Top of DIY level, foam video

[piranhaman00]

Hello,

please view video, two corners of diy stand are lower than others, you can see in video the foam is not being pushed down by tank, I am planning to fill slowly and hoping the foam makes up this 1/16” that it is off.

The layers are plywood, yoga mat, ply, ply, tank mat, tank. See image.

Will the Mats compress this error out? Should I shim the plywood in the corners?

 

[Saltyreef]

The foam shouldnt be an open cell sheet like that. It wont compress correctly and damage can ensue to the tank.

Look for closed cell neoprene rubber foam like this and youll be happier.
Exnay the yoga mat while youre there.
Solid wood top, 1/4" neoprene foam rubber mat and it should level out fine.

Neoprene Sponge-Foam Rubber, Closed Cell - Sheets1/4" .250" / 18" x 54" / Yes

Color | Black Density LBS per Cu. Ft. | 6+/-2 Medium ASTM-D-1056 2C2 Compression Def @ 25% | 5-9 PSI Water Absorption By Weight Max | 5%, 10% allowed Temperature Range | -40 to +250 Deg F. Elongation % | 150 Tensile Strength Min | 100 PSI Available with and Without (PSA) Peel and Stick Adhesive...

rubbersheetwarehouse.com

 

[piranhaman00]

The foam shouldnt be an open cell sheet like that. It wont compress correctly and damage can ensue to the tank.

Look for closed cell neoprene rubber foam like this and youll be happier.
Exnay the yoga mat while youre there.
Solid wood top, 1/4" neoprene foam rubber mat and it should level out fine.

Neoprene Sponge-Foam Rubber, Closed Cell - Sheets1/4" .250" / 18" x 54" / Yes

Color | Black Density LBS per Cu. Ft. | 6+/-2 Medium ASTM-D-1056 2C2 Compression Def @ 25% | 5-9 PSI Water Absorption By Weight Max | 5%, 10% allowed Temperature Range | -40 to +250 Deg F. Elongation % | 150 Tensile Strength Min | 100 PSI Available with and Without (PSA) Peel and Stick Adhesive...

rubbersheetwarehouse.com

This is the material that came with the tank from manufacturer, custom aquariums

 

[Saltyreef]

This is the material that came with the tank from manufacturer, custom aquariums

Mine came with a hard ABS foam board from CDA. I asked if i could replace it with something with more cushion for leveling and the neoprene foam rubber sheets is what they recommended.
Maybe its due to the frame on yours. Mines rimless and flat glass on the bottom.

I installed the foam to the stand.
It had a slight 1/16th" rocking to one corner and this leveled it out perfectly.


Are all your pieces screwed down evenly?
Or is it all just sandwiched from weight of tank?

 

[piranhaman00]

Mine came with a hard ABS foam board from CDA. I asked if i could replace it with something with more cushion for leveling and the neoprene foam rubber sheets is what they recommended.
Maybe its due to the frame on yours. Mines rimless and flat glass on the bottom.

I installed the foam to the stand.
It had a slight 1/16th" rocking to one corner and this leveled it out perfectly.


Are all your pieces screwed down evenly?
Or is it all just sandwiched from weight of tank?

First piece is screwed in, the others are not, I’m hoping when adding water it levels out like yours

 

[Saltyreef]

First piece is screwed in, the others are not, I’m hoping when adding water it levels out like yours

Mine doesnt have water in it yet. But i wasnt comfortable with the added stress of it being uneven and rimless. The 1/4" mat leveled it without the need for me to hold it down.

 

[laverda]

That looks like to big a gap for foam or rubber to adjust for. Have you put a long straight edge on your stand. The photo with the plywood on top looks like it is bowed.

 

[threebuoys]

The first question I would ask, is the top of the stand flat, level and stable before anything is put on top? Do the legs of the stand need to be shimmed first to make the stand level?

On DIY wooden stands, its easy to get a top corner twisted just a fraction that multiplies over the length of the rail. It can be due to twists/warps/bows in the lumber or cuts that just aren't quite square.

In my case, a DIY stand for a 125 gallon had a couple of imperfections of this nature. I resolved the issue by loosening the screws holding the corners together so the top rails could be adjusted and shimmed in the corners before retightening the screws. I've also sanded or planed small imperfections out of the rails. All of this done before placing the tank on the stand.

The foam helps some and can cover minor imperfections, but it can also hide stress points that become invisible, but still exist, when water is added. Imperfections in the plywood may also create problems that would be hidden by the foam for rimless, flat bottom aquariums where the entire bottom rests on the stand. Rimmed aquariums of course only touch along the edges and would not be affected by irregularities in the plywood. The question I also have in my mind, since the foam compresses more in some locations along the rail than in others, are the low compression areas truly carrying enough load to reduce the stress?

I don't know how much stress the glass can take along the bottom, and I hope I never find out!

 

[piranhaman00]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I ended up shimming the corners and sides to get it flat, the mat compresses everywhere now.

Thanks!