# Listing Ship



## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

Dear Fabricator:

This is the 3,600 gallon aquarium your company recently fabricated and installed. It is somewhat ship shaped with the “bow” at the northern (right) end, the “stern” measuring 55” across, 80” “amidships”, and a length of 14’ 3”. There are (16) 4” x 4” steel legs welded to the same 4” square tube at the top and a ¼” x 2” x 2” “L” channel welded to the bottom. The aquarium appears to be fabricated from 1 ½” thick polycarbonate. The top is in two sections mounted on slides to provide top access; the two-section bottom façade is on rollers.

Starting at the “bow” on the left, these (5) legs do not contact the floor, with the gap varying from 1/8” to 9/16”.

Conversely, the second leg from the bow leg on the “starboard” (Eastern) side is crushing the epoxy floor coating; the “bow” leg to the right is not touching the floor nor is the leg immediately to the left of this one. 

As viewed from the floor looking up, there is an explosion of compressive wood shims jammed between the top of the steel superstructure and the bottom of the plywood underlayment.

The 2” x 2” “L” channel has been severed at the “stern”. The middle leg is also crushing the epoxy floor coating. The left corner leg does not touch the floor. Only (7) of the (16) legs (43%) touch the floor.

While not calculating the deflection of the 1 ½” polycarbonate top with cut-outs spanning the 80” width at “amidships”, it takes (3) quarters, (1) nickel, and (1) penny, 5/16” total on a 4' level to get to level, indicating a “starboard” list of approximately 5/8”.

The 5/8” list perfectly explains the bind between the “stern” polycarbonate top and the bottom of the rolling top that is virtually immoveable. The list has “racked” the rolling top causing the bind.

The “stern” is approximately ¾” out of plumb over its 72” height, however, considering the compound bends of the sides, this may be by design.

The cam locks on the lower façade cannot draw the sides together on either side because the floor is not level and there are no adjustable wheels to compensate. The plastic laminate covering was damaged during shipping.


According to the Aquarist, the “chiller” has never worked properly. This may be related to the deviations from the manufacturer’s installation instructions as related to the valve’s horizontal position instead of the specified vertical position and lack of minimal length of piping before and after the valve.

In addition to an extensive background in store fixture manufacturing and installation, I am a licensed and insured Florida Building Contractor and my wife, Lynn A. Corlett, is a Certified Safety Professional as designated by the Board of Certified Safety Professionals. With its documented lack of proper load bearing capacity, we believe this installation is an immediate threat to public and employee safety and make the following recommendations: 

1.	The area should be closed to the public immediately and the tank drained and disconnected. 
2.	The drained tank should be lifted, the compressive wood shims removed, and the steel frame and legs plumbed and leveled in a method approved by a licensed Florida engineer and he should inspect and approve the concrete floor for load bearing capacity. 
3.	Proper leveling should abate the racked and binding rolling “stern” top. 
4.	The severed “L” channel should be repaired.
5.	The “chiller” should be installed according to the manufacturer’s installation instructions.
6.	Height-adjustable wheels should be installed on the lower facades to allow the sections to meet and lock properly. 
7.	The chips and gouges in the plastic laminate should be repaired in a manner acceptable to the owner. 
8. If the pipe chase in the floor was not designed and approved when the building was built, it should be inspected for severed reinforcements and subsequently approved by the local division of inspection.


I look forward to helping you resolve these issues.



Sincerely,



Joseph M. Corlett 

Owner
Joseph Corlett, LLC
CBC1259693


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## heavy_d (Dec 4, 2012)

What's the back story?


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

heavy_d said:


> What's the back story?


I was called to repair plastic laminate on the top and bottom facades that was damaged during shipping. While examining for those, I noticed the floating legs. 

I could not believe my eyes. I thought maybe Starbucks put some acid in my decaf and I was hallucinating. How could there be air between the legs and floor? I was scared to death just standing next to this thing. It was all I could do to take the pictures.

Apparently remediation is underway.


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## Robie (Feb 25, 2005)

I wonder if this will have the same responses that the dangerous balcony thread got some months back.

50% of the respondents thought...mind your own business. 

I think you did the right thing.


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

Robie said:


> I wonder if this will have the same responses that the dangerous balcony thread got some months back.
> 
> 50% of the respondents thought...mind your own business.
> 
> I think you did the right thing.


Years ago I was sitting on my front porch enjoying a summer evening. Across the street, I watched a 3-year-old neighbor exit his front door and toddle down to the gate where he stood on his tip toes to flip the latch. 

I thought "Hmmm...we got us a 'non-starter' here." I am not going to watch an unsupervised 3-year-old make a break for it, especially in the inner city. He was headed down the sidewalk when I scooped him up and took him back to the brig. His mother was quite surprised to see her son in the arms of a white guy when she opened the door, but was grateful when I explained what I'd seen.

Same thing here. This place is full of children and I'll be damned if I'm going to read that some were drowned or crushed by 14 tons of evacuating water or stung by a flopping lionfish.


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## BucketofSteam (Jun 16, 2013)

Kowboy said:


> Years ago I was sitting on my front porch enjoying a summer evening. Across the street, I watched a 3-year-old neighbor exit his front door and toddle down to the gate where he stood on his tip toes to flip the latch.
> 
> I thought "Hmmm...we got us a 'non-starter' here." I am not going to watch an unsupervised 3-year-old make a break for it, especially in the inner city. He was headed down the sidewalk when I scooped him up and took him back to the brig. His mother was quite surprised to see her son in the arms of a white guy when she opened the door, but was grateful when I explained what I'd seen.
> 
> Same thing here. This place is full of children and I'll be damned if I'm going to read that some were drowned or crushed by 14 tons of evacuating water or stung by a flopping lionfish.


Good for you to not succumb to bystander syndrome.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Hopefully the customer appreciates what you dd here!:thumbsup:


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

hdavis said:


> Hopefully the customer appreciates what you dd here!:thumbsup:


Considering they're sitting on 70K of the 250K cost of the "ship" until these issues are resolved, I'm fairly sure they do.


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## RangoWA (Jun 25, 2014)

It does look like a catastrophe waiting to happen. It's as if they built it in the shop and didn't consider what the weight of the water was going to be.


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## rescraft (Nov 28, 2007)

Can you call in the guys from Tanked? They seem to know what they are doing.


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## Easy Gibson (Dec 3, 2010)

Cot damn, the horizontal members on that structure are really doing the Lord's work.

62 pounds per cubic foot, right?


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

There are digital templating systems that would allow you to "take the floor back to the shop with you". They are so accurate that each leg could be scribed to the floor perfectly at the shop. Their existence makes this installation that much more inexcusable.


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Easy Gibson said:


> Cot damn, the horizontal members on that structure are really doing the Lord's work.
> 
> 62 pounds per cubic foot, right?


8lb per gallon X 3600 gallons....


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## hdavis (Feb 14, 2012)

Kowboy said:


> There are digital templating systems that would allow you to "take the floor back to the shop with you". They are so accurate that each leg could be scribed to the floor perfectly at the shop. Their existence makes this installation that much more inexcusable.



Even doing things the old way would get a good fit.


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

I was being discreet about the identity of these guys because if they did the right thing, I didn't want to cause them any undue embarrassment. They have not. I revisited this job yesterday and found, I swear I'm not making this up, a single stack of Home Depot style composite shims and a single stack of 1" flat washers between the 9/16" inch gap on the worst-offending leg. Plastic composite shims are great for supporting granite countertops; 14-ton aquariums, not so much. They will squish like a bug.

They did get the "chiller" reinstalled and it is apparently working properly. The plastic laminate repairs are almost complete and the lower facade was closed but misaligned. The top does not close.

Anyway, if you want to see this on television, tune into Animal Planets' "Tanked" program, "Imaginarium" on Friday, June 17th at 10 p.m. Let's hope it holds up that long.

http://www.news-press.com/story/ent...ppears-animal-planet-tv-show-tanked/85652376/

Correction:Only 6 1/2 of the 16 legs are load bearing, leaving 9 1/2 unsupported. I said that was 43%, it is 40%. I regret the error.


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## rescraft (Nov 28, 2007)

So when I made the comment that you should call the guys at Tanked,
they were the guys that did the install?


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

With their budgets, that is inexcusable. In addition, how hard would it be to have the legs lengthened in place. Even if you had to install a sleeve of some sort. 

As for the point load damage, they could have just added a decorative pad on the foot ends to distribute the weight, or a full framed foot would have been better. It ain't rocket science.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

rescraft said:


> So when I made the comment that you should call the guys at Tanked,
> they were the guys that did the install?


Yep.


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

VinylHanger said:


> With their budgets, that is inexcusable. In addition, how hard would it be to have the legs lengthened in place. Even if you had to install a sleeve of some sort.
> 
> As for the point load damage, they could have just added a decorative pad on the foot ends to distribute the weight, or a full framed foot would have been better. It ain't rocket science.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


I agree. That's a quarter-million dollar fish tank, paid for with grants the non-profit museum applied for and was granted. Fortunately, the museum is still sitting on 70K.

I keep waiting for someone to tell me "Kowboy, you're crazy. There's nothing wrong with less than half the legs supporting 14 tons. You should apologize to these guys." I don't know when I've wanted to be shown to be wrong more than now.


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## META (Apr 9, 2015)

Assuming it was engineered as such, the end product isn't to "spec", so it doesn't matter what anyone says about it holding or not. 
Anyway, the whole structure should not be sitting on posts, it should have at least a supporting 2"X2" frame on the floor (that the posts sit on) that mimics the upper shape. That L channel only serves as lateral bracing, but not sufficient for weigh bearing. At least with a bottom cord, the weight would be better distributed even if the posts were "floating".


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## VinylHanger (Jul 14, 2011)

Nice to see someone with the nuts to grab on and not let go. Keep us updated. 

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## BucketofSteam (Jun 16, 2013)

I just now realized that there was a model ship in that tank...


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

VinylHanger said:


> Nice to see someone with the nuts to grab on and not let go. Keep us updated.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


VinylHanger:

Thanks. I wish I could say I had a choice; I don't. I'm stuck this way and am comfortable with it. There's just some things of with which I will not put.:laughing:


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## BucketofSteam (Jun 16, 2013)

Kowboy said:


> VinylHanger:
> 
> Thanks. I wish I could say I had a choice; I don't. I'm stuck this way and am comfortable with it. There's just some things of with which I will not put.:laughing:


So I've been thinking about this, you were called to fix the floor around the legs right?

If it falls does that make you the one liable since you were the last one near it?


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

You could be a champ and suggest to them to contact the Cincinnati Zoo on how to construct a safety fence around that tank.


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

BucketofSteam said:


> So I've been thinking about this, you were called to fix the floor around the legs right?
> 
> If it falls does that make you the one liable since you were the last one near it?


No, I was called to do the plastic laminate repairs on the top and bottom facades.


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## BucketofSteam (Jun 16, 2013)

Kowboy said:


> No, I was called to do the plastic laminate repairs on the top and bottom facades.


still can't they claim that in the process of repairing the laminate you someone weakened it causing it to collapse?

Remember this is something that will be on TV you know, you sure you don't want to CYA just in case?


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

BucketofSteam said:


> still can't they claim that in the process of repairing the laminate you someone weakened it causing it to collapse?
> 
> Remember this is something that will be on TV you know, you sure you don't want to CYA just in case?


The only thing I touched on this job was my pen to my pad and the only thing I took was pictures.


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## P42003 (Jun 15, 2016)

https://www.facebook.com/imaginariumfortmyers

"I am no engineer, but I am currently looking at pictures online of the inadequate frame built by a fabricator for this aquarium, and it is obvious to me as a layman you have a serious safety problem. You really need to get an engineer to look at that metal frame and develop a written plan of action to beef it up."


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## Mordekyle (May 20, 2014)

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## P42003 (Jun 15, 2016)

Thanks, that was me (P.P.) who made the Facebook post. I read these forums from time to time, and had been following this thread. How did you copy and paste that picture of my post, I wasn't sure how to do that from my phone.


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## Agility (Nov 29, 2013)

P42003 said:


> Thanks, that was me (P.P.) who made the Facebook post. I read these forums from time to time, and had been following this thread. How did you copy and paste that picture of my post, I wasn't sure how to do that from my phone.



Looks like your comment was deleted


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## BucketofSteam (Jun 16, 2013)

Kowboy said:


> The only thing I touched on this job was my pen to my pad and the only thing I took was pictures.


You sure that's enough to convince a judge or jury?


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## RangoWA (Jun 25, 2014)

BucketofSteam said:


> You sure that's enough to convince a judge or jury?


The photos should help. I say should, not will because American justice comes down to whoever can afford the best lyer.


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## 91782 (Sep 6, 2012)

From the Facebook page:
"Want to find out what it's like to glide a 3,200 gallon tank into the Imaginarium?"


And after its filled:

3200 gallons x 8.3# = 26,560 pounds! 

Well, that's what liability insurance is for.:blink:


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## digiconsoo (Apr 23, 2012)

Any updates?


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

digiconsoo said:


> Any updates?


I called Mr. Romine's office today; he's apparently on vacation. I can understand that, I just got back from a 10-day stay out West. His secretary says she'll try to contact him and get back to me.


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## Kowboy (May 7, 2009)

My wife recorded the Imaginarium "Tanked" episode and after having watched it, I can understand what's going on. They assembled the tank wrong initially and had to cut it apart and reassemble it properly. While it doesn't appear too rushed in the video, according to Ms. Bascom, installation day was very rushed in order to accommodate the video crew. So they're bleeding money on this one and decided to make up for it with the safety of the children visiting the museum.

We watched another episode where they needed "counterbalancing" when unloading a truck, so they had one, then another bigger guy, stand on the load on the forklift. As a safety professional, my wife almost fell off our new sofa. These guys do some amazing work, but they are deep down Jersey hillbillies.


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## rrk (Apr 22, 2012)

Kowboy said:


> but they are deep down Jersey hillbillies.


Say what?


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## Mordekyle (May 20, 2014)

Jumbo shrimp???


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