One step forward... two steps back

[Dave Pacek]

Ah, I should have known better.

This morning, after several long weeks of waiting, I finally got a crew of volunteers together to help me get my Oceanic 110 up on the stand. (took four of us). Everything looked great, a check with the spirit level showed the tank to be as level as I could have wished, and I was really pumped. At last, or so I thought, I could finally finish up the plumbing and just maybe actually put water in the tank soon.

Spent a good chunk of the day alternately dry fitting different plumbing variations and just sitting back and admiring the tank and stand. Until...

...I took a REALLY close look the tank and stand. To my shock, I discovered that I could actually see daylight under almost the entire back length of tank frame... the thing is basically supported only by the rear frame corners on the stand. The sides and front are better, but there are patches of daylight there too.

So... it's back to the drawing board. Gotta try and round up another set of helpers to get the tank back off the stand, and then do what I should have done all along... put down a padding surface of some sort between tank and stand. I've got a 1/4" rubber treadmill mat that should do the trick.

Sigh... not going to happen this weekend, in any case.

Dave P

[racrumrine]

Did you buy an Oceanic stand? If so, give them or your LFS a call to see what they say.

I've heard that the Oceanic tank warranty is void if you don't use their stand.

Best of luck,

Roy

[Dave Pacek]

Yep, it's the matching Oceanic stand.

I've already emailed customer service just to see what they have to say. I'd expected better than this from Oceanic.

Dave P

[crimson156]

4 people to lift it???
i lifted a 180 w/ my dad(carried it around the house to get it in throug the back)
i'm sure u could've done it w/only 2 people

[pintnight]

Originally posted by crimson156
4 people to lift it???
i lifted a 180 w/ my dad(carried it around the house to get it in throug the back)
i'm sure u could've done it w/only 2 people

I have a 200 gallon tank and I thought my arms was going to get ripped out of my sockets and that was with four people on each corner carrying it.

[paulr1173]

i have a few spots that you can see under on my 90gal no more than 2-3inches one is on side other is on back. is this real bad?

[Dave Pacek]

Don't think it's a 'good' thing. Is your tank glass or acrylic?

FYI, Oceanic customer service told me that my gap between tank and frame was 'normal'. They said that the tank/stand combo was designed so that the weight of a filled tank would crush the frame into the stand top slightly, thus eliminating the gap and giving full support. They added that I could put some cushioning material between tank and stand, but it wasn't necessary.

I dunno. I've kept an eye on the (empty) tank for the past several days, and the gap does seem to have narrowed from at least 1/16" in parts to the width of a couple of playing cards. I may put 20-30 gallons in the tank this weekend, and see what happens.

I'd much rather be safe than sorry. The thought of a half ton of water on my family room floor is scary.

Dave P

[mandktod]

It is a good idea to put at least 1/2" of foam between the tank and stand, it helps to level it out and gives it some cushion, go to Walmart and get the sheets of foam in their craft dept. cut them to fit the stand and set the tank on top and you should be fine. mine is 48"x13" and it took 4 sheets under mine, very inexpensive peace of mind.

[DougSupreme]

Originally posted by pintnight
I have a 200 gallon tank and I thought my arms was going to get ripped out of my sockets and that was with four people on each corner carrying it.


My wife and I carried my 125G from the garage, thru the house, and down the stairs to the basement. Don't know what you guys are complaining about. :)

[crimson156]

i'm glad i'm not the only one :)

[daeuco]

What kind of foam? Styrofoam?

[Brewboy74]

Dave I am plumbed I will be doing a leak test tommrow evening. Wish me luck. I will post pics as soon as I can perhaps give you a few ideas for the plumbing.

[Dave Pacek]

That was fast! You sure didn't waste any time, once that filter was delivered.

If I decide I can trust that tank/stand to do what Oceanic says it will, I'll try and tackle the plumbing over the weekend.

Dave P

[Brewboy74]

Yep got the filter last night and I alredy had alot of the pieces and parts glued together. I have one tight spot that worries me but other than that everything fit pretty well.

[mandktod]

Yes it is styrofoam, it is usually in the fake flower dept.

[Brewboy74]

The plumbing is done after a couple of leaks and having to replace a leaky bulkhead it is working like a champ. I have the durso's dialed in and there is minimal noise. I am and have been for 5 days making enough RO water to get this baby filled. I have the MM in and the SD sand in and it just a matter of time before I have it up and cycling. Wooo Hoooo, I will post pics on my thread in a few days.

[Dave Pacek]

I'm really looking forward to those pics, especially to see just how you routed your drain plumbing. I still can't decide, although thanks to Home Depot, I have enough different PVC fittings to give me a huge number of options.

Dave P

[Brewboy74]

I will a couple of days and I will have new pics up. I ended up not using a union on the drain to save space. I also did not use a bulkhead on the inlet to the sump. I placed a 45 deg wye just above the sump. I used a 45 deg elbow on the right drain and drained the left drain directly into the wye. It works quite well. I had to do some fine tuning on the durso's but they are very quite now.

[Dave Pacek]

For the drain, did you go 1" to 1 1/2" or just keep everything 1"?

If I eliminate the unions, bulkhead, and reducing fittings, that frees up a lot of room.

Dave

[Brewboy74]

I went 1 1/2" after the wye. with a 4" section of 1 1/2". I might extend this just a bit to quiet the splash, which isn't horrible but I do have a wife and it is in the livingroom........lol.

[Kaiser Tang]

I have always put foam under my tanks. Of course, my stand is a DIY, so if my tank cracks, I have no one to blame but myself. Better to be safe than sorry. You don't want to get you tank all set up and then have to tear it down when you get a crack. Doesn't matter if it under warranty or not, no one wants to go through all of that hassel. Get the blue insulation styrofoam from Home Depot. Comes in a 4'x8' sheet for about $8.00.