Not looked at this thread for a while (which is a school boy error as it moves so fast and it's taken me over an hour to catch up) as I didn't want to jinx it with more leaks.............oh well! Replies from posts many many days ago!
nolapete;4216925; said:
Nah, the next monster I build like this is going to have a concrete floor with drains. There will be a 6 inch channel for the walls to fit in and be bolted to the concrete floor. It will be built to use dimensional lumber in the lengths it is available in. The walls will be solid wood. The filtration will be built-in and air powered. The coating will be sprayed on with commercial equipment.
greengiant;4216978; said:
wow you haven't even got fish in this one and the next build is more than just a minor thought. when you starting it? good luck on the leak. how you pulling that last inch of water out of this beast?
It's so much easier to work out how to build your next monster after you've tried your first one and you know what you don't want to do again! Once i've finished taking down the current one and we've moved, Mrs Satan has given me permission to modify the plans of the next build (as long as we have the space) and should work out about 20,000gal but I wouldn't have got it without trying a 'smaller' one first.
zennzzo;4242284; said:
She'll be an mfker yet pete, i converted Mrs Satan to it
nolapete;4251266; said:
No one really commented on the structure not budging at all. I know we didn't get to 4300 with the fill test, but 3700 is nothing to scoff at; even 3000 is pretty darn good. The 2x6 "lincoln logs" method is solid.
I'd think 2x4 would be sufficient on any tank under 2000 gallons. For the 2x4 tanks, I'd use a 2x4 window frame with 2x3 inset.
cvermeulen;4251882; said:
It's not really surprising this didn't bulge at all... your walls have a safety factor of somewhere around 50 in their design. I'm sure that spaced, framed 2x4's with a 2x6 top lip and plywood lining would have been enough for this build as well, but I understand the motivation for extra insurance.
Where i've looked at mine as it's drained, there's been no bowing of the 2x4s at all and I was worried i'd spaced them too far apart. I used MDF rather than Ply Wood to clad it before it was lined and even that has had no signs of bowing. If i had to do it again I wouldn't want to make it anymore 'flimsy' however! If I'd gone more than 48" deep then i would have gone for a 6" frame work. Better safe than sorry, it's easy enough to throw numbers and safety factors around that should work theoretically, but when you're doing this in your own house it becomes a whole different beast and your mind works in different ways.
nolapete;4272370; said:
Apparently, the small leak started way before 3700 gallons. Test fill two left overnight with around 1300 gallons or so leaked at a very small rate. I suspect that because of that I didn't see it with the first test fill.
I remember my first leaked only started when i was about 4" water depth above the location the leak was actually at. Pressure does seem to come into it when they start.
nolapete;4283227; said:
When it does leak, it only channels out the side by the French doors. That could be due to the slight incline of the slab in that direction or that the leak is on that side. When I had the concrete poured to raise the slab to the same level as the rest of the house, it was supposed to remove the incline. Who knows? It's driving me crazy that after all of the effort, as you said Conner, that I'm dealing with this stupid leak. Especially because my original plan was to go with a pond liner like my friend's tanks and I would have been done many months ago.
I never did pin point the start location of one of the leaks I had. Ended up working backwards from where the water was appearing until i got it to stop. If that makes sense.
Conner;4294567; said:
+1. Just set up towels or other stuff to help keep the water from damaging anything, and let it drain til it stops. That will at least tell you what level in the tank the leak is at, even if you can't pinpoint it.
Can you not see on the outside of the tank where its leaking from? Or is it somewhere that's hidden from view?
It's not a bad plan, again one of the drip leaks I had was slow enough that the towel was drying faster than it was soaking. The problem comes that if it is soaking through from another location and ruining the wood then it's not going to help in the long run.
greengiant;4296018; said:
I am thinking your leak will always appear to be at the bottom. you sheeted the interior with plywood inside tat beastly frame. any leak at any level would appear to be coming from the bottom as the water would just run down the backside of the plywood. did you overlap the PC over the acrylic or just over your custom seal you made? I cannot recall from memory. good luck Pete we are all rooting for this to be watertight soon.
As above.
greengiant;4297337; said:
I can't imagine what your going through having a leak and it being right in your main living area to remind you every day that its not filled. I would be pulling my hair out bigtime
Welcome to the DIY Build Nightmare.
Keep at it pete, we all want to see this finished and filled. It's never nice having these problems but it's worth it in the end when it all works right and the fish get in there.
