help on leveling a 75gal oceanic tank and stand?

[troutman11111]

need help leveling my new tank. i got a 48in L 1inH,5inW strip of this granite waterproof board i put in the front bottom of the stand. now it to high, this stuff only comes in 1inch size.i have padding and rug on the floor. my 30 gal is leaking so i need this fast. i was thinking about the weight of a 75 plus a 15gal refugium undertank in cabnet ,it is 8lbs per gal right? 90x8lbs =720lbs of just water. this would crush down the rug also.

[reefrunner69]

I'm not sure what the problem is. Level the empty tank, fill it with FW, let it sit for a few minutes and see if it still level, if it is add the salt, if not drain and re level. Leveling a tank can be a pain, but it is mostly tedious. You might consider using a couple of pieces of 1/2" plywood cut to the size of your stand minus the 5" in width.

[Anemoneman]

I would not shim the tank. A 1" shim is huge. You will end up not having any support on the sides and undue stress applied. Try shimming the stand instead if your floor is that far out of plumb. Get door/window shims and try to level the stand with those. Nail them to the bottom of the stand when you have found the right combination of shims.

Mark

[clownfish]

Agree. Shim the stand, not the tank. But if you are on a rug. You should first try moving it around a little and be sure it is seated on the rug properly and then check for level.

[troutman11111]

thanks 's shims where not even thought of. someone mentioned cedar shingles, ever heard of them, i havent?

[targaboy78]

Hi troutman11111,

You will find cedar shingles in the roofing material section of your local 'Home Depot' or lumber yard.

They are what roofs were covered with 'back in the day'. A buddy of mine installs kitchen cabinets and he uses them as shims all the time.

I hope this helps.

[troutman11111]

thanks to all. your help is appreciated walt.

[troutman11111]

hi just to let you now i got 10in long shims at homedepot. the cedar shingles looked like crap,all broken up. tank is level.

[Bearfan]

By the way, you need to figure at least 12#/gal. You need to take into account the glass, stand, rock, sand, and even the fish. The water by itself is about 8.5#/gal. A 90 gal aquarium averages about 1050#, which is 11.6#/gal.

On this note, placing an aquarium against a load bearing wall (typically your exterior wall) is a better choice unless you're on a concrete slab since as you move the weight farther from the load bearing members you increase the shear value on the joists. Most well built houses do not have to worry about anything under 50 gallons, but you could be doing damage to floor joists if you spread load 1000# on a 2x10 or 2x12. This would vary depending on the number of joists you span the load across, but spaning it horizontal to a single joist would cause excessive deflection. There are calculations to all of this that I will not get into, just better to typically play it safe.

[troutman11111]

thanks bearfan,i added for 10lb per gal+150lbs sand + tank and gear. my 20 gal refugium. total 1200 i put 3 2x4s under in basement. it goes over two big beams, concrete wall back side.