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Building your own stand is a great solution. I have a 125 on first floor(1/2" out of level one way and a quarter inch the other) with a flat bottom stand and have no problems. basement floor is very old and very unlevel. For that I built a stand with different leg lenghts to accomidate the floor. It houses a 75, 2- 40's and 2- 10's. Its not pretty( I could have made nice for more $$), but it does the job for $25 total. I also made a stand for my 55(1st floor/unlevel) did same as basement stand with legs, and wrapped it in "shelving" boards and it looks good for $40. BTW each home built stand has 6 legs.

Last edited by stallion81 at 09-Aug-2005 13:05

OK,

To all the carpenters, hobby and professional, in our forum here:

I talked to my neighbor who fusses with wood stuff as a hobby and he assures me that shims would be able to do the trick. He said we could put shims all around the tank if we had to and he is convinced that the weight of 1500 lbs would not be a problem. He also says we could use metal shims. I am planning on getting the AGA Pine stand that is made out of, well, pine and not pressed wood.

Is he way off?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks all for the great ideas, I really appreciate it

As for what I am going to do:

- Last resort would be to level the floor with a concrete socket as it would decrease the house resell value
- Second to last would be any effort that raises the total tank + stand height as it would become inconvenient when doing tank maintenance
- I will ask the carpenter what a custom made stand would cost
- If that is too expensive, I will buy a stand with legs and have the carpenter adjust their length so the tank is leveled

Thanks again, I will keep you informed,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

you could get a stand made up with legs like this

dan76 attached this image:


OH TOLEEDY!

dunno if this is to rudimentary, but what about proping it up on cinder blocks? or somthing of the matter? in enough places to support it saftly obviously....just an idea?

Nick
"Impossumable- unable to play dead"

Sham, meniscus, and to whom it may concern,

A sloped floor is actually not such a big problem. Slopes of up to one inch will not do any damage to your tanks, they just create a less than perfect picture of your tank, in particular when the slope occurs across the length.

On a slope, the ground is still even, but on an angle to the horizontal. The weight of stand and tank are still evenly distributed (well – almost evenly) to the ground. This would not create tension in the glass. My small 29G slopes from back to front, and that’s only 12”, almost 3/4 of an inch.

In extreme slopes, which normally wouldn’t happen, the pressure on the glass from the water weight could cause it to crack. Even extremer slopes could make the tank slide of the stand, or the stand glide over the floor (let me know if you have that situation, I would surely like to see a pic of that tilted house).

In my case, we are talking about uneven floors. This creates the problem that the tank, and to some degree the stand, would be either forced to twist or to bend. That is usually the reason why tanks crack.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

PS: Keith, thanks for the offer, I might get back to you on this one. The problem I see with concrete relates to the keyword “Resell Value”. I am currently talking to a contractor (carpentry) anyway for other stuff, so I will wait to see what he has to offer. Thanks again.

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 10-Aug-2005 13:04

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Sham,
How long have your tanks been like this? Have you seen any long term problems?
My 120 currently slopes forward about 1/2 - 1", and unfortunately it will probably remain like that for about 6 - 12 months (until I move).

LITTLE_FISH

If you do decide to pour a small slab to level the floor this certainly would be the best method and getting a professional in certainly would be wise. Also possible the cheapest and safest in the long term.

The 3/4ins Styrene certainly helps in the heat loss as it acts as an insulator. It also acts in taking up any descripincies in floor and tank support frame and the glass botom. It also acts as a good insulator from any floor virabrations.

Giving an examnple my 11g tank is sitting on my desk it has a 1/2ins between the desk and the solid base and a 1/4ins between the top of the base support and the glass.
These act as an insulatior from los of heat and any virabration from my desk. It also makes the system run extremly quiet.

In my opinion it should be on all tanks to prevent heat loss. My 5ft tank is 2ins from an external solid brick wall, this has the 3ins thick insulation packed between the glass tank back and the brick wall.

I hope this answers you questions if not please contact me I will PM you my E/m

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

im only a small fry when it comes to fish but i,ve been in home repair for 16 years shims are only a temp solution and not a good one at that if you want a good solid base you need to go with a cap of concrete at least 3 inches al you need is a cement mix a wheel barrel and a few 2x4s if you would like more instructions pm me

How far off is ok? I've yet to set a tank on a level floor even at my mom's house that was only 5years old. The 55g was about 3/4-1" off from one end to the other. Now in the apartment the 90g is about 1/2" from the back to the front. I've actually never seen a tank sitting on a 100% level floor.

I would go with the concrete option...if you do the whole floor you can add more tanks later....or just do a rectangle slightly bigger than the tank in the spot where you want it...

Well,

Over the weekend, I cleaned out the space in the basement where I would like to put a
125G ( 72”x18”x22” ) tank. The ground is concrete and there is a cheap wall-to-wall
carpet over it.

By simply sliding my feet over the area for the tank I recognized that the ground is not
even, it seems to be somewhat like this:

______________------________

The high difference doesn’t seem to be much, certainly less than half an inch.

What am I going to do?:%)

I thought about a wooden plate (maybe up to 1” ) but wouldn’t that bend after a while?
Has anyone tried to manipulate the bottom of the tank stand? If so, how?
How about a Styrofoam plate - could it be that this one would simply be more compressed
in the higher area? If so, where would I get a plate of this size?

Any other ideas?

Ingo

PS: Mods - If this should have been in Technical Tinkering, feel free to move it.

Last edited by Little_Fish at 08-Aug-2005 14:58

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

I am having a simmilar problem with my 50g, and my father is trying out a "self-leveling" concrete. Supposedly, you make a wooden base to hold in the concrete, and pour it into that base. The concrete will level itself, creating a base that will even out the floor.(simmilar to what keith said) I'm not sure how cost effective or easy this is, but it will definetly take less time than creating shims every where (too-much-sanding!!!)
Hope this helps

Last edited by fairynr at 09-Aug-2005 11:00

Keith,

Thank you so much for your detailed explanation. I actually don’t have the unit yet, as such I would be flexible (to some degree $$$ ) on what kind of stand I should get.

My assumption was that it would be a “standard” stand and as such have a solid base. To be honest, I didn’t even think that a tank of this size would sit on a stand which has only 4 legs, the pressure on each one of these legs must be tremendous. Guess I will have to go back to the various stores in my area and find out what kind of base the stand has.

Age wise I think I would be old enough to add an additional and even concrete base, but I don’t have the tools (leveler, mixer, and what not) and also prefer to push the responsibility onto a professional in case it breaks or is uneven yet again.

Finally you will certainly require a 3/4ins styrene base under the glass bottom of the tank

I didn’t know that. Would I need the styrene to avoid a loss of heat in the tank? If so, wouldn’t the same apply to all tanks, given that the temperature exchange should be proportional to the surface area?

Thanks again Keith, I really appreciate it. Please be so kind and help me out with the few questions I raised above,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

LITTLE_FISH

Your problem is well passed the shim problem

Technically A "Shim" is a thin piece of material used as a packing piece or a thin washer.

You have not stated weather you have a stand with several legs or a solid base.

If you have legs every leg will have to have a piece of wood prepared to the correct thickness.

If it is a base this will require more work.

Starting from the highest corner to the lowest corner you will have to make a long wedge from zero to the required measurement. You will require several of these it will depend on how the base is made.

There is one other souution. Make a frame and pour another concrete base making sure it is perfectly level this time.

Finally you will certainly require a 3/4ins styrene base under the glass bottom of the tank.

Not knowing your age or practical skills if you can not do these it would be better to get a tradesperson to do the job.

If it is not done correctly a cracked tank and loss of your fish will cost you a lot more than doing all the preperation work corectly..

Keith

Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Tanya,

And what does that mean exactly?

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

WOODEN SHIMS WORK WONDERS..]

72 gallon bowfront:Tanganyikan Lake set up
75 gallon: A. Baenschi trio,Cyanotilapia Afra Cobwe(4), copadichromis trewavase, protomelas sp. tangerine tiger(breeding pair)

Sorry that I created a new post that is similar to the earlier mentioned one.

Nevertheless, I think my problem is a little different as we are talking of a weight of way over 1000 lbs stretched over 6 feet.

Guess I have to be even more concerned.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

That earlier post does have some good info in it. Don't fill the tank if it leans to any one side, this will make the weight distribution uneven and cause the tank to break.

i wouldnt risk it...ull be seting up a huge tank...u need a sturdy even floor. put sumthing lasting(a gud wood or sumting) to support the tank's weight when its all set-up. half an inch is a big deal for that size.

Last edited by tankie at 08-Aug-2005 14:40