Diy stand, small gap on 1 corner between tank and plywood

[Jelpin16]

Hello all,

I built a 2x4 stand for my 75 gallon aquarium topped with 3/4 in plywood.

3 of the tanks corners touch but the 4th has this small gap at the corner. If I wiggle it I can just barely fit a credit card into the gap and it is the only corner where you can see light between the plywood and stand. (On the length of the tank there is a small 1/8-1/16 gap but the corners being tight is most important?)

Should I put a small shim between the top of the 2x4 stand and the 3/4 in pklwood to close the gap?

Thanks you for your time!

 

[Gtinnel]

I would definitely shim it to where there isn't a gap between the tank and the plywood.

 

[Staghorn]

Yes. Try to shim anywhere there’s a gap so you have a solid connection all the way to the ground.

 

[Red_Beard]

Is this a framed tank? If so then shims, if it is frameless you could use a yoga mat or dense cell foam underlay.

 

[Poof No Eyebrows]

You could fill that corner and sand it level. Use a straight edge and check a couple angles.

 

[Jelpin16]

I would definitely shim it to where there isn't a gap between the tank and the plywood.

How should I shim the gap in the length of the aquarium? Several small shims or one longer one?

Thank you!

 

[allsite]

I had a similar problem but more severe and leveling the stand with shims fixed it. Prior to leveling the stand appeared slightly twisted, probably due to the flooring in my old house.

 

[Gtinnel]

How should I shim the gap in the length of the aquarium? Several small shims or one longer one?

Thank you!

It shouldn't matter whether it is long shims or a series of short ones, as long as there aren't gaps between the tank and the plywood.

Actually I had a similar issue and I used a power planer to take down the high spots instead of using shims to raise the low spots

 

[TheDragonsReef]

Shim under the stand at the floor in that corner and see if that fixes it, if not then i would get a leveling mat for under the tank. You can attempt to shim under the tank but its difficult to get it perfect unless you're willing to use a level and sand it down.

 

[Red_Beard]

I would echo above. You want as much surface area as possible if you do shim it. Pressure spots are bad news for heavy aquariums. You could also try the planer/sander route if you have enough material, or as @poof recommended use some filler(it is like bondo for wood) and sand it all down level. I had a similar issue with mine and wanted a finished top as some would be visible so i used self leveling epoxy (pro-marine) and that worked awesome, but was $80. Or if your trim and everything works with it you could put another layer of ply ontop with shims between it and the old stand. Tons of options, but the one thing you want to make sure of is that the tank will have equal pressure everywhere the base will touch or it will create torsion in the glass which potentially leads to tank failure.