The Bumpy Floor Dilemma

[Rokuzachi]

Hi guys,
I’ve run into a leveling problem that I’ve not had to deal with before. The floor is quite literally ‘lumpy’. I’ve leveled tanks that had a uniform slant this way or that, but never had to deal with a floor that had various high and low points in the area. The stand is for a Deep Sea Aquatics 100g, approx. 60x18.5x20. It’s made out of some solid wood and a lot of thick ply wood. The problem is that some parts of the tank are slightly off the stand while others touch. Here’s about how it sits now, with the red lines denoting the areas that aren’t touching the stand;

The tank is a bit unusual (Oceanview by Deep Sea Aquatics) compared to a standard brand and it has a very thick and beveled plastic rim on the bottom. I tried to shim up one of the corners when I first got the tank into the house, but doing so only reversed the situation (the opposite corner was no longer touching while the shimmed one was). Trying to shim the newly raised corner just put me back at square 1. Overall the tank and stand seem very well made. The bottom is a very thick piece of plywood that the stand sits upon. The tank itself is pretty thick glass. (DSA is run by people who were part of Oceanic)



I’m really stumped and stressed over this. I have to get my old aquarium broken down and out of my old apartment this coming weekend so I need to get this thing ready to hold water by then. What's the best way to fix this so I don't have to worry about the tank breaking? Should I just put shims all up in this thing until the stand touches all around? Thanks for your help

 

[abstract373]

did you try to scribe it with a compass to the floor so you know the shape that has to be trimmed or shimm the crap out of it and if it looks bad make a base frame to cover it

 

[Rokuzachi]

I have to shim it, I have no access to tools or a place to use them

My conundrum, after measuring... is that the tank is extremely close to being level. At the top, one end sits at 49 1/2 inches. The other end, 49 7/16 inches. (tank is 60.5" long)

The problem is that the tank isn't touching the stand. It seems like when I shim one edge, it throws everything else out of whack. At this point I'm just trying to get the stand to contact it uniformly since apparently the tank sits pretty level while empty.

I've managed to shim it to where gap is less than the thickness of a credit card where it doesn't touch, and I contacted DSA and they said that the gap was "not uncommon and of no concern" in regards to the thickness of it. It just seems like no matter what I do, I can't get the tank and stand to touch uniformly.

 

[creic38]

Just a thought, and this might be totally dumb, but what the heck. Maybe try shimming the stand itself? Shim the corner where the gap is and maybe the weight of the stand will even it out? Like I said, maybe dumb, but I have no idea what the construction/weight of the stand is like.

 

[creic38]

Dang it......just reread your post an you did that already. I thought you were shimming the tank. My bad.....I'm tired!

 

[Rokuzachi]

Yea, I don't know what's going on with this thing!

As far as the construction goes, it's a thick ply frame and body (3/4") with some kind of hard wood trim on the top and bottom edges. The stand is enclosed save for two large access holes in the back. It also seems to sit on the bottom panel of ply, and has a brace across the center that looks like a 2x4. I shim one end and the gap disappears or becomes too small to even fit a business card in. But then the other end, that used to be fine, now has a gap. I think the stand might be uneven on top and high in the center?

Anyways, here's a couple of pics from my phone;

 

[Rokuzachi]

One more pic:

I'm not sure if its the stand or a bump in the floor that's causing the unevenness. I moved it around a little and now all 4 corners of the tank are pretty well the exact same height according to my measuring tape + eyeball. But its still not touching the stand evenly

 

[echoDreamz]

I had a similar issue. I got it the best I could, once the water was added it is was the only maybe a 16th off. Ours is one end is very slightly taller. Still annoys me, but better than it was.

 

[Rokuzachi]

Yea, my 56g is about 1/8th off from one end to the other. Same with my 40g. At least their slant is uniform though.

I messed with the stand some more, right now 3 corners sit at 76.2 cm from the floor, and one corner at 76.1 cm. The tank still doesn't touch all the way around though. I'm getting more and more convinced that the problem lies with extruded plastic frame of the tank itself. I could swear that when I get down and look, there's a slight bow to the plastic on the bottom. I lined up a straight edge along the stand and it looks straight, even in the middle where I thought it was bowed up. But the plastic tank frame looks like it's bowed downwards a few millimeters in the center and throwing everything off.

I swear, I can never just buy a tank and set it up. There's always some annoying ordeal I have to go through first!

 

[friscuba]

From the picture it appears there are gaps between the stand and tank. Seems to me your first issue is either the stand or the tank itself, not the floor. If the stand is rigid and has any strength to it. assuming it has a level top and the bottom of the tank frame is also level, they should meet when the tank is empty no matter how "lumpy" the floor is... with water in the tank that would be another issue all together because of the added weight/pressure.

I'd take a straight edge to the top of that stand to see if it's straight and not bowed, if it is then take the straight edge to the bottom frame of the tank where it would meet the stand to see if it's the problem.

If the floor is lumpy, uneven or out of level, your real issues will show when that tank has water in it. I've no idea how tolerant tanks are of uneven support, it could be a real issue, then again it might not be.

 

[Rokuzachi]

First thing I do tonight when I get home is going to be taking my big level to the thing again. I'm convinced it's not a problem with the floor now - not only is the entire bottom a thick sheet of ply, but the stand is touching the floor all the way around and doesn't rock. I can't even force a shim under it now without lifting the stand to get it under there initially.

I don't think I've ever had to deal with a warped plastic molding on a tank before, if that's the case.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Some sandpaper should take care of it. Just mark the areas that are touching and sand them down a little at a time until it's all touching. It's likely, however, that once you fill it up, it'll touch everywhere, without having any issues.

 

[Rokuzachi]

I put in some eyedrops, got out my level and straight edge, and I can confirm that it's definitely the plastic molding on the tank that has a slight curve to it. I feel like I've wasted days messing with the stand that would just not have me shimming it. Time to put a little water in it and see what happens.

It's the same brand tank as the stand and I've not voided the warranty as far as I know. And I have renters insurance enough to cover my potential disaster

I'm going to laugh if in the end it was me being extremely paranoid all over again.

 

[abstract373]

Maybe get some foam rubber to put inbetween so it self levels

 

[Rokuzachi]

Filled it up and measured a bit ago. One corner was 1/16th lower than the rest so I'm going to drain it and put in a minimal shim around that corner.

Once it was full most of the tank touched the stand; around all 4 corners, the whole back and all but a few little gaps in the front. Once I get the corner taken care of the tank will have a little less than 3/16" slant to the right. I believe the right front sag is being caused by a small depression. It's not very noticeable since it's a 5' tank, and I'm usually pretty good about keeping the water level hidden behind the molding

Thanks everyone for the help. If the leak test goes well my fish will be happily moved in from their 56g by Sunday. Fingers crossed!

 

[Rokuzachi]

Hah, by 6am, two fills and drains later... I have to bring the back corner up by 1/16th and then the top of my stand will be even all around when the thing is full. Good thing my water bill is shared with the entire apartment complex

 

[Rokuzachi]

Whew. I'm so happy it's friday!

Filled it up again with the new adjustments plus a few extra support shims in places that had a slight gap under the stand that I didn't notice before. Across the 60" length, it's 1/8th off. Front to back, I can't detect any disparity with a straight edge/level, tape measure or my eyes. The only disparities left are a few gaps here and there, but most of them are so thin I can't even get a post it note to slide between there. Well, that and the slightly off plastic molding. There's a few spots where it's easy to tell it's out of whack - the apex of one corner is upturned slightly, and no matter how hard I shim that corner of the stand there's always a gap. I've shimmed it so much that it's thrown the rest of the tank out of balance, and still no luck. So it's just gonna have to exist!

Time to let it soak until Sunday!