Tips to get stand level.

[Sasq40]

So I built a stand made out of wood that's wrapped around a steel frame. The tank had a rip around the bottom and isn't sitting flat on my stand. It's On top of 3/8 plywood which is sitting on top of the metal stand. Now I'm assuming the metal is not flat but I figured the wood would allow the tank to sit flat. I was wrong and it rocks a bit. Can I throw a piece of cardboard under the tank to make up for the uneven corner?

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[hillegom]

I'm not quite sure where the problem is exactly, Is the wood not level or the tank is not flat on the bottom. Or is the plywood not sitting on the steel stand.
Regardless, don't use cardboard. It will squash flat and not be of enough help to level. Use something that is solid that won't squash.
How much of a gap are we talking about? If just 1/16. Use a pink styrofoam sheet and it will squish in the right places to level the tank

[Sasq40]

Yeah it's very minor. The tank kinda rocks back and forth. I thought with a tank that isn't flat bottom your not supposed to use Styrofoam?

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[hillegom]

When the tank is rocked all the way to one side, how much of a gap do you have on the other side/

[Sasq40]

The way the stand is built there's no way to really get at the gap

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[Coral Hoarder]

Your ply wood must be warped if its a welded stand I amsume they would have but it correctly

[Sasq40]

My buddy welded it and it wasn't very level. That's why I was hoping the wood would fix that

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[Coral Hoarder]

Then ur better off geting a new stand unless its easy to stack plywood

[Sasq40]

No way I'm replacing the stand it's pretty nice stand I spent a lot of time on the wood work on it

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[Coral Hoarder]

How tilted is it have you measured you can't do any thing to fix with out knowing tthe angle

[Sasq40]

I'll try and measure how much it moves when I get home

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[hillegom]

The way the stand is built there's no way to really get at the gap

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Well look at the top of the tank then, estimate how much it moves when you rock it

[Coral Hoarder]

How are we supposed to help you when you can't give use measurement s

[reefwars]

So I built a stand made out of wood that's wrapped around a steel frame. The tank had a rip around the bottom and isn't sitting flat on my stand. It's On top of 3/8 plywood which is sitting on top of the metal stand. Now I'm assuming the metal is not flat but I figured the wood would allow the tank to sit flat. I was wrong and it rocks a bit. Can I throw a piece of cardboard under the tank to make up for the uneven corner?

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if the stand is unlevel and its only about 1 /16th or so then yes use foam to make up the difference.

[Sasq40]

Are you sure that's alright with a stand with a rim?

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[Sasq40]

How are we supposed to help you when you can't give use measurement s

That's my plan now that I'm home
, just draining the tank now

[WarDog]

I'm kinda confused...

The tank rocks when it sits on the wood on the stand?... or

The stand rocks on the floor?

[Sasq40]

It moves about a 1/16, maybe 3/32

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[Sasq40]

I'm kinda confused...

The tank rocks when it sits on the wood on the stand?... or

The stand rocks on the floor?

The tanks moving ontop of the stand.

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[WarDog]

Ahhh, I see.

+1 on the foam then.... carry on.

[gregzz4]

I'll ask the same question that you haven't answered yet ...

Does the tank rock on the stand, or is the stand rocking on the floor ?

If it's the tank rocking on the stand; you'll definately need to use some pink styro between the tank and stand or the tank will fail

If it's between the stand and floor; use some composite shims to level it during filling, check/fix it when it's full, and you're good to go

[Sasq40]

The tanks moving ontop of the stand.

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I'll ask the same question that you haven't answered yet ...

Does the tank rock on the stand, or is the stand rocking on the floor ?

If it's the tank rocking on the stand; you'll definately need to use some pink styro between the tank and stand or the tank will fail

If it's between the stand and floor; use some composite shims to level it during filling, check/fix it when it's full, and you're good to go

Umm I believe that should be the answer but I'll answer again the tank moves ontop of the stand.

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[Sasq40]

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o13/kaelshort/Mobile%20Uploads/20140507_213708.jpg (http://s116.photobucket.com/user/kaelshort/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140507_213708.jpg.html)

Here's the stand to give you a idea, and here's the best picture I could get of under.

http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o13/kaelshort/Mobile%20Uploads/20140507_213726.jpg (http://s116.photobucket.com/user/kaelshort/media/Mobile%20Uploads/20140507_213726.jpg.html)

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[gregzz4]

I guess the lag time with posting is an issue ... :wink:

Go with the pink styro and you should be good to go !!
Do a freshwater test for a few days just to be safe. Nothing like cleaning up a bunch of saltwater from your floors/carpets :surprise:

Good luck bud

[Sasq40]

Yeah I've already did one and I found one leak on one of the bulkhead, so Sadly I have to cut some pvc to untreated to retape it? I also do seem to have a problem the the tank stand no being sturdy. If I jump by it or push on the stand it also rocks, which is wierd cuz it's 3/4 plywood complete bottom. What's the best way to get this from moving. ( it was fine in the garage just having problems on the carpet)

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[mark]

foam on the top, screw in levelling feet for the bottom corners of the stand. Done.

[Sasq40]

foam on the top, screw in levelling feet for the bottom corners of the stand. Done.

Well I don't really want feet on it because I want the weight distributed evenly across the whole surface since I'm running parallel to my floor joist and hit 2-3 joist

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[monza]

Yes he's sure. Should be good to go with foam.
Curious on your center pipes drains and returns, looks interesting, what do you have going on there?

Are you sure that's alright with a stand with a rim?

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[monza]

Is the rectangular thing in the middle of the tank the over flow box?

[Maverick00]

Yeah I've already did one and I found one leak on one of the bulkhead, so Sadly I have to cut some pvc to untreated to retape it? I also do seem to have a problem the the tank stand no being sturdy. If I jump by it or push on the stand it also rocks, which is wierd cuz it's 3/4 plywood complete bottom. What's the best way to get this from moving. ( it was fine in the garage just having problems on the carpet)

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This happens when the tank is full of water? Mine was unstable on the carpet until it was full and it settled nicely. I had to keep an eye on where i located it though, some parts of the floor have a minor concrete hump underneath that was causing a wobble. As far as shims, I would try to use plastic playing cards for the corners causing the issue. They will not compress and are used to shim the slate on pool tables.

[mark]

Well I don't really want feet on it because I want the weight distributed evenly across the whole surface since I'm running parallel to my floor joist and hit 2-3 joist

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not that big of a tank, sheeting on the floor will spread load over joists

[Sasq40]

Yes he's sure. Should be good to go with foam.
Curious on your center pipes drains and returns, looks interesting, what do you have going on there?


Yeah the box is my overflow. Basically right now I have a Herbie system going, but the box was originally made for a Durso so that's why it's large. So I have one dry emergency drain and the other two are returns. I'm going to drill out some macro rock I have and slide it over the lines to cover them





This happens when the tank is full of water? Mine was unstable on the carpet until it was full and it settled nicely. I had to keep an eye on where i located it though, some parts of the floor have a minor concrete hump underneath that was causing a wobble. As far as shims, I would try to use plastic playing cards for the corners causing the issue. They will not compress and are used to shim the slate on pool tables.

It did the first time. But then the tank wasn't level. So going to try levelling the tank, then filling and see if the weight makes it stable


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[Sasq40]

Well the Styrofoam helped quite a bit! No where near as much movement before but there's still more then I want. At first I thought maybe it was shaky from the weight on my floor, but if I go up to the tank I can shake it. Would shims be the best way to get this baby to stop moving. I did try some shims the other night before bed and couldn't seem to make it much better, was debating leg boating the tank to the floor if my wife let's me lol

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[mark]

Well the Styrofoam helped quite a bit! No where near as much movement before but there's still more then I want. At first I thought maybe it was shaky from the weight on my floor, but if I go up to the tank I can shake it.

was this with water in the tank?

[Sasq40]

Yeah water in it, I'm hoping after a day with water it settled on the carpet to make it stable, but I'm doubtful lol

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[hillegom]

Be careful
A tank with water in it that is able to rock, will break after a while. The glass will separate from the other panes or break.

[Sasq40]

Yeah that's why I'm trying to get ride of the Wobble, working on it as we speak :-) or err type Lol

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[Sasq40]

Would the fact that I can shake the tank with my hands prove that it's not the floor that's the actual floor moving, right?

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[mark]

might be time to rethink the stand

[Sasq40]

After almost two months of working on it in my limited space time and two trip to the Er I'm going to make this stand work

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[e46er]

Sounds like your beating a dead horse.

[Sasq40]

Well took it all apart today and brought it onto solid ground. Had a low point and fixed it. With just the stand on carpet I can rock the stand still, but It has to be the carpet so I'm out of ideas. Think I'll just have to run with it

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[e46er]

Your going to end up with a flood. I read thru the entire thread and you seem to stubborn to listen to everyone's advice so good luck

[Sasq40]

Well when advise is don't try and fix the problem, just replace, of course I'm not going to listen. I'm not into just spending money like a mad man, I want to be able to fix what I already have. I've tried mist of the reasonable advise, I tried legs, I remade the bottom of the stand and it sits perfect on hard surface, just this darn carpet it won't sit perfect

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[hillegom]

If just the stand rocks on the carpet, just shim it until it is level. After all, if the stand is made out of steel professionally, it will not bend, i.e. it is strong.
I thought all along that the tank was rocking on the stand.

[Sasq40]

Well that's the thing, I think my carpet has to much give because the stand is level, but I can still shake it. I've tried just sticking shims around to see if I can eliminate any movement, but I'm alway left with a little. In my kitchen it all sat perfect, but where I'm trying to place it in the living room I'm having no such luck.

After having the tank sit with water it should compress the carpet and get rid of that give I'm getting, or is that not the case?

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[SmallFry]

Somewhere I saw some plastic feet for under legs of couches on carpet to stop them leaving dents in the carpet. Flat on top and a bunch of spikes underneath that transfer the weight straight through to the subfloor. Big weight difference between couch and a full tank, perhaps a load of them evenly distributed?
My tank sits on carpet on just the perimeter of the stand and is perfectly stable. Perhaps you could put some long thin strips of wood underneath - they'll tend to sink into the carpet and reduce your wobble. As long as they are on top of, or cross over your joists you should be transferring the load to the joists and not relying on the subfloor.


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[hillegom]

A carpet is the same thickness across your whole room.
Its the floor below the carpet, or your kitchen is not level.
Anything can be levelled with shims

[SmallFry]

Oh and the carpet will crush/ flatten over time, reducing the wobble.


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[hillegom]

Also don't forget there is underlay below carpets, foam in other words, this is what is probably letting you shake the tank side to side.

[Sasq40]

Also don't forget there is underlay below carpets, foam in other words, this is what is probably letting you shake the tank side to side.

Yeah that's what I'm thinking, going to try filling now that it's level on hard surface and test my luck

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