One Corner Not Flush With Stand

[Ogpulchra]

I can slide a piece of paper under one corner  and the middle of my 33g long. I can't get a debit card under any part of the tank and the plywood shelf is level side to side and back to back.

Am I safe to fill the tank or should I wait until I can get that back corner to touch the plywood? 

I tried using a 1/2" yoga mat under the plywood and that didn't help. 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Ogpulchra

[Comradovich]

Glass or Acrylic?

@Coryhas a video or livestream talking about putting things under a glass tank under load, the hollow frame stands apparently exist for a reason.

[nabokovfan87]

Can you clarify what you're measuring with the level?  If you put the level on the tank itself what do you see?  What about the top surface of the stand?

A video showing the gap on the corner might be helpful, photos as well.  Generally speaking on any aquarium, one of the corners lifted up isn't a good thing long term.  Adding a rubber mat underneath might be what you need and then you're good to go, but I would hold of on any advice until we can see what's going on fully.

[Ogpulchra]

@ComradovichIt's a rimmed tank. I am really just concerned about the one corner that isn't completely flush. 

@nabokovfan87I checked the tank and the shelf that the tank will be sitting on with spirit levels.

I tried putting the tank on several other smooth, level surfaces last night and it's always the same corner, so it might be a problem with the tank rim. I'm going to put some kind of foam or cork under the tank (nothing thick enough to push up on the bottom pane) and call it a day.

Just wanted to make sure I wasn't worrying too much about such a small gap at one corner. This project feels like it's taking forever and a day!

Thank you for replying!

 

[MattyM]

I've heard you shouldn't put any matting under rimmed tanks, they are designed to be flush with the stand. Rimmed tanks also bear their weight on the corners - so it's important the corners are fully supported. It's OK to have a small gap in the middle. 

[Ogpulchra]

@Pepere Unfortunately it's a new tank but past the return window. I emailed the manufacturer to see what they recommend. 

 

[Chick-In-Of-TheSea]

On 11/20/2022 at 6:58 PM, Ogpulchra said:

I can slide a piece of paper under one corner  and the middle of my 33g long. I can't get a debit card under any part of the tank and the plywood shelf is level side to side and back to back.

Am I safe to fill the tank or should I wait until I can get that back corner to touch the plywood? 

I tried using a 1/2" yoga mat under the plywood and that didn't help. 

This happened to me; a tank had water coming out drop by drop at the seam, about halfway up the glass.  I did the paper test, where I could slide the piece of paper under the corner & middle.  I evicted the residents before it got worse.  Two things I don't mess with - compromised tanks and faulty heaters.

If you can resolve the issue by leveling the stand, I would try that. I leveled my one stand by putting a wooden stir-stick (the kind you get with a can of house paint) under the one corner.

Edited November 21, 2022 by Chick-In-Of-TheSea

[Ogpulchra]

@Chick-In-Of-TheSea

I used shims between the 2x4 rack and the sheet of plywood to get it level. The tank had the same issue on a completely level, smooth countertop, so I don't think it's a matter of the plywood or stand not being level. I emailed the manufacturer to see what they say.Too late to return unfortunately.

 

Edited November 21, 2022 by Ogpulchra

[nabokovfan87]

Shimming just the corner could make the stress worse and increase the strain on whatever is causing the deflection.

If the surface of the wood isn't flat or has some imperfections, king of DIY has a video showing his tank exploding because of a small pebble on the corner.

If the tank itself has shifted from "true" then your best bet is to try to naturally release stress from the tank. 

1. Verify flat on the actual surface of the stand. Remove the tank, use a level and check everything front to back and left to right. Shim the feet of the stand only as you need to. Not the tank.

2.  Place a rubber mat (yoga mat is what I use, tool shelf liner may also work if not too thick) on the top of the stand and then place the tank in position on the stand. Again, check everything and this will give you an indication if it's the stand or the tank.

3.  Fill the tank half or 3/4 of the way with water to preload the glass with stress. This with settle things and let you check the level of the tank with some of the normal deflection but not all stresses.  At this point is when you decide if the deflection is acceptable. Twisting isn't good for tanks. So if the tank is leaning left to right or if the tank is leaning front to back, that's "ok" usually.  The issue is when you have both causing stress in both directions. If it is a very very very slight amount of the level showing it's leaning, I usually move on and just keep an eye on it.

If you see it where it's about 1/16 of an inch or more out of level then you go ahead and lift the side of the level to get a visual understanding of what's going wonky. You'll see just how much it's off dimensionally and why long dimensions that are unlevel can be out by a large margin (more stress) by the end of that long dimension. Meaning, the bubble on the level might show slightly off, but by visually seeing the level itself as true and comparing that to the rim of the tank, you might see as much as a 3/4" gap on some situations because of how long the tank is.

Secondly, the actual tank might be fine. You might just have a rim on the top of the tank that is slightly off on one side or the other. It happens. 

You can place the level on the bottom rim as well along the glass and check it there.  I often only check the top rim because the bottom one might have little globs of silicone sticking out.

Hopefully this helps. Please feel free to add photos so we can get an idea of what you're seeing.

[Ogpulchra]

@nabokovfan87 @Pepere

Mystery solved! Something was stuck to the bottom rim which kept the corner from sitting flat... 

I did check the tank on multiple surfaces and that corner was always the problem. Not sure how I missed the gunk on the bottom, but glad it wasn't a wonky tank. 

Thank you to everyone that responded!

[nabokovfan87]

Nice find. Woot woot!

[tolstoy21]

On 11/21/2022 at 10:40 AM, Ogpulchra said:

I'm going to put some kind of foam or cork under the tank (nothing thick enough to push up on the bottom pane) and call it a day.

Yea that's the way to go. Or you can get neoprene (the material wetsuits that divers and surfers wear are made out of) as a any craft store that also sells fabrics. This works as well for padding and helps level the aquarium base.

On 11/21/2022 at 7:36 PM, Ogpulchra said:

Mystery solved! Something was stuck to the bottom rim which kept the corner from sitting flat... 

Well, never mind then! Good job. 

I think I remember seeing a King of DIY video where he had the same thing happen, and many months into having the aquarium full (it was a large one) the glass broke. In his case, he had set the aquarium down before putting it on the stand and a small piece of gravel was stuck to the base. Over time this caused enough torsion and stress to pop the glass. And it wasn't a small aquarium!

I believe torsion stress for corner to corner is the worst kind a tank can have, much more so that being a little un-level side to side, or front to back.

Edited November 22, 2022 by tolstoy21