leveling stand questions

[ECFENCING]

Hey everyone:

seeking advice on whether I can keep an ADA 60p tank on my counter top 24 x 12 x 14 high roughly 17.4 gallons. The counter top is a formica kitchen counter top that is screwed into 2 x 4's to the wall behind the counter. The tank would go directly on top of the steel filing cabinet. I shimmed it with 3/8" plywood to remove any gaps. However I can not get this level unless I unscrew the counter from the wall behind it and make it completely level. The counter is 12 feet long so I'm not leveling this by myself. Any amount of shimming I think is not productive. So I think I am off to get a stand since I found one locally built out of 2x4's . I can shim the bottom of a stand on my basement floor easily and make it level but making the counter top level is difficult without removing the entire counter top and starting over. Opinions welcomed. Thanks in advance.

I would like to have the tank on the counter but if it is going to compromise the integrity of the tank I'll set it up elsewhere.

In any case here are the pics of the level

Front to back

Side to Side

Underneath#1

Underneath#2

 

[thirty5]

And you dont want to shim the tank? I would not take the cabinets apart and level the entire countertop just for the tank. Why not just shim the actual tank?? Maybe make a very small box for the tank to sit on and then you can build it level for the counter top.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

i like thirty5's idea. make it like a platform and shim that.

 

[ECFENCING]

Thanks thirty5 and tomtoothdoc. the problem is that the counter is fixed and there is not much give in the counter. A little but not enough to actually get it straight dead on-center.

I think I will set up the tank somewhere else. For now I'll just place it on my counter until I pick up a stand.

So how about a piece of plywood under the tank and shim that for the tank to sit on?

Here are some pics:

Question: You can see that the left side is raised up now. Do I place the shims all the way around the entire piece of plywood so that it evenly touches the shims ?

I think the composite wood shims are much better since you can snap them easily

I think that is a great idea thirty5. I am going to cut that piece of plywood to fit the dimensions of the tank. What thickness ply would you use? The ply that I have is 3/8"

I'm also placing some foam on top of the ply for the tank to sit on.

 

[thirty5]

That is what I said .
Make a platform for the tank to put on the counter. Go back and read what I said

LOL

 

[ECFENCING]

Thanks. Can't read on 4 hours sleep. Well I can't read period. Plywood, box, platform they are all foreign to me. Thanks for the idea. This will work.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

Thanks. Can't read on 4 hours sleep. Well I can't read period. Plywood, box, platform they are all foreign to me. Thanks for the idea. This will work.

lol....step back and take a deep breath and think of hooters. hooters always wake a man up....lol.

yes plywood, platform, box frame....however you want to do it. i suggested a platform so you can paint it to match the tank/counter/decor/etc.

 

[jrobbins]

You sure the foam/plywood/shims on the countertop is the look you are going for? It will totally work it just is going to look kind of junky I think.

The only thing I would think about is that a Formica/particle board counter isn't super strong, and you will have about 140lbs sitting on 2sqft. Also, since it is small it could sit on the counter in such a way that there would be no wood beams under it to help support it, just the Formica and plywood. I don't think it's a huge concern, but it might worry me until someone smarter told me it was ok.

 

[thirty5]

That counter top will not be an issue to support the weight, I would not be worried about that. But if a small platform is built then it can be painted even black to give a little more decorative look. You would not see any shims or anything, if the platform is BUILT level.

 

[tomtoothdoc]

You sure the foam/plywood/shims on the countertop is the look you are going for? It will totally work it just is going to look kind of junky I think.

The only thing I would think about is that a Formica/particle board counter isn't super strong, and you will have about 140lbs sitting on 2sqft. Also, since it is small it could sit on the counter in such a way that there would be no wood beams under it to help support it, just the Formica and plywood. I don't think it's a huge concern, but it might worry me until someone smarter told me it was ok.

from what i see on the level, it's not that bad perhaps just the foam may level it out. i may even have some black foam from costco left for you to try it out.

i think the formica counter top is plenty strong....i have stood on one to get access to the high hats in the ceiling. and i'm way more than 140lbs......lol.

 

[Jimjim]

be VERY careful, about 2 years ago, I had a 75 gallons in my basement and after it was filled with rocks, sand and water it was a little off, it was leveled before. I asked the installler and he said that probably the shims had been cmpacted with the weight.
I continue with the set up filled it with very expensive fishes and not so expensive corals. On my way home on a Saturday afternoon, my son called me that the tank was leaking, I got home on 1 hour a crack from middle to about 6 inches to the bottom of the tank. I lost all my fishes, corals everything as we were going on vacation that evening.
BE VERY CAREFUL

 

[ECFENCING]

That counter top will not be an issue to support the weight, I would not be worried about that. But if a small platform is built then it can be painted even black to give a little more decorative look. You would not see any shims or anything, if the platform is BUILT level.

Thanks. That's just what I did. I painted the platform black. You can't see the shims since they are black as well. I probably should have left it the way it was. Feel more comfortable with a 2x4 stand but the tank isn't that big.

As far as the shims compressing, the wood/plastic composite shims that I got from home depot -composite shims supposedly will support 16,000 lbs. of pressure without failure.

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

 

[ECFENCING]

be VERY careful, about 2 years ago, I had a 75 gallons in my basement and after it was filled with rocks, sand and water it was a little off, it was leveled before. I asked the installler and he said that probably the shims had been cmpacted with the weight.
I continue with the set up filled it with very expensive fishes and not so expensive corals. On my way home on a Saturday afternoon, my son called me that the tank was leaking, I got home on 1 hour a crack from middle to about 6 inches to the bottom of the tank. I lost all my fishes, corals everything as we were going on vacation that evening.
BE VERY CAREFUL

Thanks for the concern....that is pretty scary.

 

[ECFENCING]

You sure the foam/plywood/shims on the countertop is the look you are going for? It will totally work it just is going to look kind of junky I think.

The only thing I would think about is that a Formica/particle board counter isn't super strong, and you will have about 140lbs sitting on 2sqft. Also, since it is small it could sit on the counter in such a way that there would be no wood beams under it to help support it, just the Formica and plywood. I don't think it's a huge concern, but it might worry me until someone smarter told me it was ok.

Thanks for your concern. There are leg supports underneath I just didn't show it. I would have had the black foam underneath anyhow so I figured why not level it if I had the chance. The black ply doesn't look that bad but with more time I would have purchased black starboard and used that instead.

If I were to do this over most likely would get a custom stand.

This is off-topic but if anyone has used caribsea special reef grade sand I think it's horrible. This stuff takes days to clear up....and has tons of debris in it. Nothing like looking at a milky white tank.

 

[thirty5]

I used the Caribsea SeaFlor sand. I like it, but ya there was debris in there too. I should have soaked it and rinsed. BUt it cleared up nice.