I'm building a stand for my 200g glass out of 2x4s. It's 7' x 2' and I'm having the hardest time getting the top perfectly flat. There are tiny variances in the lumber that I can't smooth out all the way. Will the weight of the tank and water help compress the wood and flatten it? I've tried sanding but I don't want to sand too much and make it worse. Any advise would be appreciated.
How perfect?
- Thread starter BERTalert7
- Start date
its very important to get the straightest boards you can. I just finished my tank asn was worried about small bumps in the wood but had not the tank was level. try sanding and put plywood on top of the stand.
I say put a piece of 1" plywood on top, It will remove all construction imperfections. 1" ply isn't cheap, you might be able to get away with 3/4" but anything smaller will be too flexible.
You won't ever get the wood perfectly flat. Even if you did, as the wood draws in moisture or releases it, it's going to swell and shrink (not much of course, but to some degree).
How flat do you have it? If you put your empty tank on the stand, how big are the gaps underneath it? If you have paper thin up to credit card thick gaps in a couple of spots, you should be OK. If your gaps are much thicker than that, you can mark the high spots under your tank and do some sanding.
By the way, any photos?
How flat do you have it? If you put your empty tank on the stand, how big are the gaps underneath it? If you have paper thin up to credit card thick gaps in a couple of spots, you should be OK. If your gaps are much thicker than that, you can mark the high spots under your tank and do some sanding.
By the way, any photos?
when i built my own stand a few years back for a smaller tank. i put to small sets of draws together but when i did this left a small lip where they joined. i was going to try and sand it but instead i opted to use a piece of polysterene board. this compacted when the tank was filled and gave a smooth finish on the tank bottom and the polysterene absorbed the lip.
tank stood like that for years fine until i got a proper stand
tank stood like that for years fine until i got a proper stand
I had the same problem as you so i used 3/4" ply then 2" styro foam the base and tank are now totally level! Good luck
Thanks for all the suggestions! I've really been thinking about 3/4 in plywood and maybe styrofoam on top of that. I don't have the ability to put the tank on and take it off a lot but I have a two foot level that I've been using the straight edge to guage the gaps. At the most I'd say a credit card could fit but I'm not possitive. I'm still open to more suggestions as I'll be thinking about it for a little while longer. Sorry, I don't have pics up yet but will as soon as I can. Thanks again for all your help.
Brett
Brett
I have the exact same issue on my stand with the current sheet of ply on it. I put a 1" polystyrene/styrofoam sheet on the ply and it has compressed in the right places and taken all the risk out of it.
To me doing a build without the polystyrene between tank and stand seems like a big risk as it smoothes any imperfections and insulates the base of the tank (not that some need it).
To me doing a build without the polystyrene between tank and stand seems like a big risk as it smoothes any imperfections and insulates the base of the tank (not that some need it).