This may sound ridiculous to some on mfk. Recently picked up a used 150 waiting till I get a day off to take down my 90 and set it up. Excited to get it going but the more I look at it sitting in my garage I just get pictures in my mind of the glass blowing out and catastrophe ensuing complete with shards of glass and massive amounts of water. Its 24x48x 32 I think the height of it may make it seem bigger than it is. There are no cracks or issues with the glass however there is a crack in the crossbrace which I intend to repair before set up. Also looking at the stand one of those pine jobs made for the tank and thinking about the weight like how can it hold all that. Never setup anything this big and its freaking me out guess im looking for reassurance to go ahead with it and/or tips for safety. Property damage would suck but I have small children in the house and thats my real concern.
Intimidated by tank
- Thread starter guapoteman
- Start date
Post a few pictures of the tank, stand and crack in the brace for some real feedback.
A 150 isn't that much bigger than a 90. The compression strength of Pine / fir is very strong! Did you move the tank yourself? The weight should be comforting as far as it being built to hold a lot of water!
BTW: What a great size tank. I have a 110g at 18" x 48" x 30" and love it... but it would be great to have the extra 6" your 150 has!
A 150 isn't that much bigger than a 90. The compression strength of Pine / fir is very strong! Did you move the tank yourself? The weight should be comforting as far as it being built to hold a lot of water!
BTW: What a great size tank. I have a 110g at 18" x 48" x 30" and love it... but it would be great to have the extra 6" your 150 has!
I had the same feelings of intimidation when I got my newest tank.
I had started back into the hobby after a 20+ year absence and found a nice used 65g set up (36x18x25). This was a pretty big step for me because the largest tank I had till this was only 38g. I soon found that I was happy to be back in the hobby and purchased my next tank a 120g (60x18x26), this was new form Petsmart so I had a good feeling that it would not be a leaker or have any issues. And the plumbing was filtration I was already used to on the 65g so no big deal.
Now the real intimidation came when I got my newest tank, a 210g (72x24x29). It was purchased from a person who bought it new but never set it up, so that made me feel good. But when I saw it in person I almost did not buy it because it was so huge. I start this project by going under my house and reinforcing my floor, sistering joists, adding cross bracing, joist hangers, glue and screw all in place for strength. I also reinforced the stand because it was flimsy. After bringing the beast in the house it was not so bad, the scale of the tank fits the room fine. Then I started on the equipment purchases, two FX5's and custom plumbing for spray bars and in-line heaters. This is where it really started to hit me, when I was gluing PVC pipes and what not out of 1" and 3/4" material. This was more elaborate than the sprinkler system I installed. What did I get my self into? Well I'm almost ready to get the tank set up, hopefully by this weekend. In the back of my mind I consider what 210g of water on the floor would be like...
So I totally understand how you feel. But just imagine how good you will feel when it is all set up!
I had started back into the hobby after a 20+ year absence and found a nice used 65g set up (36x18x25). This was a pretty big step for me because the largest tank I had till this was only 38g. I soon found that I was happy to be back in the hobby and purchased my next tank a 120g (60x18x26), this was new form Petsmart so I had a good feeling that it would not be a leaker or have any issues. And the plumbing was filtration I was already used to on the 65g so no big deal.
Now the real intimidation came when I got my newest tank, a 210g (72x24x29). It was purchased from a person who bought it new but never set it up, so that made me feel good. But when I saw it in person I almost did not buy it because it was so huge. I start this project by going under my house and reinforcing my floor, sistering joists, adding cross bracing, joist hangers, glue and screw all in place for strength. I also reinforced the stand because it was flimsy. After bringing the beast in the house it was not so bad, the scale of the tank fits the room fine. Then I started on the equipment purchases, two FX5's and custom plumbing for spray bars and in-line heaters. This is where it really started to hit me, when I was gluing PVC pipes and what not out of 1" and 3/4" material. This was more elaborate than the sprinkler system I installed. What did I get my self into? Well I'm almost ready to get the tank set up, hopefully by this weekend. In the back of my mind I consider what 210g of water on the floor would be like...
So I totally understand how you feel. But just imagine how good you will feel when it is all set up!
My 210g had one of the cheap pine stands, I reinforced it internally with 2x4's also used 3/4" plywood on the top and bottom, trimmed it out and added a plywood back. Since its wood, its pretty simple to beef it up.
3/4" plywood under tank 3/4" plywoow under floor joists 4 4 4x4 posts bracing plywood up from below tank is filling as I type no leaks no creaks sharting bricks!!!
tank vs. floor and my knowledge of physics and construction anyone has any words of encouragement shout out
My 110g tank sits on the cheapest piece of junk particle board stand... (while I am building a new stand.) The guy I bought it from lived in a rented old double wide. Those old double wides have 6" floor joists and 5/8" particle board sub floors. If the tank worked for him without a problem it should be fine for me on a second story with 10" joists and 3/4" plywood subfloors... and it is!
When I hit that 200g mark I will start to worry.
When I hit that 200g mark I will start to worry.
...spoken like someone who has absolutely nothing to lose by giving careless advice...because he doesn't.
Your concern is not ridiculous at all. In fact, you'd have to be a fool to not consider the consequences of a tank failure...it happens.
I have seen too many threads with pix of used tanks that were picked up for "such a great deal" or "free," when in fact they are getting what they pay for. That "cheap" or "free" tank could end up costing you a whole lot more than buying a new one, or at the very least, a used one in good condition. You are correct to be concerned about the tank blowing out and hurting someone...that is a real possibility, especially for a tank of that height (that's a lot of water pressure). I would have to be pretty confident that it will hold to set something like that up in my house.
36 hours running no leaks no sag in floor(level sitting on top of tank) hoping maybe I can relax about it a little at this point