reefiness

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So i set up a 40b a little over a year ago plumbed into my main system and put it on a stand I made up pretty quick. When I finally had the tank set up with water in it, I noticed a slight bit of light coming from under the bottom tank brace which I assumed meant the stand wasnt perfectly level and bowed down in the middle. I debated doing something about it then, but figured it was a small enough tank and it was rimmed so I wouldnt have a problem.

Well fast forward to today, and the rear panel on my 40b cracked, so there is water all over the place. Luckily it wasnt a total blow out so i dont have 40+ gallons of water on the the floor, but it was a leak coming out of the crack for who knows how long, but I probably lost a few gallons.

Luckily for me I had a new 40b laying around the house that I was planning on making into a new sump so I transferred everything to that tank pretty far from the main tank so it has no filtration for now, just a heater and a power head.

So im not 100% sure if thats the reason for the crack, but thats the only think i can think of. The crack occurred in the left side of the rear panel. It ran diagonally from about mid way on top to the bottom left rear corner. So if anyone knows what that means as far as where the stress point of failure was, I would appreciate any advice.

Anyway, im hoping to get things back up and running tomorrow but im not sure how to best prevent this from happening in the future. I was thinking of using a 1/2" or so layer of high density foam under the tank, but have heard in the past this isnt the best idea for rimmed tanks which this is.

Again, any advice will be greatly appreciated.
 
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reefiness

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If it's a glass tank the foam isn't a good thing. It must be on an even flat surface.

the surface is as flat as I was able to get it. It just seemed that there must have been a slight warp to the wood I used when I built the stand. the level doesnt even pick up the bow its that slight. The only time I saw it was when I had the tank on the stand filled with water and the lights in place over them. There was a tiny tiny sliver of light escaping from under the black tank frame.
 

reefiness

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I did some more reading about it and iit seems like the black frame on the tank is designed to support the tank using the 4 corners, so theoretically the slight bow i had in the wood shouldn't have been a problem as I noticed it pretty centrally.
 

theMeat

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The entire frame supports the tank, not just the corners. The bottom glass is above the rim, unlike most acrylic tanks that need foam where the bottom is flush with sides.

Either the level you used, therefore the stand, or the tank is not straight. It can't be the level shows straight and the tank doesn't. It's either straight or it's not. Maybe under load, with water in it, the stand is flexing?

Would be curious, but doubt, if the glass under the bottom plastic is out of whack. Maybe remove the plastic and have a look

Unbelievable you had another 40b on hand. That tells you are a true reef junkie
 

reefiness

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Hahaha, yeah well I had the 40b sitting in my basement since January because I wanted to build a new sump but haven't gotten around to it. Luckily PETCO has another aquarium sale going on now so I just got back from picking up a new 40B tank for $60. Also I went out and got a new piece of plywood for the top of the stand. I went with a 3/4" sanded piece instead of the 1/2" rough cut I originally went with when I built the stand. I have the first layer of paint on the plywood now, after that dries I'll put on another coat and hopefully I will be able to get everything back up to running normally by tonight.
 
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Odysi

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You already did what i would suggest. I actually just did the same thing on my new build i used 1/2" sanded ply on the top to get rid of any small gaps under the frame of the tank.
 

reefiness

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well everything is back up and running now. I ended up using the piece of cardboard that came with the tank as an underlay. The only problem is that I forgot to center the tank under where the light fixture hangs, so the light is a bit off to the side.
 

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