Gap in Stand - Am I Overreacting?

Tuffyyyyy · Feb 4, 2020

Hey Everyone,

I finally got my SCA 120 aquarium up on the stand the other day and saw some gaps. Originally I was freaking out and I’ve been researching solutions nonstop. but tonight I kind of took a step back, and now I’m thinking it’ll be fine if I add a leveling mat.

I ran a piece of paper around the edges of the tank and took pictures of whereI could fit the paper. It’s not a huge gap, I had to work to get it to slide in that far. What are your thoughts? I was also working on putting wooden shims in under the 1” piece but now kind of rethinking that.

right now I’m running with the idea of doing a leveling mat and then maybe some aluminum flashing squares anywhere that’s not perfect.

jwilliams860 · Feb 4, 2020

Yes get a foam mat off amazon and you should be fine

ZoWhat · Feb 4, 2020

Empty tank?

My guess once you get the full weight of water in the tank.... those gaps will change as the tank is not rigid and will micro-flex filling up those 0.1mm gaps of paper thickness

Don't over think this

fishguy242 · Feb 4, 2020

get the mat dont take the chance

Tuffyyyyy · Feb 4, 2020

Thank you both for the responses. I cracked this tank because I was dumb, and now I have to buy another one, so I guess now because of my mistake I’m being overly cautious.

fishguy242 · Feb 4, 2020

what a bummer sorry to hear

W1ngz · Feb 4, 2020

Even if there were no gaps you should use some foam to help smooth out any imperfections in the wood. Over time, a pressure point between the wood surface and bottom glass could cause a failure.

sp1187 · Feb 4, 2020

pink foam insulation.
home depot or lowes.

Scrubber_steve · Feb 4, 2020

White Styrofoam sheet. Is that out of fashion?

ReeferSteve · Feb 4, 2020

I second the foam.

What will you be doing with the cracked tank?

sp1187 · Feb 4, 2020

Scrubber_steve said:
White Styrofoam sheet. Is that out of fashion?

can you get that in sheets? can't remember ever seeing it.

Scrubber_steve · Feb 4, 2020

sp1187 said:
can you get that in sheets? can't remember ever seeing it.

yes, cut to size & in different thicknesses

ZoWhat · Feb 4, 2020

fishguy242 said:
get the mat dont take the chance

Yes.... best to get a Matt

fishguy242 · Feb 4, 2020

c'mon skimjim waiting to see your tank

nereefpat · Feb 4, 2020

What does SCA say?

Generally, rimless tanks have the bottom panel on the bottom and should have foam. Rimmed tanks should NOT have foam, because of the floating bottom, and all weight should be on the rim (outside).

Vincent Azzano · Feb 5, 2020

Tuffyyyyy said:
Hey Everyone,

I finally got my SCA 120 aquarium up on the stand the other day and saw some gaps. Originally I was freaking out and I’ve been researching solutions nonstop. but tonight I kind of took a step back, and now I’m thinking it’ll be fine if I add a leveling mat.

I ran a piece of paper around the edges of the tank and took pictures of whereI could fit the paper. It’s not a huge gap, I had to work to get it to slide in that far. What are your thoughts? I was also working on putting wooden shims in under the 1” piece but now kind of rethinking that.

right now I’m running with the idea of doing a leveling mat and then maybe some aluminum flashing squares anywhere that’s not perfect.

Should be an easy fix just get a foam mattress under and fill the gap you should be fine

Alan_J_MN · Feb 5, 2020

That sucks. Your tank should have come with a polystyrene foam base. It is about 1/8 thick with black coating on both sides. You might not have recognized what it was for because there are no instructions with the tank. There is an awesome SCA Facebook group which is a good resource for setting up these tanks. That is where I found out about the poly sheet before mine arrived.
I am still setting up my new SCA 90, but I’m planning to use a 1/4” yoga mat instead of the polystyrene that came with it.

Octocat · Feb 5, 2020

nereefpat said:
What does SCA say?

Generally, rimless tanks have the bottom panel on the bottom and should have foam. Rimmed tanks should NOT have foam, because of the floating bottom, and all weight should be on the rim (outside).

I asked SCA about this when I setup my tank. Here is their exact response:

"Since the tank is rimless without anything metal rim to support them, you do the a ¾” thick plywood and a 1/8” thick foam to level the tank."