Plastic shims?

[Snake_Eyes]

Do you think hard plastic shims would be fine to use to level a tank? They measure 2" long by 1 1/4" wide and 1/4" high. They came with 6 in a pack, I like the fact that they are clear and not as long as the wood ones. The guy at home-depot said they would be stronger than the wood ones...you agree?


http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...00009&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053&langId=-1

 

[X24]

i really can't say as i have little to no experience with them, but i think the plastic ones would hold up better then wooden.

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I'm sitting here playing with one and they seem really durable. Seeing that they came 6 in pack how many should I use?

 

[bbiesenkamp]

I used plastic shims to level a 75 gal I had. It was set up for several years with no problems. I wouldn't hesitate to use wood shims to level a stand if that is what I had at the time. Once the shim is in place, you just cut or snap off the part sticking out making it invisible.

I would recommend that you only use a few for fine leveling- .25-.5" otherwise you may start to add stress to your stand that it wasn't designed to take. The number of shims will depend on if you have feet versus a base plate and total movement needed- Larger tanks or underbuilt stands may add additional considerations to how much you would want to shim it. Also I hope you are planning to shim your stand not you tank...

 

[Snake_Eyes]

I used plastic shims to level a 75 gal I had. It was set up for several years with no problems. I wouldn't hesitate to use wood shims to level a stand if that is what I had at the time. Once the shim is in place, you just cut or snap off the part sticking out making it invisible.

I would recommend that you only use a few for fine leveling- .25-.5" otherwise you may start to add stress to your stand that it wasn't designed to take. The number of shims will depend on if you have feet versus a base plate and total movement needed- Larger tanks or underbuilt stands may add additional considerations to how much you would want to shim it. Also I hope you are planning to shim your stand not you tank...

I have no idea what you just said...lol

Yes the shims is for the stand, the tank(the 125g) is at most 1/4" off. I guess when I asked how many to use I wasn't talking about stacking them but using them side by side for more support.

 

[Jkoziatek]

they will prob work, but foam would be better because its area is al of foam covers the bottom of the tank providing ore surface area support when the shims just "lift" the tank

 

[Nic]

plastic shims have a higher load rating and are fine to use....

 

[bbiesenkamp]

I wouldn't worry too much about say using shims at the corner then using another beside it for just .25".

What I meant by my earlier statement was that you would shim a stand differently if it was a metal stand with feet versus a wood stand with a bottom base. A large tank might need more shims than a small tank. Lifting a stand .5" or more might require additional shims side by side. An underbuilt stand may not be able to take the stresses of a serious shimming without added support.

For a tank under 100 gal, I would shim a side up by putting 2 shims in the front corner- 1 shim from the inside of the stand, 1 from the outside (with the shims sitting on top of each other to provide a level surface) then repeat at the back corner. For larger tanks or front/back leveling, I would do the same under any vertical support post in addition to the corners.

 

[TI13GER22]

plastic shims should work, i work for a precast concrete manufacturer and we use them to shim concrete panels

 

[Greenaveli]

plastic shims should work, i work for a precast
concrete manufacturer and we use them to shim concrete panels

I agree. I set precast panels used for buildings that weigh upwards of10+ tons. Plastic shims are used widely in the field. I have also shimmed my 220 and 270 with no problems.