Leveling my reef tank

[Inversus]

Hey there,

So finally my Red sea reefer 250 (55 gallon) is here and now Im about to fight with the floor because its pretty uneven. I found a Spot where i only have a difference of 5mm / 0.19 inch (from back to front, so a pretty short distance for that kind of difference).

Anyhow the plan was to place the cabinet on a plywood and beneath that a kind of leveling mat. Its supposed to be used beneath wood floor for noise reduction, is 5mm thick and is supposed to balance bumps up to 4mm / 0.14 inch.

I already removed the feets from the cabinet so it sits plain on the plywood.

Now I ask myself what I should do. No idea if im over thinking here but better safe than sorry

My ideas:

1. Just go with the plan. The "leveling mat" gonna Set on the weight and 5mm is not that much. Also you have the foam on the cabinet, which also can Balance a bit out

My thoughts: arent leveling mats some Kind of paradox? If its uneven like in my case (back is lower than the Front), that also means that more weight is on the back, pushing the mat even more down than the Front, leading to an even bigger difference??



2. Add a second layer of the "leveling mat" on the back for leveling.

My thoughts: I dont know why but it feels more unsecure for me. In the end its foam and I have no idea how it deforms under the weight. Maybe its going to be perfect, maybe it leads to other problems. The benefit of this method against idea 3 is, that you still have the perfect contact between plywood and cabinet. And that is probably the most important thing?

I already tried this idea (See attached pic) and with the weight of Just the empty cabinet. There is a pretty big space from where the second layer ends to where the plywood touches again with the first layer. With the full Tank i think thats going to be squeezed out. But Yeah no idea



3. Add shmis between plywood and the cabinet
My thoughts:
Even if I add as much shims as possible on the back to prevent pressure points, there is going to be a part of the cabinet not touching a shim or the plywood thus hanging in the air.
With that Im scared that the cabinet is going to deform over time and leading to the worst (Tank not plain on the cabinet)


I hope for your thoughts, expierience and ideas!
Thanks!

 

[fishguy242]

hi, what is the difference in height front to back in pic ,slightly higher than front ?

 

[Inversus]

hi, what is the difference in height front to back in pic ,slightly higher than front ?

Yes, from the picture: back is about 3 cm/ 1.18 ", Front is about 2.6 cm / 1.02"

 

[Rundmc2016]

Doesn't the stand come with leveling feet? If not, why not just shim the stand?

 

[fishguy242]

at .16" i think will self level ,pretty close ,water will seek true level,thus compressing foamboard to true level.
go with it ,but fill with tap water up just short of weir ,let settle 24 hrs ,check again.
better safe than sorry...

 

[Inversus]

Doesn't the stand come with leveling feet? If not, why not just shim the stand?

Unfortunately not, just with normal feets.
On my question I wrote what Im afraid of using shims. But Im not sure if thats justified or Just overthinking

at .16" i think will self level ,pretty close ,water will seek true level,thus compressing foamboard to true level.
go with it ,but fill with tap water up just short of weir ,let settle 24 hrs ,check again.
better safe than sorry...

So going with two layers of leveling mat (idea 2)? Or idea 1?


Thanks for your input

 

[Screwgunner]

Through a nice rug under it and a few shims it is not that heavy your cabinet will be fine. Just get level as possible.

 

[fishguy242]

So going with two layers of leveling mat (idea 2)?

yes, weight of water should put you right on mark.
again though ,test fill just tank to be sure.

 

[Rundmc2016]

How do the feet attach to the stand normally? If that area is designed to hold the stand up off the floor then you should be able to put a shim under it at that spot. Another idea is feet attached to front end, nothing on the back. This would only work if the front feet are as tall as the drop in the floor.

 

[Screwgunner]

I got all my measurements and cut full length shimes.

 

[Rundmc2016]

Is this your stand? We could probably give better advise if we confirmed the stand design.

 

[Inversus]

Is this your stand? We could probably give better advise if we confirmed the stand design.

Yes thats the stand. I have to put shims on "H" at the back

How do the feet attach to the stand normally? If that area is designed to hold the stand up off the floor then you should be able to put a shim under it at that spot. Another idea is feet attached to front end, nothing on the back. This would only work if the front feet are as tall as the drop in the floor.

With nails. And youre right, there should be no difference between shims or the feet

 

[Inversus]

Im going crazy. If I add shims in the back, its getting uneven from left to right (have to add shims to the right), if i Do that its again uneven from back to front.

Im this close to throw that **** out of the window

 

[piranhaman00]

Im going crazy. If I add shims in the back, its getting uneven from left to right (have to add shims to the right), if i Do that its again uneven from back to front.

Im this close to throw that **** out of the window

Haha been there! Where are you putting the level? Tank trim is not level so don’t use that, is the top of stand level

 

[fishguy242]

back to plan 2...

 

[Inversus]

Okay so I went with the two layer plan and filled the Tank 5 hours ago with tap water.

So far it looks good but it didnt change that much of the Level. With the eye its not really visible
Difference in waterlevel from left to right is 5mm (0.19 ").

Frist pic is from left to right, second (with the window in the background) is back to front

What do you guys think?

 

[fishguy242]

let settle 24 hrs,see if changes.
your left to right ,is not ok ,imo.
length of tank ? length of level you are using ?

 

[Inversus]

let settle 24 hrs,see if changes.
your left to right ,is not ok ,imo.
length of tank ? length of level you are using ?

Man I wish I would have said otherwise

Tank is 90cm / 35.4"
Level is 80cm / 31.4"

I think if it doesn't settle I will call some Aquarium builders or whoever and let them do ot

 

[Buckster]

Technically 1 corner is the high point and the other 3 corners need to be shimmed in order to have the tank level from end to end, front to back. I have a 180 and custom built my cabinet in the garage. I brought it inside my living room on the hardwood floor and the center was higher. I shimmed all four corners to level the stand. I could have scribed the cabinet to have it sit perfectly but since i did the shims, I need to place a 1/4 X 3/4 round moulding around the base on 3 sides which would also match my transition from the hardwood to the baseboard.

 

[fishguy242]

you can also try to add some weight to high corner inside stand, box salt ,bucket water,actual weights.
may help sink into foam board.