leveling a tank

[Mike L]

 I am setting up a 55 gallon tank that will be going in my basement. It is on a wooden stand made for the tank. There is roughly a 3/8 slant over the 4 feet left to right and the 1 foot front to back as well  Stand has top slab/bottom slab joined by 4 vertical pieces. I have put shims as needed under each vertical area along the floor assuming that this will be the pressure points. Is this sufficient or should I place more shims for support. I'm using 1" composite but now think maybe wider shims should be used to more evenly distribute the weight but I can only find cedar shim that are wide and I'm not sure they will handle the weight as well. Maybe just more 1" shims?. Any ideas.
Regards Mike

[exv152]

This topic comes up a lot in other forums. I always strive to have the tank as even as possible as it causes undue stress on the tank joints over time. I've never heard of a tank seam bursting due to the fact the tank was uneven, but I like to play safe. Cedar should work fine.

[Stussi613]

I just built a new stand (72" long) and I went to Dollarama and bought 4 packs of furniture felt (biggest one they had) then cut them into strips and put them on the bottom of the stand - it does a great job of protecting my floors, but it's just thin enough that it accounts for any shifts in the floor by compressing where needed - and you could still shim where you need to if required.

[fischkopp]

Levelled tanks a must, even if it's just piece in mind.

Check the picture below - I used 4" aluminium shims of various thickness to level my 180 on four points. A 55 gal isn't all that heavy, so gut feeling tells me that you will be good with something in the 1-2" range. I don't like to use wood. If it gets wet - and it will - the weight of the tank will deforms the shims and over time the tank won't be level no more. Scrap metal pieces are great.

[Mike L]

 Thanks all. I'm using composite shims. They are impervious to water. My biggest concern is that the bottom panel is one sheet of wood so when I shim to level not all parts of the base slab will be in contact with the floor. I'm going to use a whole series of shims around the perimeter spaced every 6"

[fischkopp]

You could also just reinforce the four corners of the stand, say with a 2x2 or 4x4 piece of something stable.

[Mike L]

 No mater what I do with the shims the stand wants to twist when weight is on it causing the upper surface to lose contact with some of the underside of the tank. At this point I'm inclined to live with the unleveled tank Going to have to think on this for a bit

[bitterman]

No mater what I do with the shims the stand wants to twist when weight is on it causing the upper surface to lose contact with some of the underside of the tank. At this point I'm inclined to live with the unleveled tank Going to have to think on this for a bit

The problem your having is normal... Pick your highest corner, then level the tank stand front to back, and side to side. Remember you need to have the whole bottom of the tank on a single flat plane. If things are twisting..... you are risking bursting your tank.... Its very very important that you resolve things.

This video might give you a better idea

[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ts_Jb8WJJfw[/embed]

One thing he does wrong.... is shim at the support/corners of the stand.

Bruce

[lucius]

No mater what I do with the shims the stand wants to twist when weight is on it causing the upper surface to lose contact with some of the underside of the tank. At this point I'm inclined to live with the unleveled tank Going to have to think on this for a bit

Maybe put a piece of foam in between?