DIY Tank Stand - Question on gaps

Rubasu

Rubasu

New member
I know this subject has been beaten to death, but I am curious about others that have built their own stands (hopefully ones that have worked for years.)

I have an 40 gallon breeder Aqueon glass (rimmed) tank and I built my own stand. I put the tank on top of it, and I can barely fit a business card underneath it at the corners, and not at all on some parts. Is this good enough to put the tank on and fill it? Should I put foam or something around just the corner? Not under the whole tank since that's not a good idea. But that shouldn't even have a chance to touch the bottom pane of glass if it's ONLY on the corners, cut to size.

I can not move it at all when I put pressure on the corners and I barely see any light coming through either. (I did take it to the garage and filled it up on the stand and didn't notice anything wrong..minus my garage floor not being level, of course.)

Side Note: What do you all think about it? Obviously the cabinet door isn't attached (and upside down for that matter...the chevrons are going to be "/\" on the door.
 

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Would some other type of material work for the very small (business card sized) gaps?
 
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You need to sand those inside corners where the uprights meet the rails. This needs to be all flush to support the frame of the tank properly. Might could get a sheet of Styrofoam insulation from HD and cut out a piece to fit over the rails. This is a 1" ridged foam that will compress enough to make up the small differences. Just cut it out like a window frame. !st cut out the outside measurement of the foam but measuring the inside of the stand top. Place the foam inside the top and then using a box cutter, cut out the inside of the foam frame by running the knife along the rails to cut out the center.
 
Thanks for the response, coralsnaked. Do those parts need to be sanded even if the tank doesn't touch them? (They are probably 1/8" from being flush, but I can fit my finger between that upright and the bottom glass pane when the tank is on top.)
 
First thing I'd check is the tank. Is it really coplanar? If it is, then it is flexing when you fill it. This isn't good!

With that little of a difference (card stock thickness) just go at the high spots of the stand with some sand paper. Glass tanks w/ frames really only need to be supported at the ends. It's OK to have the middle of the sides unsupported.

From the pics it looks like the vertical 2x in the corner is above the rim. Make sure it doesn't press against the bottom of the tank.
 
I hate to be that guy, but it looks like you built your stand wrong. It appears like you have 4 upright (vertical) 2x4s connected to the top with a shear connection, that's bad. Those upright 2x4s should go under rather than along the side of the top frame. Basically the stand should be able to support weight without relying on screws/nails (shear connections with screws/nails are very weak).
 
I was looking at that last photo on the right side, it doesn't look like they are there. Maybe OP can confirm.
 
The vertical supports are actually between the top and bottom frames in the corners. Sorry I don't have a better picture to show that. The 2x4s that you can see are only for guides to which I screwed the support beams. I followed a plan online and put two 2x4s in each corner. I think it may be a little overbuilt for a 40 gallon, but I figure that's never a bad thing.

In the 5th (finished) picture, in the upper right hand corner, you can kind of see the support 2x4 between the inside one and the outside panels. Under the upper frame and going to the lower.
 
Thank you for the responses, everyone. I plan on sanding a bit more tonight, then. Where on the tank is the most important to be completely touching (to where I can't put a piece of paper between the stand and the rim?) The corners? The front and back edges? The side edges? Would it be any benefit to put a bit of foam at the corners? I can try to post pictures after I sand and put the empty tank on if they will help at all. I'm just not sure how much a minute gap will affect the tank. :)
 
I got it as close as i can. Would it help if I put some ply wood between the Tank and the stand? Or would that not even anything out?
 
I've decided not to use plywood on top since it's not needed for a rimmed tank.

I spent some time sanding to try and make everything completely level. I hate asking for this much help, but I figure it's better safe than sorry...

What is an easy way to do this? I have been putting the tank on the stand, sliding paper in where I can, then moving it until it cant touch. (the high point) Then I do the same thing on the other side to find the end of that high spot. I mark both sides and sand in the middle...Then repeat.

Is there a better way to find the spots to sand down? (I'm doing this by hand since a belt sander could take off too much too quickly.)

Thanks again for the input so far, it's been a great help. I'm just trying to find a better way to find all the high spots at once instead of moving the tank every 15min...haha.

Overall - Am I just worrying TOO much about it? I'm a bit of a perfectionist...so this is getting rough on me. ;)

Oh, and woodaquanut - Those links require me to log in. :(
 
In that video - I was looking at the stands (wow!) and it doesn't actually look like there are vertical supports underneath the tank. Are those just being held up by those smaller blocks under the rails that are attached to the vertical frame? Or am I not seeing something?
 
The stands I am referring to are shown at 3:12 in the video. The thread on the discus forum details the construction of these. The tanks are only touching the frame on their short sides. It is really an amazing system and I recommend registering just to see the constructions pics!

I posted this in another thread and doing a copy/paste to save my fingers!

Let me paint you a word picture!

Stands hold 20G H tanks, small side to the front. Three shelves ( just really a 2x4 frame ) high with 18 tanks on each shelf. There's a leg/support every three tanks, front and back. The shelf is attached to the leg with four screws and there is a block (3.5" x 3.5") below each shelf with two screws attaching it to the leg.

Doing the math, there is 360 gallons of water on each shelf supported by 14 legs using 84 screws total. I find no indication he uses any glue.
 
That doesn't seem like a ton of support, isn't it putting all the pressure on the screws? Oh well, looks like it's working just fine for him!

Update - I spent about 4 hours sanding my stand to make it coplanar. I got it to the point that when I put a piece of paper in the corners, it only slides under the black trim, but stops as soon as it gets to the glass. On one corner, I am able to FORCE the paper in, (if I use a piece from a magazine cover...a little thicker...I can't get it under) but I put a 15lb bag of salt in the middle of the tank and I can't put paper into any corners. Is this good? I set it up in the basement and filled it half way with water and nothing shifted/leaked overnight, so the tank is good. Do you think it's safe to proceed with filling it?
 
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