Tank leaning forward. Prediction?

[Cindy S]

For days now my overflow has been making noise. It's too empty, yet the glass supports are underwater in front. The cabinet was severely flooded last summer and the wood (pressed board) has swollen outward. Will the leaning just keep getting worse?

I have an idea about how to raise and reinforce the front. I thought about jacking up the front with a floor jack and then leave something in the cabinet to permanently give more support, like a 2X4. Please share your opinion of this "fix" and/or a better idea.

Waiting for the flood ... Cindy

 

[PeeJ]

id say the tank will fail...how big is it? i know that i couldnt fix my 75 gallon if it was off level...i guess with sand and fock its probably pushing 1000 pounds...no way to get anything under that..??

are u worried about ur stand failing with water damage? seems scary

 

[Gary_T]

Sounds like you will need to tear it down, and replace the stand. If it's made out of press board, and it's swollen, then it's severely weakened. To prevent a catostrophic failure, I would recomend completely replacing the stand, or someday the whole stand might just colapse.

 

[PeeJ]

agree 100%..the peace of mind would be worth the work...shoot im scared that my external overflow might fail and ill have a gallon or two on the floor..let alone the whole tank!!!! eeeky

 

[Anonymous]

dude, you only need to see a full tank tip over in a living room one time before you get all paranoid about stories like this. the one i saw go down was FW ... it would be twice as horrible if it was a reef tank.

 

[Anonymous]

Cindy:
I think you really need to something about it quick. How big is the tank? Depends on the stand design, you should be able to reinforce it without taking apart everything. The way my stand (DIYed') is built, I can take off the side panels, put in some I-beam, and use floor jacks to support it temporarily (110 gal) and remove the stand. This is useful if I ever need to replace the carpet or repair the stand.

 

[Cindy S]

Thanks for all your feedback and warnings. I'm scared. It's a 60 gallon. I just fixed the overflow noise. Many of the notches were clogged with hair algae (another story) and when I cleaned up around them, there was adequate water in the overflow again.

The swelling and general tilt are still a problem. The idea of jacking up the tank and switching out the stand is exciting, I'm going to contemplate that one.

Still paralyzed with fear ... Cindy

 

[Anonymous]

Still paralyzed with fear

Is chatsworth near LA? You maybe able to contact some fellow with experience in this matter in your local reef club or LFS if you don't feel comfortable with jacking up the tank. It is just like changing tire on your car when you got a flat....

... Just make sure you don't crack the bottom if the tank is glass...

 

[ride928]

WOW...just take the hit and replace the stand. Nothing worse than seeing a reef on the living room floor.

 

[tazdevil]

Or waking up in the middle of the night to a loud "crash".



Uh, oh, she's not going to sleep now.

 

[Anonymous]

Alright, people, no more scary tales! Besides, I doubt that Cindy will have problem sleeping at night... AFAIK, her area is pretty active when it comes to earthquakes. :lol: