Level stand before fill

Aparker2005 · Apr 3, 2021

Hey guys, before we begin to fill our 75, thought I'd see what everyone thinks. This is our front to back amount of being in unlevel. Our floor is the issue, so we got some shims.

This is a Marineland majesty pine stand. Left to right, it's level. Would throwing some shims on the front of the stand help? I've seen where Marineland says any shims voids their warranty, and that shimming makes the issue worse and can also cause failure.

Our 125 isn't level from left to right and it's been up for 6 years.

Thanks!

threebuoys · Apr 3, 2021

That is off quite a bit. I would be uncomfortable with that in my house. Does the stand rest on 4 legs or does it have cross-members that touch the floor for the entire span?

If the stand has 4 legs, I would shim between the legs and the floor. If the cross-member spans and contact the floor, you may have to be more careful making sure you are distributing the weight evenly so the stand is not compromised..

Aparker2005 · Apr 3, 2021

This is the stand. It has wood across the bottom touching all 4 legs. I figured we should shim the corners, and then evenly distribute them from the middle and in between?

Usually I'd just fill and go, but being in the living room this time, I'm driving myself crazy over thinking it's going to have an issue. This is the only place left we can put the tank.

threebuoys · Apr 3, 2021

Inspect the inside and beneath the stand to see if you have any kind of posts for the 4 corners that would be the primary structural component to support the weight. The cross-member may just be decorative molding and shimming the appropriate corners would be adequate.

GaryE · Apr 3, 2021

I have that stand on two tanks. Both are shimmed on the corners and middle. No issues in the last year.

Sleepydoc · Apr 3, 2021

I used to have the same stand. Like @GaryE said, all the weight is on the two corner posts and possible some in the middle. I’d vote for shimming as well.

I’m not sure how important the middle brace really is. When I built a new stand for my marine land 120 I was very careful to make sure the top was flat. Once I got the tank up on the stand I noticed a small (~1/32”) gap under the middle of the stand. I rechecked my stand and realized it was my tank that wasn’t flat! The corners were all flat/coplanar, so I went with it and haven’t had a problem in 7 years. I’d still shim it but the corners are the most important.