Leveling the tank from top to bottom

[Herrwibi]

I'm having an issue with my tank not being level , when I shim it the gap seems to be pretty big .

I'm thinking of attaching the top piece to to the wall and working down . As I'm not sure if it's the floor or my stand .

I would purely be using the wall just to level the stand as it's a fake wall that's being built which is just being made with plasterboard . All the weight will be on the supports .

Do you think that would be ok?

It's the same way Joey has been doing his tank stands . Attaching them to the wall and working down .

 

[tlindsey]

I'm having an issue with my tank not being level , when I shim it the gap seems to be pretty big .

I'm thinking of attaching the top piece to to the wall and working down . As I'm not sure if it's the floor or my stand .

I would purely be using the wall just to level the stand as it's a fake wall that's being built which is just being made with plasterboard . All the weight will be on the supports .

Do you think that would be ok?

It's the same way Joey has been doing his tank stands . Attaching them to the wall and working down .

View attachment 1428126

View attachment 1428127

I would personally just level the stand. Never heard of anyone leveling the aquarium at the top accept leveling aquarium with foam.

 

[jjohnwm]

If you mean attaching the top of the stand to the wall, and then building downwards from that...I do that with all my stands, as my fishroom floor is far from perfect. The top back horizontal support is carefully attached to the wall to be perfectly level; then the sides and front are added, maintaining a perfectly level top that is temporarily supported with jacks. Then the individual pieces are measured and cut for the legs, to ensure full support. Once it's finished, I could easily remove the few screws holding the back to the wall, although I usually leave them in just as a confidence thing to prevent tipping if it's a tall stand and/or a narrow (front-to-back) tank.

I never shim a tank. The top of the stand is always perfectly level before the tank goes on.

 

[Herrwibi]

I would personally just level the stand. Never heard of anyone leveling the aquarium at the top accept leveling aquarium with foam.

I mean exactly how John has described it , i would be attaching the top of the aquarium stand to the wall to make sure its level and then working my way down attaching the supports.

If you mean attaching the top of the stand to the wall, and then building downwards from that...I do that with all my stands, as my fishroom floor is far from perfect. The top back horizontal support is carefully attached to the wall to be perfectly level; then the sides and front are added, maintaining a perfectly level top that is temporarily supported with jacks. Then the individual pieces are measured and cut for the legs, to ensure full support. Once it's finished, I could easily remove the few screws holding the back to the wall, although I usually leave them in just as a confidence thing to prevent tipping if it's a tall stand and/or a narrow (front-to-back) tank.

I never shim a tank. The top of the stand is always perfectly level before the tank goes on.

So once the top of the frame is attached to the wall do you individually measure each corner and add the supports plus the height piece you attach it to ?
I fancy doing it this way as i know the stand will be level by attaching the top to the wall and building down.

 

[jjohnwm]

So once the top of the frame is attached to the wall do you individually measure each corner and add the supports plus the height piece you attach it to ?
I fancy doing it this way as i know the stand will be level by attaching the top to the wall and building down.

Exactly. Once the top is level, each leg is measured, cut and installed independently. My last stand had almost a quarter-inch of variance in the length of the legs.

The legs all reach the complete height of the stand, from flush with the top of the upper frame all the way to the floor. They support all the weight of the tank directly. A second frame is then built around them at the bottom, holding them perfectly upright and level. Finally an additional piece is cut for each leg, but this time sized so that it sits between the upper and lower frames. This second piece is laminated to each full-length leg and serves to support the top frame, standing on the bottom frame.

With this design, none of the weight of the tank is being supported by screws, nails or glue; everything stands directly on wood with no shearing forces applied to any of the hardware. If there is a downside at all, it is the fact that the stand is built in position, and cannot be moved or used elsewhere unless both the original and the intended new location are both absolutely identical and level.

 

[Dalfrey86]

John's approach is better compared to hanging base cabinets that will shift over time. Framing to the wall instead of making a stand fit the floor is always ideal.

However, if you hang cabinets or have a pre made stand just use two levels in conjunction, one for the width measurement the other for the depth measurement.

 

[Herrwibi]

Exactly. Once the top is level, each leg is measured, cut and installed independently. My last stand had almost a quarter-inch of variance in the length of the legs.

The legs all reach the complete height of the stand, from flush with the top of the upper frame all the way to the floor. They support all the weight of the tank directly. A second frame is then built around them at the bottom, holding them perfectly upright and level. Finally an additional piece is cut for each leg, but this time sized so that it sits between the upper and lower frames. This second piece is laminated to each full-length leg and serves to support the top frame, standing on the bottom frame.

With this design, none of the weight of the tank is being supported by screws, nails or glue; everything stands directly on wood with no shearing forces applied to any of the hardware. If there is a downside at all, it is the fact that the stand is built in position, and cannot be moved or used elsewhere unless both the original and the intended new location are both absolutely identical and level.

So you build the frame on the bottom as well ?

So in theory could I dismantle my stand keeping both top and bottom . Attach the top so it's level with the wall , create the legs that set the height and reattach the bottom ? Then create new supports ?

If that makes sense . Do you have any pics of your design in stages ?

 

[jjohnwm]

Yes, the bottom is framed just like the top; looks more or less like the one you have pictured. If it weren't, an accidental impact to the bottom of one of the legs would spike my blood pressure.

Like yours, mine are just 2x4 (and 2x6 for larger stands) construction. I suppose you could take it down if you assembled it only with screws, and then re-use it in another location with new or re-sized legs...but I build all mine with glue as well as screws so once they are put together they are not coming apart. I consider them permanent fixtures.

Sorry, no progress pics; I'm not really into documenting projects as they come along, and a stand goes together in one day. Once it's built, it looks pretty much like a typical "build-it-square-and-then-move-into-place" model.

 

[Herrwibi]

Yes, the bottom is framed just like the top; looks more or less like the one you have pictured. If it weren't, an accidental impact to the bottom of one of the legs would spike my blood pressure.

Like yours, mine are just 2x4 (and 2x6 for larger stands) construction. I suppose you could take it down if you assembled it only with screws, and then re-use it in another location with new or re-sized legs...but I build all mine with glue as well as screws so once they are put together they are not coming apart. I consider them permanent fixtures.

Sorry, no progress pics; I'm not really into documenting projects as they come along, and a stand goes together in one day. Once it's built, it looks pretty much like a typical "build-it-square-and-then-move-into-place" model.

Do you have the bottom frame pre built or how do you build it around the length/height pieces ?

It probably is the exactly same as the stand I have now . I just assumed your supports/height piece went straight to the floor but you've created another frame on the ground .

 

[jjohnwm]

1. Build top frame attached to wall and temporarily supported level.
2. Individually measure/cut/install legs, which go right from the top of the stand (inside the frame) to the floor.
3. Build bottom frame around legs, frame sitting right on the floor like yours.
4. Individually measure/cut/install pieces laminated to legs, sitting on top of bottom frame and supporting bottom of top frame.

Harder to describe than to do. I will take a couple pics and then see if I can overcome my technophobia enough to figure out how to post them.