siskiou

Since this question is kind of getting buried in the "Drilling acrylic with regular drill bit?" thread, I'm opening a new one to continue the issue. To recap, the back of my tank/stand is 3/8" lower than the front (tank is still empty) and I was going to shim along the back and sides to get everything even. While reading up on this, I came across the following: Myth #15: "My floor is deflecting so I better put shims under it to make it level." Okay, this one might or might not have some truth to it. If your floor is flat but sloping, then it just doesn't matter structurally if the water level is higher at one end of the aquarium than it is at the other end. Now if one of the four corners of your aquarium stand is lower or higher than the other three corners then it could be a big problem. That could put a torsional (twisting) load into the glass tank which could break the glass or the seal at an edge/corner of the glass. from this website: http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article28.html Now, is this correct and am I understanding correctly that as long as all sides are touching the ground, I *don't* need to shim? Even though the waterline would be lower up front than in the back?

No, that's not correct. Since a picture speaks more than a thousand words: There *is* a plywood board the sump will be sitting on, and it seems solid, but does not sit directly on the ground. It has something like floor joints supporting it, that also don't touch the ground. The only think making contact with the floor is the 2x4 frame.

I think we may be misunderstanding each other. As I wrote previously, I'm not just lifting the back and leaving everything in between the back and front hanging. The stand does not have a solid bottom (it's an AGA stand, made for this tank). It's sitting on a 2x4 frame. I'd be shimming all the way around this, not just the back, but also the sides. The front doesn't need any shimming, except where it needs a tiny bit of shim so it fully touches the ground not just on the very edge. And just to clear up what you are saying: what do you mean by "full shims"?

I haven't started the shimming yet, and I'm definitely going to accommodate the sides, too. I can reach them easily. I was just looking for a better way to get the height in the back, since there isn't enough room for anyone to crawl behind. My current plan is to lay a half inch thick (really 3/8") board along the back and put the back of the stand on that to bring it up even with the front. Then shim along the sides until everything is supported as evenly as I can possibly accomplish with our uneven floor. Does this make sense? I'm open to any and all suggestions! My trip to home depot only yielded the "plastic" shims (better around potential spills), but not any "wedge shaped boards, like I was hoping for.

My beautiful six-line wrasse was also a victim of carpet surfing a couple of years ago. One minute she was there, healthy and aggressive as always, and a half hour later no sign of her.

Thanks all! Hole number one is successfully done, with not much pressure and fastest speed. No water! Took a bit longer than I expected to make it through, but now I know what to expect for the next one. Back to work... Edited to add: mission accomplished with no problems! Getting closer to actually getting the tank set up. We emptied out the 40G and moved it into our daughter's room over the weekend. It's all shimmed and even. Now to accomplish the same for the 120! It needs some serious shimming (of course in the back, where it's hard to reach. Is there such a thing as a wedge shaped board? I need 3/8" more height along the whole back of the tank.

Thanks for all the advice! Keep it coming! I can sure use it! So, do I really have to be running water over the acrylic while I drill? I'm doing this when my husband and daughter are off to work/school tomorrow (so I have time to concentrate and get this done without interruptions). But this means there will be no extra hands to help out and I don't fancy handling a drill with one hand while running water with the other!

I want to drill a row of holes into an internal wall of my sump with the largest regular drill bit we own. Is this okay, or do I need specific drill bits for acrylic?

I'm at the same stage, having finally moved everything out of the 40G. How do you attach the plastic background with out having pieces of tape sticking around the edges?

The skimmer fits into the stand after all! Barely, though, but I can get the collection cup off for cleaning.

I have pictures of that tank, but it was too far for me to go and take a look! Congrats!

I was puttering around at home and turned on the tv when my husband called. We tend to not turn on the tv or radio unless we want to watch something specific, so he didn't hear about until he got to work. My parents also called a little later from Germany. It was so unreal, like a disaster movie, until it sank in that this was really happening. We had a hard time thinking of a way to explain all this to our 9 year old daughter, and weren't sure if the teachers would bring it up at school already or not. They hadn't, but the kids all knew something terrible had happened from their teachers' unusual behavior.

My husband wrestled it into submission this morning! Thanks for the screwdriver hint! That really helped!

Can you add these to a Tek fixture?

Looking at the thing, I believe the holes almost *have* to be under the waterline for the overflow to work. It just seems odd to have them there in the first place.

Did you (or somebody else) delete your cookies?

Hm, the only thing I can adjust on mine is the height of the whole standpipe, which means I could have the holes above water or below the waterline, but there is nothing that would cover/uncover the holes otherwise. The way the piece is dedigned, it can only be slid on top of the movable pipe to a certain point, but then it narrows and can go no further. I thought the nipple up top was there to let air in? Do you have the same ones, Miles?

Hm, okay. I'll try a bit more. Maybe my husband will have more luck.

I'm desperately trying to get the nozzles off two loclines that came with the megaflow overflow kits, so I can attach penductors. I'm not getting anywhere, though. Is there a trick to dealing with locline, or do I have to glue the penductors to the nozzles? I was planning on ordering a couple of Loc-Line 3/4" NPT Connectors to screw on the penductors.

Good luck on the drilling!

Is anyone travelling from Salem to Eugene in the near future and could bring along some Southdown from Advanced Aquarium in the near future? It would be 3-4 bags (2 for me, and 1 or 2 for Miles). Thanks, Susanne

Ah, darn! AGA packed the wrong bulkhead size for the return in at least one of the packages! It's too large and doesn't fit the 3/4 inch hole. Edit: I take that back. They pack 3 bulkheads, so you have a choice between a 1 inch hosebarb, or a 3/4 inch for the drain. Edit2: Can anyone tell me what the three holes on the top part of the drain/durso pipe are good for?