number of times, make sure you level the tank before it sets.

[lastlight]

Can't you build a very shallow dam around the plywood and pour a levelling compound in it? Then you'd have perfection?

[Delphinus]

I like those ideas a lot, you guys think of everything! But on the flip side .. if he's paying professional builders/framers/carpenters/whatever to put this in, then they should be on the hook to make it right. It's their problem to fix.

[asylumdown]

Originally Posted by Mrfish55

Shoot some expanding foam underneath the foam board you already have on there, don't overdo it or it will lift the tank and don't use the low expansion window/ door foam as it dries soft, you want the one that dries stiff, you can stick a piece of rigid tube on the end of the nozzle so it can reach to the center, works great seen it done a number of times, make sure you level the tank before it sets.

Originally Posted by lastlight

Can't you build a very shallow dam around the plywood and pour a levelling compound in it? Then you'd have perfection?

THose are excellent ideas, they may not even need to take the tank out! I'll broach them both with the builder tomorrow morning. Thank you, I knew I spent hours trolling fish forums for a reason

Originally Posted by Delphinus

I like those ideas a lot, you guys think of everything! But on the flip side .. if he's paying professional builders/framers/carpenters/whatever to put this in, then they should be on the hook to make it right. It's their problem to fix.

Too true, but at this point it's about speed. Mark was right though, house builders don't really understand the allowances of an aquarium I don't think. What's 'good enough' for most carpentry jobs can be the difference between failure and not. When Kevin originally installed the stand, he put a 1/4 inch (1/2? can't really remember) sheet of really high quality oak plywood down on top. It was perfectly flat and would have worked great for the tank's purposes. But when the carpenter started working out how he could build the enclosure, I wouldn't let them pierce the steel of the stand to anchor anything to it so they had to replace Kevin's plywood with a 3 inch piece of plywood that they made on site by gluing several different sheets together. I stressed as hard as I could that it needed to be flat, and to be honest, late one night after it was done I went in there with a level and verified that it was myself. It seemed to be perfectly flat a couple of months ago. I'm not sure if I just suck with a level (though in my defence it is a rather large area to check with the tiny level I had), or if the wood has warped slowly as the glue has dried, but it is what it is now. As it stands, they're geared up to have the inspection for occupancy mid February, and that can't happen unless the house is in a state of 'near completion'. If we need to rip out the entire enclosure, the painters basically have to stop on the main floor for a week while the structure is re-manufactured, then they need to re-seal the insides of the enclosure, and all the while electrical and everything else that depends on the painters being done or near done will be on hold, and mid-february inspections wouldn't be possible. I fear I would be headed for divorce if that were to happen.

Again, thanks guys for the suggestions

Adam