Saturday was D-day. Jim and Russ came over, things were all set, we were ready to go:
Here are the gents in the basement drilling the sump:
Here's the tank with only sand and lights on:
Here's the tank full of water - notice near-perfect clarity using Russ's patented 'trash bag on the sand' technique:
And here are the three of us about five minutes later as we hear a very ominous creaky/crackling settling sound:
My wonderfully talented carpenter Patrick built the stand so that only about 1/8 of the frame of tank rested on the top sheet of plywood. None of us could see that because there was also 1.5" of styrofoam on top of that. Plus, about 4" of the tank in the back were not supported AT ALL!
So when the tank was full, it started tilting backwards.
What happened after that can only be described as heroic: we drained water into brutes, scooped out sand, disconnected plumbing, took tank off stand, pretty much remade the stand on the fly, and started over.
Needless to say, when I say 'we', I mean Russ and Jim - I was along for this very rocky ride. And this is why I say that these guys are the real thing, true gentlemen, amazing human beings. I expected them to walk away and say - call us when the tank is fixed. They truly went above and beyond the call of duty.
So this is what the tank looked like at the end of this 13 hour day - yes, live rock is in the tank at this point:
The tank is pretty clear by now, and I am playing with aquascaping. It also no longer makes any unexpected noises, and my skimmer is pulling awesome skimmate.
My hat is off to the men of House of Fish!!!