New stand build as a result of an Earthquake disaster.

[zerojquan85]

So last weekend.. there was an earthquake here in socal.. needless to say.. that quake cracked my old tank.. So i had to rush and get started on building a stand for a 180 gallon that i bought a few months ago..

This took about 1 week from start to finish.. There are still some things that i need to add to the stand.. but for now.. this is my story of how I pulled myself together and build the stand in 3 days..


Day 0 the crack...

I hulled ass that night and immediately transfer the fish to a few spare tanks that i have just for occasion like this.... I've read enough threats on MFK to hear about accidental cracks from members to know that a few spares is a good idea....

I apologize if the pictures were not clear.. I wasn't really making an effort to take great shots and I was worried that my fish could die any minute as a result of the crack..

But u can see it if u look at it closer.. theres a huge line going all the way down..

 

[zerojquan85]

That afternoon after work... i immediately went to home deport and got all that i needed..

I figured I'll use 4 x 4's for a strong base.. I wanted to overbuild the stand so that i supports more than 180 gallon of glass and water.. just to be safe...

Luckily my dad is a contractor... so i have access to loads of tools and his fine meter saw.. with a 45 degree angle.. and volla.. 4 perfect corners for the new base..

 

[Bderick67]

Nice start to your stand

Boy thems aros is big

 

[zerojquan85]

I used 6 inch timber screws that were available in that you can get in home depot for the four corners of the base... figured these would be big enough to pull the 4 x 4's together..

You'll have to forgive me if some of the steps seems skipped.. I wanted to get the stand finished up as fast as i could so there a few pictures that are not on there..

For the leg support i used two sets of 2 x 4's at 36 inches or 3ft. I like a stand to be at eye level.. I'm 5'9 so the stand had to be at least sitting 3ft tall in order for me to see the tank as a proper height... This naturally caused the center of gravity for the tank to increase... thus.. the reason for two sets of legs attached together..

I also used these metal brackets to attach the support and the base just in-case another earthquake hits..... (theres too many quake in socal to actually ease my mind anymore) so extra support was necessary as fail safes..

About the time i took this picture, my Dad came home and look at the progress.... He told me that the middle support was open to crashing down.. since there was no support in the middle... So i had to make some modifications..

 

[zerojquan85]

As you can see in this picture.. that open crack on the 4 x 4 was an issue.. even though i had the timber screws on it for support.. there was still an issue of it not forming a perfect 45 degree angle.. So after a few adjustment. i filled the gap..


The following day.. I made the adjustment of adding an additional 2 x 4's on each side of the legs to support the legs.... I also added two more legs in the middle for a total of six legs that had supported the stand..

From this picture you can see the added extra leg support, along with an additional 5 wood panels on the bottom of will it in the gap.. Figured I'll make adjustments once the tank is setup...


I couldn't believe how fast it was that i build this stand.. But I had to be fast.. since I was short on time.. the arowana's were hurting themselves inside their emergency backup homes....


The reason why my stand is very open instead of a closed off stand like most people's stand with doors is that my tank is in my patio/green house...

There's a lot of moisture in side and I also have two cats in there.. I didnt want any of my cats to craw in and not being able to find them..
They also love to run around.. so the stand was design to be a very open..

 

[zerojquan85]

I spend about an hour painting the stand.. I thought about staining the wood to make it a deep redwood color.. However.. as the trim on my tank was black.. red would not look as nice.. and I knew that staining the wood would take another day.. So instead i immediately went to clear gloss finish for the wood..

I used two coat by the way.. in order to make the wood shine and water proof.. (I also didnt have to buy them since my Dad had them lying around the house from his years working as a contractor...)

 

[zerojquan85]

This picture is the actual 180 gallon that i bought... it was taken from the guy who actually had his tank posted for sale some 2 months ago..

Finally that night on Thurs.. I filled it up with water and started cycling the tank for the fish.. (It was already day 5 for my arowana. and i couldnt risk them being stuck inside a tank that they could barely swim in... )

I think the tank was gravity proof and earthquake proof since the first occupants who tested out the sturdiness of my stand were my two cats..

 

[zerojquan85]

Here you can see the damaged of my old tank that was sustain from the earthquake last week..

I think i got very lucky that the whole back panel didnt come off when it was cracked like this.. It must have either hit a corner or the water movement back and forth form the quake resulted in too much pressure on the tank and lead to the crack.. Either way i will never find out..
Was hoping to sell this tank.. but owellz.. i didnt lose anything since i got this tank for free last year..

I'll add more picture of my new tank later tonite.. but here you can see my old and new tank..

More updates to come.. the canopy and possibility a sump..

 

[zerojquan85]

Nice start to your stand

Boy thems aros is big

thanks.. can u believe that their not even two years old yet? this September.. both of them will be 2 years old..

 

[J-P]

WOW nice tank and good job!!

Like the octopus hanging out of the corner

Well done all around though!