Lets do this - 225+ reef bar

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Nice plans! Cant wait to see this.

Regarding your levelling.

Shims are an option. They make some nice resin shims you could use and then trim around the bottom to hide them, trim flush to the floor if you want (it may get wet though if you do lots of work here).

or

I used 1/2 inch lag bolts to level my sump stand in the basement. The floor is very uneven and I used nine of these to hold a 180 gallon sump. Just drill holes in your legs and screw them in. Level them with a cresent wrench. This was really easy. I then just painted the lag bolts with some rustoleum (at least I will when I get around to it). You would need to put some flat plate of some kind to protect your floor from the bolts, but, if you are having trouble finding other hardware, this might be an option.
 
thats a good idea FishTruck, I never thought of that. A big lag screw would bite into wood much better than the fine theaded bolt of that leveler foot that was posted.

I am using some giant 8" lag screws to secure my stand to the garage wall. this prevents any front/back swaying. the holes I drilled in the stand are about 2x as wide and 5x as tall as the lag screw, so it still allows the stand to move up or down as the garage settles at a different rate than the foundation walls. the giant washer just keeps the stand from pulling away from the wall basically. its kinda cool that I can still adjust the feet to change the level of the stand, without having the loosen the lag screws.

just another fun use for giant screws :D

oh, and I accidentally drilled 2 holes in my nearby bathroom wall while using the ungainly long drill bit needed to get an 8" hole for the lag screws :P seriously its rediculous. standard drill bits are too small :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11710691#post11710691 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FishTruck
Nice plans! Cant wait to see this.

Regarding your levelling.

Shims are an option. They make some nice resin shims you could use and then trim around the bottom to hide them, trim flush to the floor if you want (it may get wet though if you do lots of work here).

or

I used 1/2 inch lag bolts to level my sump stand in the basement. The floor is very uneven and I used nine of these to hold a 180 gallon sump. Just drill holes in your legs and screw them in. Level them with a cresent wrench. This was really easy. I then just painted the lag bolts with some rustoleum (at least I will when I get around to it). You would need to put some flat plate of some kind to protect your floor from the bolts, but, if you are having trouble finding other hardware, this might be an option.
Click to expand...

Fishtruck - thanks for the tip. So you were ok drilling the lag bolts into the wood? I already ordered those leveling feet (see a few posts back) and I think they would work essentially the same way as a lag bolt with a flat plate, no? My concern was that screwing them into the wood, the wood might rust.

As for protecting the floor, I just came up with an idea last night. I'm going to get two 3.5'x4' pieces of plywood and line them with a sheet of linoleum to make a 7x4 platform for my tank to sit on. I figure this should help protect my wood floors from damage.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11710862#post11710862 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RyanBrucks
thats a good idea FishTruck, I never thought of that. A big lag screw would bite into wood much better than the fine theaded bolt of that leveler foot that was posted.

I am using some giant 8" lag screws to secure my stand to the garage wall. this prevents any front/back swaying. the holes I drilled in the stand are about 2x as wide and 5x as tall as the lag screw, so it still allows the stand to move up or down as the garage settles at a different rate than the foundation walls. the giant washer just keeps the stand from pulling away from the wall basically. its kinda cool that I can still adjust the feet to change the level of the stand, without having the loosen the lag screws.

just another fun use for giant screws :D

oh, and I accidentally drilled 2 holes in my nearby bathroom wall while using the ungainly long drill bit needed to get an 8" hole for the lag screws :P seriously its rediculous. standard drill bits are too small :)
Click to expand...

The picture I put up was a stock that represented all sizes...the ones I ordered are 3/8" thick screws, which I think would function like a lag screw, no?
 
I personally have never tried supporting a wooden load on a fine threaded bolt like that leveler that was posted. I still think your best option would still be to use the leveler and a metal plate, but I also think that a lag screw would do a much better job supporting the wood than the threaded bolt.

the treaded bolt has pretty small thread thats pretty tightly packed, obviously meant to work with metal, or nuts etc. Any time I've seen a bolt like that on a wooden project, it always has nuts on either end of the wood to hold things tight, it never just 'screws into the wood' for support.

the lag screws have much bigger thread, with more spacing between each thread, which makes it ideal for screwing directly into wood.


*I am not an expert on leveling feet. I hope somebody with more direct experience can post to tell you what they think about these approaches.

2006060910574773499.jpg

lag screw

CL-3-SLF_p.jpg

your leveler.

exactly how uneven is your floor? with the lag screw, you'd lose the 'pivot' ability that the leveling foot has. this might be minor depending on how flat the floor is.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11714642#post11714642 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RyanBrucks
I personally have never tried supporting a wooden load on a fine threaded bolt like that leveler that was posted. I still think your best option would still be to use the leveler and a metal plate, but I also think that a lag screw would do a much better job supporting the wood than the threaded bolt.

the treaded bolt has pretty small thread thats pretty tightly packed, obviously meant to work with metal, or nuts etc. Any time I've seen a bolt like that on a wooden project, it always has nuts on either end of the wood to hold things tight, it never just 'screws into the wood' for support.

the lag screws have much bigger thread, with more spacing between each thread, which makes it ideal for screwing directly into wood.


*I am not an expert on leveling feet. I hope somebody with more direct experience can post to tell you what they think about these approaches.


exactly how uneven is your floor? with the lag screw, you'd lose the 'pivot' ability that the leveling foot has. this might be minor depending on how flat the floor is.
Click to expand...

Yea, I do see what you are saying. So I guess the question is what effect the distance between the threads has. I am wondering if I drill a pilot hole if there will be a difference...its my guess that the threads are less tightly packed on a lag bolt so you can screw into the wood with no pilot hole. But as to what effect the density of the threads has on stability I'm not sure...I guess I can call Carr Lane and talk to one of their engineers. I'm definitely not putting my tank on something until I know its stable.

As for the floor I'd say there is around 1/2" to 3/4" difference in height between one end of the tank and the other.
 
I've gone back and forth on the final design and think I've arrived at something I like. I'm going to do a wood wall above the tank that looks like it is part of the bar. I like this for a number of reasons:
1. no overhang to restrict viewing, but still allows me to set it behind rather than "in" the wall
2. allows me to cover the 1" gap between the back of the wall and the tank created by the baseboard (didnt want to rip this out, since its a condo)
3. This solution means NO drywalling by me. I cut out the section and all the rough edges are covered by wood.
4. No feet of engineering required to go without a corner post (the wall is a partial wall so it isnt attached to the ceiling, which means my original design with the corner "floating" was not practical)

Heres the sketch, thoughts?

Aquarium%20in-wall3.jpg
 
Hey Mr. Cliffy.

I did not consult with an engineer on this project. Since the lag bolted stuff is in my basement, a failure will only ruin my equipment, not my house. However, it seems to be plenty strong. I am sure an engineer can give you good advice on the load strengths, etc..

The resin shims you can find at home depot. Just wander around the lumber section and you will see them stacked in a display somewhere.

The lag bolts I installed into 2 x 4s. I used 3 inch by 1/2 inch bolts and drilled pilot holes for them. I think I used a 5/16 bit for that. I got the idea from my dad who has used that trick for building heavy duty work benches and stuff like that. Mine are on a really pocked and old concrete floor, so, the small footprint helped.

My aquarium stand also sits on a custom made sub floor, sort of like what you described. Here is a pic. This was leveled with shims and then they put trim around it to hide the shims. Then, the rest of it was built on top of that.
IMG_4109.jpg

IMG_4106.jpg


Here is a lag bolt foot. This was just a pump stand and this one is drilled into a 4 x 4. They are so easy to use, I am putting them on all the equipment furniture in the basement.

IMG_4166.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11724205#post11724205 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FishTruck
Hey Mr. Cliffy.

I did not consult with an engineer on this project. Since the lag bolted stuff is in my basement, a failure will only ruin my equipment, not my house. However, it seems to be plenty strong. I am sure an engineer can give you good advice on the load strengths, etc..

The resin shims you can find at home depot. Just wander around the lumber section and you will see them stacked in a display somewhere.

The lag bolts I installed into 2 x 4s. I used 3 inch by 1/2 inch bolts and drilled pilot holes for them. I think I used a 5/16 bit for that. I got the idea from my dad who has used that trick for building heavy duty work benches and stuff like that. Mine are on a really pocked and old concrete floor, so, the small footprint helped.

My aquarium stand also sits on a custom made sub floor, sort of like what you described. Here is a pic. This was leveled with shims and then they put trim around it to hide the shims. Then, the rest of it was built on top of that.
Click to expand...


good to know, your experience seems to indicate I'll be ok. I'm heading to Home depot tonight and I might look into some kind of washer just in case, but I feel a little more comfortable about the leveling foot in the wood.
 
great idea, but how many would you have to put in order to get it stable also what about the floor surface?
 
So I found some Tee nuts (see pic below) that I think will hold them in the wood. Buuuut, another problem, now I realize that the screws holding the bottom square frame together would interfere with the bolt going into the wood. So my plan is to take a 2x4 flat side down and attach it across the bottom so I can drill my leveling feet and T-nuts into that, does that sound like a good plan?

41724.jpg
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11730965#post11730965 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Hooked_on_Phish
if you're close enough, these are really good for leveling heavy loads, they just don't have a ton of stroke.

http://www.bilz-schwingungstechnik.biz/bilz1/content/blogcategory/23/45/lang,en/

but they're super precise
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, anywhere to get them in the US?

I think if the idea with the leveling feet I have and T-nuts in a baseboard does not work, I will just try resin shims (altho I was at HD last night and they had no idea what I was talking about when I asked for them).
 
how exactly do those precision leveling wedges work? do u need one of those weird box contraptions for each leg you want to level? looks like it takes up a fair amount of space unless I am not understanding.


cliffy,
where did you fund that T-nut? Are they stocked at HD/lowes?

your plan to add additional lumber to hold the feet sounds good. if I'm understanding right, you'll be raising the height of your stand by ~1.5" to do that though? Also looks like the leveling feet you purchased have a minimum height thats >= 1". Just makin sure you're ready for the height difference, since you are making a bar and all.

I think I'm going to get one of those same leveling feet you posted a while back, and use it for the center-removable leg on my stand. there just isn't enough room with my sump and other equipment to fit 2 of the lifting levelers nearby.
 
Last edited:
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11732250#post11732250 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RyanBrucks
how exactly do those precision leveling wedges work? do u need one of those weird box contraptions for each leg you want to level? looks like it takes up a fair amount of space unless I am not understanding.


cliffy,
where did you fund that T-nut? Are they stocked at HD/lowes?

your plan to add additional lumber to hold the feet sounds good. if I'm understanding right, you'll be raising the height of your stand by ~1.5" to do that though? Also looks like the leveling feet you purchased have a minimum height thats >= 1". Just makin sure you're ready for the height difference, since you are making a bar and all.

I think I'm going to get one of those same leveling feet you posted a while back, and use it for the center-removable leg on my stand. there just isn't enough room with my sump and other equipment to fit 2 of the lifting levelers nearby.
Click to expand...

You are correct. My stand is 38" and typical bar height is 38-42". With the 2x4 + leveler + plywood + foamular, I should come in right around 42" so I think it will be ok. I know I'll need a ladder to work on the tank, but I can live with that - I try to keep my hands out of the tank as much as possible :)

They do have the T-nuts at HD, but (amazingly) the guy at HD was very helpful and said they have bulkier ones at Ace hardware, so I put them back, and am making a trip to Ace this weekend.
 
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