Neptune Aquatics

How to level a tank stand

Vhuang168

Vhuang168

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So as it turns out, the garage floor is not level. Yes I know.. garage!?!

Any how, I need to level the stand. The floor slopes down back to front with the front edge of the stand 5/32" lower than the back. I can shim up the front but that leaves the middle part hanging in mid air. The stand was custom made and the bottom is 3/4" ply sitting on 4 2X1 runners going lengthwise front to back with the 2" side horizontal.

Any ideas?

TIA
Vincent
 
ImageUploadedByTapatalk1432839561.929623.jpg


Back of stand

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1432839612.177759.jpg


Front
 
Well one option would be to tape around the edge of the stand, then put down some 2x4s or something, mix up some self leveling cement and pour a pad the size of the stand, and bingo bango level floor.

If you have a table saw, it should be easy enough to rip a shim the slope of the floor and just use that under each "bar" under the stand.

Lastly you could not give a crap out the middle being supported since all the weight from the tank is going to be on the edges, not on the middle of the stand.
 
One option: Lots of shims and fiddling to get them right.

What I did:
Tape thin plastic on the floor where stand sits.
Put 4 small screws into bottom of stand at corners, and use those
to level the stand very carefully.
Mix up some epoxy, with lots of thickener.
Apply epoxy to bottom of stand in areas that seem structurally important. Corners mostly.
Then flip stand over, so it sits on screws as above, nicely level.
Some epoxy should be pushed out as it settles on screws.
Let epoxy set. Permanent, very solid shims...
(You could do the same thing with concrete instead of epoxy)
With plastic, it does not permanently stick to garage floor.
 
My stand, under my 180 did not sit level. The left front corner was 1/4" off the floor!! I shimmed it, and filled the tank with 180 gallons of water and then I noticed that the part I shimmed was actually now too high!! The stand was never square to start with! Anyway, I built an post and beam with 4x4 lumber that I straddled the inside of the stand with and used two bottle jacks to lift the stand/tank (and water) just high enough so I could remove the shims. It is now still not level, but that corner settled to about 1/8 or less off the ground. The tank seems straight, thought not completely level. Oh well.
 
Having it 5/32 out of level probably won't matter.
Visually a little off. Minor uneven pressure.

BUT!!!!
Having it "rack" or "twist" is a very big issue.
If one single corner is up or down, that will cause the tank to twist when full,
which puts a ton of strain on it.
 
rygh said:
Having it 5/32 out of level probably won't matter.
Visually a little off. Minor uneven pressure.

BUT!!!!
Having it "rack" or "twist" is a very big issue.
If one single corner is up or down, that will cause the tank to twist when full,
which puts a ton of strain on it.
Click to expand...

Checked it and its level side to side on both front and rear edges. Level shows an even rack both ways.
 
This seems simple. The floor slopes down from back of stand to front. Just shim the front and a couple of spots along the sides. The back will be supported by floor. If you wanted to get really OCD you could cut a strip of wood to go under the middle of the stand, side to side. You'd need access to a table saw to get an accurate cut on this.

From the bubble on the level pic it looks like a lot more than 5/32 off. How long is that level?
 
It's 24". Might be more than 5/32. I just put a tape measure at the end. I got some scrap acrylic from Tap. I'll cut some strips, sand a slight bevel and shim it.

I might take some accurate measurements after I shim the front then take a trip to Sawdust and cut a shim for the middle
 
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