Uneven stand, any suggestions?

Macdaddynick1 · May 31, 2016

Hi All!

I made a new wooden cabinet/stand for my 65 gallon tank.

One flaw I made in the stand is that the plywood on the top that I will place the tank on is a bit concave in the middle. (I think the plywood was a bit warped). Thus, the four corners of the tank rest on the wood stand, but thats about it.

In the middle of the tank at the back, there is about a millimeter (thickness of a quarter) between the tank and the wood. At the front in the middle, it's a bit more severe - maybe an eighth of an inch between the wood and the tank.

Luckily the tank is acrylic , and I've seen acrylic tanks full of water hanging off of the stand before. That being said , i am looking for a solution , would a half inch styrofoam sheet help in my case? or should i look into another option?

jsker · May 31, 2016

What is the structure of the cabinet? A picture or two would help out a lot

Irsug1 · May 31, 2016

Look into neoprene foam pads.

Macdaddynick1 · May 31, 2016

this is the frame, except that I added 2 2x4 in the middle after I took that shot. So it's structurally sound except that it's a little uneven at the top,

Lowell Lemon · May 31, 2016

I would use the foam or neoprene pad for sure. Acrylic adsorbs about 2% water into the sheet allowing the bottom to deform eventually. Therefore the best practice is to support the entire bottom for long term use. Also a little known fact is that acrylic sheet is not dimensionally stable...that means that the outside material maybe thicker than the center of the acrylic bottom panel and thus a small space is showing between the tank and stand. Usually the edges of a 4' x 8" sheet are thicker than the middle due to the cell cast manufacturing process but sometimes it vares from one end of the sheet to the other. Just a fun fact that will not compromise the structure of the tank long term.

Looks great.

Macdaddynick1 · May 31, 2016

Irsug1 said:
Look into neoprene foam pads.

Completely forgot about that. I think my lfs sells those.

CodyRVA · May 31, 2016

+1 on neoprene foam. I built my own stand and placed some foamular insulation sheathing down first, then put the neoprene on top, worked great.

zemuss · May 31, 2016

I assume this tank is frameless? Then a neoprene and foam would work. If i understand it correctly the framed tanks cannot use foam because it would apply pressure in the middle?

glb · May 31, 2016

zemuss said:
I assume this tank is frameless? Then a neoprene and foam would work. If i understand it correctly the framed tanks cannot use foam because it would apply pressure in the middle?

That is correct. Framed tanks shouldn't have foam. The entire weight of the tank rests on the frame.

Jamesfl · May 31, 2016

What do you mean by frameless? Are you saying it is frameless because of the plywood on top so it isn't sitting directly in the 2x4's? Sorry if it seems like a dumb question because my stand is basically the same and I want to put foam on the plywood just to ensure everything is level.

zemuss · May 31, 2016

The Tank is frameless not the stand. Your stand is very well built.

Jamesfl · May 31, 2016

zemuss said:
The Tank is frameless not the stand. Your stand is very well built.

After I read this I was like oh yeah that makes more sense lol. Thank you.

Lowell Lemon · May 31, 2016

It is funny how so much confusion is created when experts make suggestions without reading the thread first. The tank is acrylic and I need not say more.

Regards