Speakerman said:
I don't think I'm going to take it all apart...I'm sure I'll mess it up even more like that.
What I'm planning on doing is creating an exctrememly ridged bottom (or top of the cabinet) to support the weight of the tank, rather than letting the bottom bow down under so much preasure.
So the combination of a full supporting bottom, which will be shimmed up into place under the glass (to get added support), and caulking the crap out of the bottom edges and corners.
I think that should get it. I'm going to let the tank dry for a couple days before I put water in it again. I wish I had a water hose....I have to fill/empty the tank with 6 gallon buckets and a syphon.
*Screech Screech Thump* - Please excuse me while I bust out the soapbox here for a minute....
I'm sure I sound like I'm beating a dead horse, but every time I see someone say they don't want to break down an aquarium, I put my own personal experience into it. Please see this picture:
We got a 75 gallon surprise at 4:30 in the morning because I cheaped out and didn't repair something that I thought "might" be an issue. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember two very apt sayings:
1: "If you can't find time to do it right the first time, you'll find time the second, third, forth, or fifth time..."
2: "Remember your seven P's: *edited word for pee* Poor Planning Produces *edited word for pee* Poor Products".
Let me tell you EXACTLY WHY you should take the silicone off and reseal it. I didn't because I didn't want to replace a teeny tiny (size of a 1/4 thumb nail in all dimensions) chip inside the glass. I was conerned about breaking the glass, etc. But, mainly, I was concerned about the time it would take and draining my tank, etc.
"Original-don't-want-to-do-it" scenario:
Draining, scraping and resealing an aquarium:
6-7 hours if you're not good at it. 3 if you're handy with tools and a rag. Especially a "standard" fishtank with no overflows, bowfronts, etc. Total cost: 4 bucks at home depot for silicone 2, maybe $20 if I had to replace a pane of glass.
"How-it-worked-in-real-life" scenario:
Exploding tank clean up:
1 hour (4:35 - 5:35AM) wet-dry vacing remnant water *out* of tank before it leaked through cracks onto the floor.
30 minutes assembling "trash-can" makeshift tank for my Danios.
4 Hours wet/dry vaccuuming *TANK WATER* out of carpet.
1 hour pulling carpet up and assembling fans.
30 minutes calming down 2 1/2 year old because "Googly's house broke".
30 minutes calming down 2 1/2 year old because he tripped over brace in carpet and skinned his knees.
1 hour reassembling carpet and stretching it.
1 hour steamcleaning carpet 5 days later.
1 more hour steamsleaning carpet 7 days after-the-fact.
2 hours driving, picking up, and unpacking new tank.
I won't include tank setup time, since you'll have to do that either way. But, instead of getting away with spending 4-20 bucks. My plan was to buy a friend's 72 gallon bowfront and have a cichlid community and my show tank for danios and livebearers. BUT, what I got was the pleasure of paying $450 for a new tank,stand,and light to replace what I had and spending 6 EXTRA hours that I didn't need to...
Moral of the story is that when dealing with water, I wouldn't mess around with major items like tank structure too much, because if you do, you'll end up doing it the hard way like I did
BTW, your hood and stand look awesome! I'm considering painting mine now!