Uneven floor causing unleveled tank and stand

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Hey guys, yesterday I was troubleshooting the reason why my tank would not sit flushed on only one corner of the stand and well we figured out that the floor is not leveled. There really is no other area where to move my aquarium in my home so I’m trying to use shims. I’m confused in regards to how shims work. Do i need to get the smallest shims? Also would i only need to add shims in that one corner or do I try to add them all around the area where the uneven floor is? For a pic, this is basically what the uneven floor is causing.

 

[W31Olds]

shims should added to the lowest area of you floor first. If that corner is lowest then add 1 shim then adjusting it to get the stand top level. After you do that add more as needed every 6-12" to close the gaps around the base of your stand. Use cedar or composite shims as pine will rot.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

shims should added to the lowest area of you floor first. If that corner is lowest then add 1 shim then adjusting it to get the stand top level. After you do that add more as needed every 6-12" to close the gaps around the base of your stand. Use cedar or composite shims as pine will rot.

Thank you for the detailed response. This was mostly my question, i had no idea if I needed to add shims side by side or every few inches. I’ll add shims around every 6 inches. Thanks.

 

[Subsea]

Check out these composite shims. I especially like them because they are tapered.

I would put them closer together than 6”. Curious on what the floor gap looks like.

Amazon product ASIN B0BH2FWV6V

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Thanks Subsea, those do look pretty nice. In regards to an uneven floor thats causing the tank to not sit flush with the stand, is adding shins the easiest way to fix this? Can I consider this issue fix once my leveler shows everything is leveled and the tank sits flushed all around the stand?

 

[Subsea]

Thanks Subsea, those do look pretty nice. In regards to an uneven floor thats causing the tank to not sit flush with the stand, is adding shins the easiest way to fix this? Can I consider this issue fix once my leveler shows everything is leveled and the tank sits flushed all around the stand?

YES & YES

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

YES & YES

And I guess my last question is, should the shims be the angled slanted ones like in the amazon product that you shared or should the shims be flat like a rectangle with no angle?

 

[RocketEngineer]

Hey guys, yesterday I was troubleshooting the reason why my tank would not sit flushed on only one corner of the stand and well we figured out that the floor is not leveled. There really is no other area where to move my aquarium in my home so I’m trying to use shims. I’m confused in regards to how shims work. Do i need to get the smallest shims? Also would i only need to add shims in that one corner or do I try to add them all around the area where the uneven floor is? For a pic, this is basically what the uneven floor is causing.

Go to a big box hardware store and buy a bundle of cedar shingles. These come in various thicknesses and widths do you can fill the entire area you need. I tap them in gradually until my stand is level, then score them and snap off the excess. Being cedar, they are very water resistant.

 

[Subsea]

And I guess my last question is, should the shims be the angled slanted ones like in the amazon product that you shared or should the shims be flat like a rectangle with no angle?

Angled. If you used flat shims, then you would have to lift the stand to compress shims. With tapered shims, you tap in to get consistent compression.

 

[Rodolfo Garcia]

Angled. If you used flat shims, then you would have to lift the stand to compress shims. With tapered shims, you tap in to get consistent compression.

Great, thanks for making my day a bit easier. Have a nice day everyone.