My 120 to 300 upgrade...it begins!

[stilgore]

Well, My mermaid and I just finished laying down the silicon. She ended up taking about 4.5 feet of the old silicon. There were large bubbles in it and some was maybe an eight of an inch up the side.

We taped off the area and used a whole tube of All Glass silicon to seal it. I would say that it was around 3/8 of an inch on each side. We closely examined our (her) work and didnt see any air bubbles or spots missing silicon.

Everyone cross your fingers I will post some pics of the work tomorrow.

Laters,
Stil

[stilgore]

Here are those pics I promised you. I can't believe my wife was able to fit through the opening in the tank!! All those pilates classes sure paid off









Laters,
Stil

[rDr4g0n]

thats cool lol nice job on teh silicone! hope it works out. you gonna charge the guy who sold you the tank for your time?

[BigAl07]

Man you'd better keep her if she's willing to do that for you!

Best wishes on the leak fix! Hopefully you have it resolved and are ready to go!!

By the way, what is contacting the concrete floor UNDER your stand? Hopefully anything touching the floor is rated for "prolonged ground contact" as the concrete will wick moisture into the lumber. Pressure Treated plywood will eventually compress and could cause future "issues" with unevenness!!!!!

Allen

[stilgore]

The wood in the stand is sitting on the concrete slab. It is completely dry and I have never seen any leaks from it. Hopefully I don't have any issues in the future.

I will make sure to check it out periodically to ensure it remains dry. Man, there is just so much to think about when setting up a tank I didn't even think about the wood wicking moisture from the concrete.

Do you all think I would be ok to begin filling the tank to check for leaks on Thursday night?

Laters,
Stil

[Frankie]

Originally Posted by FFrankie

Everything is looking awesome! I like that skimmer a lot. I do want to advise on something i did notice since you were asking us to comment. I would be careful on using screws to hold all the wood together on the framing. They could rust over time weakening the structure. Also I would put pressure treated plywood under it all so the framing is off the concrete. Great project though, keep up the good work!

I thought i mentioned the concrete issue. It's on page 6 here. I think you will be ok though for some time with it as long as you keep it dry. Pressure treated ply won't move over time with a 300 gal. tank full of water on it AL. Thats going to be over 4000 lbs.
Nice repair Stilgore! Good luck with the fill. I would wait a week for it to cure.

[BigAl07]

FFrankie

Not to be the bearer of bad news but plywood will compress under pressure. I'm not worried about it shifting around but compressing. It's not pressure rated with anything remotely NEAR that much weight. Believe me when I say that... this is what I do.. that's the business I am in... Plywood has very minimal resistance to any compression because that's NOT what it is made for. A pressure of approximately 35lbs PSI applied to it over a time of 1 week will permanently leave an impression (Deformation) in the plywood. Imagine putting the weight of your whole tank on it for much longer periods of time. If the plywood compresses at different amounts (knot hole plugs are MUCH more dense so one here and there would account for varying amounts of compression) along the bottom frame of the tank you could indeed have some slight warpage. If the main frame has ANY warpage that could stress the tank and I think we ALL know what can happen if stress is put into the glass in a way that it's NOT designed or accounted for.

stilgore since you don't have plywood under your stand you don't need to worry about differential compression causing a problem. Just be sure to check it a couple of times a year for problems (maybe make a note to peek at it when you change your smoke detector batteries twice a year). The concrete is indeed porous and will wick moisture from the ground and up into the wood contacting it. The more arid your environment the better.

Excellent set up and I can't wait to see it filled with your goodies!!

Allen

Originally Posted by FFrankie

I thought i mentioned the concrete issue. It's on page 6 here. I think you will be ok though for some time with it as long as you keep it dry. Pressure treated ply won't move over time with a 300 gal. tank full of water on it AL. Thats going to be over 4000 lbs.
Nice repair Stilgore! Good luck with the fill. I would wait a week for it to cure.

[Frankie]

Well then, that is really bad news. Your saying that anyone with a tank sitting on a plywood sub floor is in trouble. That is just about everyone thats not on concrete. I have to agree with you that plywood will compress being a cell/glue structure.( I to do this for a living) I just don't think a tank spread out over that great an area will compress it enough to cause trouble. Especially with a 2x4 framing to take most of the spread. But instead of high jacking stilgore's great thread i will start one on sub flooring so everyone can have a place to go when in need. I m sure that between the both of us we can help a lot of people with this kind of trouble.

[stilgore]

No big deal guys, if the discussion helps folks out I dont care which thread it takes place on.

I did remember your advice on the 2 X 4s sitting on the concrete floor. To explain, I thought the danger there was spilled or leaking water being absorbed into the wood. I didn't even imagine that the wood could actually wick moisture out of the concrete itself.

Soo...i have made sure that my plywood shelving is all easily removed so that I can check out the condition of my 2 X 4s periodically.

Thanks for all the help,
Stil

[BigAl07]

It looks like you've done a LOT of research and planning on this project. I can't wait to see it getting filled and watching it mature!!

Excellent idea to have "peep holes" so you can inspect the lower 2x4's. In this part of the country (high in the mountains of Western North Carolina) our climat is very damp and our concrete readily wicks moisture from the ground. Some people never have a problem and some have almost sauna like basements. With inspections you'll do just fine.

What's your next step? Testing & filling? SWEET! Can't wait!

Frankie, I love a good debate and appreciate and respect your thoughts and input. It's all good

Allen

Originally Posted by stilgore

No big deal guys, if the discussion helps folks out I dont care which thread it takes place on.

I did remember your advice on the 2 X 4s sitting on the concrete floor. To explain, I thought the danger there was spilled or leaking water being absorbed into the wood. I didn't even imagine that the wood could actually wick moisture out of the concrete itself.

Soo...i have made sure that my plywood shelving is all easily removed so that I can check out the condition of my 2 X 4s periodically.

Thanks for all the help,
Stil

[stilgore]

I will wait till Thursday night to do another leak test. That will give the silicon about 72 hours to cure.

In the mean time I am working in the fish room mainly on my top-off system and water changing/salt mix system.

Laters,
Stil

[rDr4g0n]

Originally Posted by stilgore

I will wait till Thursday night to do another leak test. That will give the silicon about 72 hours to cure.

In the mean time I am working in the fish room mainly on my top-off system and water changing/salt mix system.

Laters,
Stil

i can imagine your excitement. i would have exploded already.

[jhnrb]

Nice job. good planning and great location. congrats. more pics as the project continues.

[stilgore]

It's 10:00 PM the tank has been filled for about 15 minutes and......................................NO LEAKS!!!!!!!!!!

Let's just hope it stays that way


I will let you all know how it looks in the morning...keep your fingers crossed

Laters,
Stil

[Frankie]

Sweet Stilgore. I will keep my fingers crossed for you. If it didn't leak right away it will be the long term watch from here on in. From the picture it looks as if you have a good straight seal there and that is key. Tell your wife i said great job! Being so clean with silicone is important. When you clean the glass on an uneven silicone job, the tool you use to clean it with can cause the bead to separate over time.