Still having stand leveling issues.

[randymon]

So I finally had time to completley empty my tank friday, and re leveled the bottom of the stand with shims ,filled it back up and now I notice that both the rear back corners are not flush with the plywood top. Each side is not touching exactly level for about an inch. Everywhere else is nice and planar. I stuffed some foam in there for now, but is there an easier or better solution? Im about ready to give up....Just kidding..please help!

[GoinSalt]

Is it possible to shin up the top of the stand? That's what I had to do - put shins between the top piece of plywood and the stand frame.

[randymon]

If I could figure out a way to hammer with only 3 inches of room I could get a shim underneath the plywood. Tryed some but couldnt get enough swing force to do anything. I even tryed accessing from underneath the stand but cant get to the area that isnt flush as I have 4 2x6s in each corner. I am not worried about the stand giving cuz it is built solid, just the integrity of th aquarium. Does anybody know of any kind of squirt in type wood filler that would harden and work, or mabey a thicker foam, cardboard, or somthing I could squeeze in there? The gaps are only mabey an inch or less on each corner and only go in mabey 1/2 inch.

[Reefland]

It sounds like the issue is that the floor is weak and when the weight of the tank is added it causes bowing and therefore the stand to be unlevel. If you are leveling it before the tank is added and then it is coming unlevel after the weight is added, that is the only thing it could be. Therefore, is it possible to reinforce the floor?

[randymon]

Not the problem, the floor is fine, no sagging, just want to know what to do with the corners and how dangerous is this.

[randymon]

I guess my question is if there is any element for imperfection built into todays tanks. 99.9% of the tank is now perfectly level and planar. Its just the 0.1% thats not. Could I push some styrafoam in the gap and probably be ok?

[Reefland]

I don't mean to beat a dead horse here but...

You said that the stand was perfectly level and then when you added the tank with water on it, it went unlevel. If this is the case then one would expect that the floor has given in a bit and allowed the stand to go unlevel?

[randymon]

Sorry I didnt clarify. The rear corner issue was there from the begining, I just hadnt noticed it.

[tray262]

can you show a picture, I'm having a hard time visualizing the issue. But if we are taking an 1" gap, my you can use a stack of pennies ? I don't think any sort of squirt in will be good enough. You could make some wood paste and maybe use that. But nothing will be as good as a solid filler. If you wanna use the wood paste take a 2x and make a couple cuts of scraps collect the saw dust, mix 1 part glue one part sawdust, then and more sawdust till a thick paste. Then push that in, but I think with a 1"x 1/2" hole that will not but good enough, that's why I recommened the penny's poor man's shims.

[tray262]

Also how thick is the plywood top ? 3/4" and what are the messurements of the gap ? we know 1" wide X 1/2" tall, but how deep ? 3/4" plywood is very strong if the gap is not the big, footprint wise, I would almost say shim it with anything solid, no foam, that's a waste. you could also use some flashpatch with a concrete type product aka floor leveler. it is rated to hold like 2000psi, when on solid base, so that is WAY more then needed. I would say post a pic of the probolem area. with something to reference scale a dollar in the pic, post that and maybe I can give better advise.

[randymon]

Tryed posting a pic, but I have never tryed it before so it didnt work, and speaking of work I need to get going but will try posting the pics again in the morning. IN the meantime here is a description of one of the pics that might help out with a visual of the problem. The pic was of the right rear lower corner of my 125. A penny laying flat is slid under the said gap and it wont go in all the way. I also could not fit another penny on top of this penny or anything else next to it. That is aprox. the whole gap. 1 penny laying flat. . The left rear corner is about the same but probably smaller. The rest of the frame is sitting planar and level. Hope this helps, thanks everyone for all their help so far.

[GoinSalt]

Maybe you can try those shims you use to shim out door frames. Get them at Home Depot, Lowes, etc. They're little wedges that you push/pound into the space. Try filling your tank and pounding a shim in there? They're thicker than a penny but they should be long enough to get a hammer to them to get them in the space nice and tight. Once you get it in there, break/saw off the excess shim.

Nate

[randymon]

Ok, I tryed again to post a pic following some info I looked up in the how to post pics thread, but it is telling me my file @ 1.23 megabites exceeds the limit. Is there a way to decrease the file size? The camera is a Nikon d50.

[tray262]

if you are using window xp you can go into the picture editor and go to the size opion up top and reduce by 50%width and 50% height. I would try that. if you have pre-XP, ummm, nevermind. lol. j/k you can send the picture to my email. trayjunk @ yahoo.com no spaces and I could resize and post.