Is this safe? Uneven support

jsvand5 · Apr 7, 2019

Just put the pad only under the bottom pane and not the front and back panels and it will be perfect.

MnFish1 · Apr 7, 2019

So - im not quite sure what you're saying with the measurements - BUT - with my Redsea (and all of them) - the front glass doesn't even sit on any support - the front glass is not supported at all (or if it is only minimally) - so maybe this is not an issue?

ReefSlice · Apr 7, 2019

Sorry I know this thread is getting confusing with how long it is. The problem is not that the front pane isn't touching. It's that one corner of the back pane and one corner of the front pane are lower than the other two, basically propping up the other two corners as well as the bottom glass leading up to them.

JoshH · Apr 7, 2019

Deleted.

ReefSlice · Apr 9, 2019

The mat is 1/4" thick, I figured that's plenty as the mat they send with the tank is only 1/8" thick, so why would anything thicker be needed? And I'm really not convinced thicker foam will fix the pressure points or floating bottom panel. There's multiple threads I've found of people breaking tanks even with thick foam underneath them. Even one where a guy broke 2 tanks, one was with foam, one without. His stand was off, but same general idea, the tank wasn't evenly supported.
I just haven't ever seen a gap like this under a tank, did any one's tank have this large of a discrepancy on top of a mat? I appreciate all the help.

MnFish1 · Apr 10, 2019

ReefSlice said:
Sorry I know this thread is getting confusing with how long it is. The problem is not that the front pane isn't touching. It's that one corner of the back pane and one corner of the front pane are lower than the other two, basically propping up the other two corners as well as the bottom glass leading up to them.

Right - but the left and right front corners dont touch on my redsea...

MnFish1 · Apr 10, 2019

sorry meant to post a pic... - in other words - the left and right corners of the redsea dont even rest on the stand (at least on mine) - so what is the difference? PS did you ever hear back from Redsea? or the LFS. PS the picture is my finger about 1/2 inch under the front glass and the seam of the tank doesnt even rest on the 'mat'. Ps the thing that looks like a crack - is a water droplet....

MnFish1 · Apr 10, 2019

Another pic - the corners dont even rest on the mat.... you can see the edge sticking out about 3/4 of an inch away from the mat. Note- im not saying your aquarium is 'ok' - but - also not sure that RedSea is wrong.

ReefSlice · Apr 10, 2019

Yes I understand that. I would be fine with both corners floating. My concern is the one corner touching is propping up the BOTTOM panel. The side panels I understand don't need to touch.

ReefSlice · Apr 19, 2019

I've finally gotten a few days off to get a better look at the bottom of the tank coming up, so hopefully I can get this totally resolved by the end of next week. I'm feeling much better about it knowing there are multiple people with the same issue with no major problems, and I haven't heard of anyone's tank cracking so I will have to go forward. As I said, the level on the inside of the tank (resting on the bottom pane) shows no dips or bumps, and it shows perfectly level, so I'm doubting that the bottom pane is off by more than 1/16" (rough glass flexing tolerance). To be safe I'm going to slide the tank off the edge of the stand one side at a time, checking how straight the bottom pane is, as well as all panes in conjunction. If I don't see more than 1/16" difference (what SCA says their tolerances at the factory are) than the tank will be filled without further thought. Really hoping that's the case! Having a stack of rocks and a trash can full of sand in the den is getting real old.
Appreciate all the input here, I will keep everyone posted.

MnFish1 · Apr 19, 2019

ReefSlice said:
Yes I understand that. I would be fine with both corners floating. My concern is the one corner touching is propping up the BOTTOM panel. The side panels I understand don't need to touch.

BTW - I dont know if you were responding to my post - but the picture is the entire front glass - not the sides. So - on both sides of the front of the tank - the corners are not resting on the mat (thats how redsea tanks are designed)

ReefSlice · Apr 22, 2019

MnFish1 said:
BTW - I dont know if you were responding to my post - but the picture is the entire front glass - not the sides. So - on both sides of the front of the tank - the corners are not resting on the mat (thats how redsea tanks are designed)

I understand. On mine, one side of the front pane is lower than the other, possibly propping up the rest of the tank. I know the front pane doesn't need to touch, but mine is not just not touching.
Was anyone's tank this bad? Really need input here as I'm growing quite sick of looking at an empty tank and a mess of rock and equipment. The bottom of the tank is level on the inside of the tank, but the higher corner measures 1/16" higher than the low corners. I can also see the bottom of the bottom pane along the front right side of the tank. The foam is obviously compressed more in the back due to the tank being uneven. Just want to know if anyone else had these problems and has their tank running long term. Sorry I'm making this thread so long but I just cannot figure out if this is ok or not...

MnFish1 · Apr 22, 2019

ReefSlice said:
I understand. On mine, one side of the front pane is lower than the other, possibly propping up the rest of the tank. I know the front pane doesn't need to touch, but mine is not just not touching.
Was anyone's tank this bad? Really need input here as I'm growing quite sick of looking at an empty tank and a mess of rock and equipment. The bottom of the tank is level on the inside of the tank, but the higher corner measures 1/16" higher than the low corners. I can also see the bottom of the bottom pane along the front right side of the tank. The foam is obviously compressed more in the back due to the tank being uneven. Just want to know if anyone else had these problems and has their tank running long term. Sorry I'm making this thread so long but I just cannot figure out if this is ok or not...

Might have missed it - did you ever get a clear answer fromRedSea?

RobW · Apr 22, 2019

Did you ever happen to check the edges of the glass to see if they're cut straight? Could be some variation to the edge of the glass. What kind of "precision level" did you use? Not all levels are created equal...

ReefSlice · Apr 22, 2019

MnFish1 said:
Might have missed it - did you ever get a clear answer fromRedSea?

It's actually a SCA tank. And they said that this is "normal".

RobW said:
Did you ever happen to check the edges of the glass to see if they're cut straight? Could be some variation to the edge of the glass. What kind of "precision level" did you use? Not all levels are created equal...

The top rim of the tank is totally flat, but I think the bottom rim is not cut totally flat or even with the other panels.. You can see in this picture that the front and side panel do not line up on the left side of the tank. I'm afraid that lower corner on the front pane is what's causing my gap.

RobW · Apr 22, 2019

ReefSlice said:
I understand. On mine, one side of the front pane is lower than the other, possibly propping up the rest of the tank. I know the front pane doesn't need to touch, but mine is not just not touching.
Was anyone's tank this bad? Really need input here as I'm growing quite sick of looking at an empty tank and a mess of rock and equipment. The bottom of the tank is level on the inside of the tank, but the higher corner measures 1/16" higher than the low corners. I can also see the bottom of the bottom pane along the front right side of the tank. The foam is obviously compressed more in the back due to the tank being uneven. Just want to know if anyone else had these problems and has their tank running long term. Sorry I'm making this thread so long but I just cannot figure out if this is ok or not...

Ok, so first of all... it seems that in the picture there you are using a torpedo level. That's problem one.

ReefSlice said:
Well... Here's what it looks like with the tank pretty much empty other than rock and sand, so still compressing a bit, and you can see the corner is not making contact at all with the mat, and it seems like it goes in even further, which really sucks.

I also emptied my sump and still cannot slide paper or anything under the rim of the tank anywhere. So this has nothing to do with the stand, it's perfect.
Here's a picture of the other front corner to show how I would imagine it should look. Seems this corner and the back right are certainly lower, causing the tank to sit on those two and not allow the other corners to sit down. That seems like a very bad pressure point if the whole tanks basically propped up by 2 corners.

Things like this is why I am building my own tank on my stand that I built. And I'm doing a 280 gallon setup. I have a guy that has a glass shop and he is cutting, drilling, and tempering all my glass panels for me. My 2 viewable panes are starphire and all my glass is 5/8" thick. My tank is 72"L x 24"W x 36"H I'm using a 3" wide brace all the way around the rim and on in the center as well to keep the middle from bowing.

MnFish1 · Apr 22, 2019

ReefSlice said:
It's actually a SCA tank. And they said that this is "normal".

The top rim of the tank is totally flat, but I think the bottom rim is not cut totally flat or even with the other panels.. You can see in this picture that the front and side panel do not line up on the left side of the tank. I'm afraid that lower corner on the front pane is what's causing my gap.

Sorry - did you ever get a clear answer back from the manufacturer?

RobW · Apr 22, 2019

ReefSlice said:
It's actually a SCA tank. And they said that this is "normal".

The top rim of the tank is totally flat, but I think the bottom rim is not cut totally flat or even with the other panels.. You can see in this picture that the front and side panel do not line up on the left side of the tank. I'm afraid that lower corner on the front pane is what's causing my gap.

Yeah, it seems that tank it out of square a bit. I was reading a little further along where you mentioned you found that some parts were a full 1/8" out of square. To me that is unacceptable. Especially what they charge to build tanks and ship them.

ReefSlice · Apr 22, 2019

Stabila and Craftsman levels, I trust both. And the problem isn't if the tank is level, remember. I'm just using the level to see if the bottom panel was installed flat. I just don't understand how the bottom panel can be not flat or level on the bottom of the tank but fine inside the tank, but the bottom panel isn't compressing the mat evenly along the bottom... Very confusing.
And the manufacturer told me it was normal for them and extended my warranty. I just don't want a flood in my house.

fishybizzness · Apr 22, 2019

I have a sca 120 still in the box in a spare room and since I've been following this thread I have opened the box at least 3 or 4 times to check everything from the level of the euro brace to the seams to the overflow interior and exterior looking for any flaws or issues. I haven't been able to find any flaws but still a little paranoid..lol