Plywood or no plywood

[Jread002]

Getting ready to skin my stand. Just wondering if I should put a piece of plywood on top of the stand between the tank. Tank is a rimmed 125 glass tank. The top frame of 2x4's seem really flat but there is always some dips and bumps in wood. I'm thinking the plywood should level any of those small dips out. Have any of you just sanded the top 2x4's level/flat? Seems like it would be very time consuming. Looking for suggestions on what to do. Thanks

 

[TheReefer]

I think sanding would be your best bet, but either way I would recommend putting styrofoam or something like that under the tank to take the force of the bumps.

 

[Jread002]

Styrofoam under a tank with a rim? Always thought that was a no-no

 

[TheReefer]

Styrofoam under a tank with a rim? Always thought that was a no-no

My bad, misread it. I would recommend you sand it down and then you can either keep it like that or add plywood on top of it

 

[d033ie]

Place the tank on the top of the stand and use a leveler to see where most of the tilting is coming from. Then add something under the legs of the side that's a problem. I use quarters, because the stand i have is a bit uneven. Now everything is fine. There's other methods of placing things under, just in case you're worried about your floor. Sanding is a great option, keep in mind it might be more than the bumps giving you the problem. Whatever you choose i hope it works out.

 

[Jread002]

Stand is level at the floor, I was just worried about point of Contact between tank and stand, if there are a few areas that u can see a sliver of light between frame and 2x4 is that a big problem? Was thinking plywood might solve that. Just seems like it would be impossible to get tank rim and stand 100% flush with each other

 

[d033ie]

I don't think a very small area of light is a big problem, as long as there's no huge gaps. If it isn't very noticeable then i say you're fine.

 

[Jread002]

After testing with plywood. One back corner and approx 1 foot of the back has a gap of around 1/16". Could I shim under the plywood (between stand and plywood) with small strips of wood to to raise plywood level to get rid of gaps? Plywood isn't screwed down yet so shimming would be easy

 

[Jread002]

What shims would be better wood shims or these composite shims I bought?

 

[Ulu]

I would have just put a bead of Dap window caulking around the bottom of the tank and set it right on the stand and let it dry. That takes care of all the imperfections, it will allow you to do extra fine leveling, your tank will never shift on the stand, and it keeps water from getting underneath the edge of the tank onto the wood, where you can never wipe it up.

I did this with Sikaflex as well but that stuff is too hard to remove if you want to cut it loose. You just don't need it when your dead load is under 5 PSI.

But either way you just use a piece of fishing line and cut through the caulking and it will come right apart.

I have also sanded stands dead level with a big sanding block 2"×14"×24", with three sheets of sandpaper glued to it.

But if you're going to sand the top of the stand spray some lacquer or sanding sealer or primer or something on the wood first and it will help you see what you are doing. Without that witness coat of paint once you start sanding you won't know where you are.