How to properly level tank/stand - 3/4 inch difference

[Bear Necessities]

Hello!

TL;DR - Worried about leveling my tank. It's 3/4 difference front to back. Need to raise the front by 3/4 in. Shims look ugly, worried about the stand long term and if this could damage/break anything.

I am wrapping up my 125G build: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bears-125g-build-a-year-in-the-planning.341627/

Below you can see a picture of where it's placed in my house. I knew the room it's in was not the most level however when using a level I can see that length wise it's fine. (side to side) but front to back it's off by about 3/4 of an inch. I have only a few shims but it took a stack of 3 to make a difference. If I raise the front of it by 3/4 in the tank is then leveled off.

My question/worry is what effect will this have long term on the stand? I am worried about it supporting pressure in those areas and how the center of the stand will be effected with that much weight. I can spread out stacks of the shims (most likely would wood glue stacks of 3 together) so they don't slip out or anything like that. I am not sure of any alternatives unless maybe get some plywood cut to size and then some how cut to have a slope? so that it's 3/4 in the front and then bottomed out in the back. I can use some neoprene foam to probably keep it all in place. Also if I use shims I can very clearly see them and that the stand is being lifted up in the front. I could also just use a piece of wood that is as long as the tank stand and 3/4in thick and I could paint it white or use some kinda of molding to make it look more pleasing.

Any ideas and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brew12]

Hello!

TL;DR - Worried about leveling my tank. It's 3/4 difference front to back. Need to raise the front by 3/4 in. Shims look ugly, worried about the stand long term and if this could damage/break anything.

I am wrapping up my 125G build: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/bears-125g-build-a-year-in-the-planning.341627/

Below you can see a picture of where it's placed in my house. I knew the room it's in was not the most level however when using a level I can see that length wise it's fine. (side to side) but front to back it's off by about 3/4 of an inch. I have only a few shims but it took a stack of 3 to make a difference. If I raise the front of it by 3/4 in the tank is then leveled off.

My question/worry is what effect will this have long term on the stand? I am worried about it supporting pressure in those areas and how the center of the stand will be effected with that much weight. I can spread out stacks of the shims (most likely would wood glue stacks of 3 together) so they don't slip out or anything like that. I am not sure of any alternatives unless maybe get some plywood cut to size and then some how cut to have a slope? so that it's 3/4 in the front and then bottomed out in the back. I can use some neoprene foam to probably keep it all in place. Also if I use shims I can very clearly see them and that the stand is being lifted up in the front. I could also just use a piece of wood that is as long as the tank stand and 3/4in thick and I could paint it white or use some kinda of molding to make it look more pleasing.

Any ideas and thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

What kind of structure is it sitting on? Is it a concrete slab? If not, I feel like you need to go under the tank and look at the floor supports. I would worry about putting a large tank on a floor that is warped that badly.

 

[five.five-six]

Yes, are you on slab or raised foundation?

 

[Bear Necessities]

What kind of structure is it sitting on? Is it a concrete slab? If not, I feel like you need to go under the tank and look at the floor supports. I would worry about putting a large tank on a floor that is warped that badly.

It's over a basement. The house at one point had foundation issues so the entire house has this issue. We recently just re-finished the basement and that specific area where the tank is has several supporting walls under it. I am not that worried about it caving in or anything. I think it's well supported from under, that is. There are metal braces all along the foundation as well. It's an old ranch and has various support beams that span the entire length of the house and pillars in the basement.

I was worried about that too but less so after we redid the basement this past year.

 

[five.five-six]

I’d jack it up to level and add posts on the two low corners. To know if your new walls will do anything at all you have to know if they are load bearing walls and that should be on the blueprints. Your setup will weigh in excess of 2,000 pounds when full

 

[Bear Necessities]

I’d jack it up to level and add posts on the two low corners. To know if your new walls will do anything at all you have to know if they are load bearing walls and that should be on the blueprints. Your setup will weigh in excess of 2,000 pounds when full

They are load bearing. Again I am not worried about the weight in terms of the floor/supports/house. I just want to get input on the best method of leveling the tank.

 

[five.five-six]

Just go pick up a 6’ strip of 3/4” plywood from whatever hardware store or lumber yard from their cull pile. Should cost less than $5 and put it under the front edge of your stand.

 

[Brew12]

They are load bearing. Again I am not worried about the weight in terms of the floor/supports/house. I just want to get input on the best method of leveling the tank.

Excellent! Glad you looked into this.

Just go pick up a 6’ strip of 3/4” plywood from whatever hardware store or lumber yard from their cull pile. Should cost less than $5 and put it under the front edge of your stand.

This is a great idea. Or, you can pick up a 3/4" thick piece of 1 1/2" wide oak from Home Depot/Lowes and waterproof it.

I would pull the bottom trim off the tank, clean up the area where it meets, and then re-install it flush with the floor. If you are good with angles you can trim the side boards to match the slope of the floor and keep everything flush and level at the top edge.

If pulling the stand out to do some wood working isn't an option, you can attach some floor molding around the base of the stand and paint it to match. That way you have a seamless transition from tank to floor.

 

[five.five-six]

You could just get some 1/4 round stock to finish it off and to get really fancy miter the corners


Happy reefing and may the odds be ever in your favor.

 

[Bear Necessities]

Love all these ideas. It's exactly what I was looking for. Thank you! I will try one of these methods and see what works best. I am not the best with many handy/DIY projects but I managed to get this far so I am sure I can figure it out. Ill update when I get it done. Thanks again!

 

[fache98]

I know of people that used styrofoam board under the entire tank to self level including my self. This is what i did to level mine off, although not sure about 3/4” but I’m sure if The styrofoam board is thick enough it should work. Just make sure it is the white styrofoam board and not the blue or pink insulation board.

 

[Doclight]

I used the strips .. 1.50 a pack at home depot.. But my tank was only 1/4" or less off...

 

[ca1ore]

I had exactly the same problem. Floors are solid and supported, but the middle of the tank is almost an inch higher than the left end and about 1\2" higher than the right end. Rather than stacking shims, I simply cut some 1/2 and 3/4" stock and shimmed as necessary from there. I did this every six inches so that the stand was properly supported around the entire perimeter.

Jacking the floor is a possibility, though in my case it would have cracked a tiled floor so I left it alone.

 

[Bear Necessities]

So I had some spare 1 x 4 boards I still need to do the sides but. So far so good. I am going to cut a few smaller ieces for the sides but I think this will work like a charm. Do I need to support the center of the stand? or should the perimeters be enough?

The level is not perfect but it was all the way to the left before. This is a vast improvement.

 

[Brew12]

I would get some shim packs and try to make it closer to perfect. It may not seem off by much but you are talking about a tank that will weigh almost 1 ton. You want that force as straight down as possible.

 

[Bear Necessities]

I would get some shim packs and try to make it closer to perfect. It may not seem off by much but you are talking about a tank that will weigh almost 1 ton. You want that force as straight down as possible.

I can do that, I may need to get in the back as well a little. You make a very good point and I don't want to take any chances.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

3/4 off from front to back seems fishy even for a reef tank. Do you have a smaller level like a 16 inch that you can put inside the tank to remeasure front to back?. I’m just curious if something else isn’t square in this situation

 

[Bear Necessities]

So on the top of the tank it's much more noticeable. Less so on the top of the stand, but very much still an issue, Then the stand base (inside) I notice nothing. It gets worse as you get higher up. It's the same in all four corners of the tank and in the center. I am curious on your thoughts though.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Okay then it’s definitely leaning. What your noticing is the difference gradually getting worst for example if a 10 ft wall is off 1/4 with a one foot level it’s safe to say the wall is a total of 2 1/2 inches off over 10ft