# leveling stand question



## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

i just recently made a diy stand for my 75g, when i put the tank on the stand, and filled it with about 4" of water its unleveled right to left almost a whole inch.

I decided to move the tank to the only other wall it could be on, and im having the same problem, but its only a lil more than 1/2" off left to right. Not only is that a problem but back to front its off a bit too.

I've read numerous threads about shims and styrofoam. So i brought a pack of composite shims, After putting the shims around the tank to get it level I notice that the all the way around the stand its not touching the floor. 1/2" being the highest on one end, and maybe a 1/8" on the other.

So my question and concern is this a problem with all the weight resting on the shims instead of the actual floor?

btw its tile on a concrete slab.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Shim the bottom of the stand not the aquarium. Place a level on the stand and find your high corner. Place one end of the level on this corner and if it's long enough run the other end over one of the lower corners. Place shims under the bottom of that low corner leg untill you get a level reading. Repeat the same thing for the other two corners always working off your high spot. Once the stand is level the aquarium should be too.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

iceblue said:


> Shim the bottom of the stand not the aquarium. Place a level on the stand and find your high corner. Place one end of the level on this corner and if it's long enough run the other end over one of the lower corners. Place shims under the bottom of that low corner leg untill you get a level reading. Repeat the same thing for the other two corners always working off your high spot. Once the stand is level the aquarium should be too.


 That should be clear enough for nearly everybody. During this leveling, the stand may rock. Once all four corners are shimmed properly, the stand will then be "solid" as well as level. Good job, Iceblue!


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## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

thanks for the replies, I did get the stand level all the way around and it does not rock. It seems "solid", but my question was with the entire bottom of the stand now resting on just the shims and not the actual floor, will this be a problem with all the weight in the long run?


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## gordonrp (Mar 23, 2005)

TheBanker said:


> thanks for the replies, I did get the stand level all the way around and it does not rock. It seems "solid", but my question was with the entire bottom of the stand now resting on just the shims and not the actual floor, will this be a problem with all the weight in the long run?


doubt it, on my ~160gallon rena the stan has 8 tiny studs/feet (about 1 inch across) that the whole weight rests on. Im also tile on concrete, been fine for 2 years.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Does your stand have legs or is it a cabinet style where the entire side comes in contact with the floor?

Also the term shim gets abused a lot. If your setting heavy machinery a "shim" is a piece of metal cut to evenly cover the entire contact area between the machine and its base. In carpentry the term "shim" is often used in place of "wedges" which normally is a long tapered piece of wood (feather wedge).

Did you use a "shim" or a "wedge" to level your tank? A shim will give you a better contact area between the floor and your stand. A wedge has limited contact between your stand and the floor and eventually can get pinched at its contact point until it reaches enough compressed area to make up for the weight it is holding.

If you used a wedge you can place another wedge on the opposite side to make up for any gap left by the taper of the original wedge. Ideally, you want to measure the gap between the stand and the floor and cut a piece of wood to that thickness and replace the wedge with it. The more evenly and greater the contact area between your stand and the floor the less likely your stand will shift due to weight.

Hope this makes sense.


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## CICHLUDED (Aug 4, 2006)

Not trying to hijackâ€¦ butâ€¦

What if the stand has no legs (In my case)? The bottom of the stand is flat, and 7â€™ long.

What would be the best way to level?

.


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## boredatwork (Sep 14, 2007)

I had the same problem. When I made my stand is was pretty level - but I learned quickly that something being level is relative. When I moved it from the room I built it in to the place where it would stay permanently all of the sudden it wasn't level anymore. The floor must have been really funky in that area because if I moved it around, even just a few inches, it would get significantly better or worse.

I do want to say that the water level in tank should be your final measure - not a level. A level can be a very deceptive tool.

The way I made my stand it does not have legs, the whole bottom perimeter of the stand is in contact with the floor. This can be better or worse when trying to fix a level. What I was able to do was put a piece of styrofoam underneath the bottom 2x4 in the front of the stand (the same styrofoam I used under the tank). Luckily this fixed it perfectly. I was also skeptical of using a "Wedge" type shim, so I am glad I was able to fix it the way I did. Although now I am sure the sides of my stand are a little off the floor, at lest in the front. If you have a large tank, the weight of it will eventually even things out. If you built your own stand out of any kind of wood this settling will happen even if you have a perfectly level tank when you first put it on the stand. In general I would not recommend using stryfoam to fix an unlevel tank, by the way. I think in some cases it could be a bad idea.

So if your stand has no legs but a flat bottom you want to avoid any gaps between the floor and the stand as much as possible. Extending the shim concept, if you had thin pieces of wood placed under the stand - not just in the corner but along as much of the stand as is necessary. I don't know if that makes sense in words.

Also, unless your stand is rocking as is the case for the OP, for the most part I think worrying about a tank that is not level is mostly cosmetic. Unless your tank is literally leaning at a large angle in danger of falling the tank itself should be OK. When I first experienced this problem I contacted the tank manufacturer and asked them how level the tank had to be and they said it doesn't matter - as far as the tank is concerned. But my disclaimer is that I have an acrylic tank so I don't know if its different for glass tanks - or even acrylic tanks made by different manufacturers. If you are having a hard time leveling I would contact the manufacturer to find out if they have any restrictions. Most of the time they are very clear about any special instructions for warranty purposes. But if you think about it, it shouldn't matter as far as the tank is concerned.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Is the weight transferred through legs to the flat bottom or through cabinet like sides and back? If their legs, it would be easy enough to shim directly under the stand where the legs meet the flat bottom. This avoids any sway or bend that you might get if shims were placed just randomly along a flat bottom.

If their cabinet sides you would still want to support directly under where the sides and back meet the bottom. Personally, I would do a layout on the floor where the aquarium will be located and draw out where the sides and any interior partition that will hold weight will sit. Place an X at each end front to back of every panel and with a level determine your high spot. From their level over to each X and either measure the difference or as I did with my large tank use various size shims to bring it up level. These shim packs can then be measured to get a very accurate thickness. It also helps to keep track of these measurements on a piece of paper. You can now either use one of two methods to shim the stand. Lets say on one cabinet side you have your high spot at 0 and the other end is a 1/4" lower. You can now cut a length of shim an inch wide, a 1/4" thick and 4 - 5" long and place it directly under the flat bottom where the cabinet side meets it. Repeat for all other X thicknesses. If your anal like I can be sometimes you can cut a long tapering shim. Lets say your cabinet side is 2' long and you have a difference in comparison to your high spot of a 1/4" on end and a 1/2" on the other. I would measure out 2' on a straight piece of board and on one end measure in a 1/4" and at the other end of the 2' mark measure in a 1/2". You can then cut a long tapered shim to fully support the sides. Either method will work.

If your placing it on carpet your on your own.


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## TheBanker (Jun 14, 2008)

iceblue said:


> Does your stand have legs or is it a cabinet style where the entire side comes in contact with the floor?


its cabinet style with 3/4" plywood around a 2x4 frame. so i would say its actually resting on 6 2x4 legs.


















sorry for camera phone pic, but you can see the left side of the tank is flush on the floor, but in order to get it level on the right i put a piece 3/4" plywood under both legs and used a few "wedges" to fill the gap under the center braces/legs.

But i will also use your idea and take some wood to make a long tapering shim to fill the gap between the floor and plywood bottom.


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