Twisting Aquarium Help

[Whiskey Fox]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask but i'm seeking some expert opinions on my situation. I've had a 60-gal setup for a few months now and i've recently noticed it developing a small lean to one side. Over a 3-day period the water on the lean side rose like 2mm (eyeballing) and that's when i declared an emergency, called out of work to drain the tank and adjust the stand.

With the tank empty, i adjusted the 6 stand feet until the tank was perfectly level across all sides, then began slowly filling it back up. With about 20 gallons of water, it remained level. So i added back my 60 lbs of sand. Checked the leveling. Suddenly, the back frame remains perfectly level on top but the front frame came out of level. Which i'm interpreting to be a twist which is awful. I aborted the filling and my critters are staying indefinitely in their backup homes.

I wanted to gauge your opinions if this amount of twist is catastrophic and also wondering if i should empty it again to adjust the feet (hard to do so because of how the stand is warping under load), or should i ditch this 6-feet style of stand and replace it? It is rated for 75gal and my tank is 60. Thanks!

I included a photo of the tank before and after adjustment, with the red circles being how i eyeball the waterline's levelness with the frame (and verify with the level tool in addition to that). The bottom photo shows that the waterline is much more level with the frame, despite the twisting i measured. So it visually looks like an improvement but the leveling tool shows twisting which is scary.

 

[19Mateo83]

Take measurements from the bottom plastic frame to the top plastic frame on the tank and make sure the trim was put on evenly. You could also try checking level on the bottom plastic frame as well to see if it’s the plastic or the stand.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

Take measurements from the bottom plastic frame to the top plastic frame on the tank and make sure the trim was put on evenly. You could also try checking level on the bottom plastic frame as well to see if it’s the plastic or the stand.

Will do when i get back home but i also forgot to mention that the stand platform has the same levelness as the top frame. I'm not able to measure the stand platform behind the tank, though.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

Take measurements from the bottom plastic frame to the top plastic frame on the tank and make sure the trim was put on evenly. You could also try checking level on the bottom plastic frame as well to see if it’s the plastic or the stand.

The plastic frame is the same distance top to bottom all the way around. The bottom frame is also the same level as top frame and the platform.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

Update: i discovered that one foot is low, and the solution should be pretty simple. Will report back on results.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

Update: One of the feet on the stand failed and i will be replacing the stand.

 

[salty joe]

You might be able to salvage the stand using plywood cut to fit the inside and screwed and glued. you can gain a lot of stiffness that way.

Good catch though. A friend had a 90 on a dresser and he did not realize he had twist going on until a seam burst months later. The stand needs to be rock solid.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

You might be able to salvage the stand using plywood cut to fit the inside and screwed and glued. you can gain a lot of stiffness that way.

Good catch though. A friend had a 90 on a dresser and he did not realize he had twist going on until a seam burst months later. The stand needs to be rock solid.

You might be able to salvage the stand using plywood cut to fit the inside and screwed and glued. you can gain a lot of stiffness that way.

Good catch though. A friend had a 90 on a dresser and he did not realize he had twist going on until a seam burst months later. The stand needs to be rock solid.

The failure is catastrophic, basically the piece that the foot's bolt screws into had welds fail or something and the 500lb tank was just resting on a plastic trim piece that slowly melted under the weight. At the very least i'm going to pursue a full refund for the stand but i'm also wondering now if the tank has been permanently damaged from twisting.

 

[salty joe]

wondering now if the tank has been permanently damaged from twisting.


Wish I had a good answer.

I'd guess a seam under that kind of stress would be fine until it goes bad. In other words, if the seam is intact and you straighten things up, I'm thinking it'd be OK. But IDK.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

wondering now if the tank has been permanently damaged from twisting.


Wish I had a good answer.

I'd guess a seam under that kind of stress would be fine until it goes bad. In other words, if the seam is intact and you straighten things up, I'm thinking it'd be OK. But IDK.

The puzzle pieces are coming together now and it looks like Amazon sold me a returned stand which was "open box" and discounted. The original buyer probably damaged it or noticed damage and returned it. They then resold it to me without good inspection. I'm getting a refund but also going to pursue them for the tank.

 

[Tamberav]

Really cool/unique tank by the way. Makes me hungry for some crab legs though!

 

[Whiskey Fox]

Really cool/unique tank by the way. Makes me hungry for some crab legs though!

Thanks! I try not to post in here too much because I don't have a reef tank but I'm finding the forum really helpful for marine aquarium advice in general and mainly posting about my emergencies lol. Here is Sebastian (missing his claws, my fault) and Eugene.

 

[Whiskey Fox]

My final update for this post is that the stand sold "open box" to me by Amazon had a damaged foot. One corner of the stand collapsed at the foot due to a welding failure and was slowly "melting" the plastic it came to rest on under the 500lbs of water. This caused one corner of the stand to drop, putting a twisting force on the aquarium. The rear frame was completely out of level with the front frame. This put the tank at a very high risk of a burst but I was lucky to catch it in time. Amazon and I came to an agreement which we thought was fair. I ended up removing the adjustable foot from the leg and put composite shims in it's place. The aquarium was level on all sides empty and remained perfectly level once refilled. I suspect there is heightened risk of a leak at the seals in the future since the silicone was probably twisted but I'm hoping no weakening of the glass occurred. Either way, I have enough spill pads and absorbent socks surrounding the tank to give me peace of mind (absorbent capacity equal to the capacity of the tank) my friend thinks it's overkill.