First time shimming an aquarium, please help

Hello all,
I am shimming an aquarium, which makes me very nervous as if I do something wrong, 56 gallons of water will probably gush out into my living room!

I have my tank dismantled at the moment and would like to get it up ASAP, so hoping someone can give me some input.

This is my current stand and shim job at the moment:
http://imgur.com/a/t1pXm

I have some questions:

Does the middle need to be supported in any particular way?

Are gaps OK between shims? Should I put in as many shims as I can to eliminate gaps?

I pushed the shims in until I met resistance. Is this where I should cut them and leave them permanently under the stand?

Last time I tried this I pushed some shims in to far and cracked a previous stand...how can I tell if I have pushed a shim in too much?

Are there any obvious problems with what I have done in the photos?

How can I watch out for problem signs? What should I look for?

Thank you!

If you shimmed only the top plate of the table, it would look way better.

havasu said:

If you shimmed only the top plate of the table, it would look way better.

Click to expand...

Not sure what that means.

To be clear, I have no experience with shimming a unit but I have some ideas.
Just guessing and assuming that it wants to be level and flat to support the tank evenly.
Get a level that will be longer that the whole table. So you can level the back and the front and corner to corner, while also checking for low spots in the center of the table.
I would start with out shims check level and shim opposite corner and then shim the other two corners until level looks good in every direction and then fill in with snug shims while watching that the level does not change.
Your stand has a full height door so shimming under the door is not important but the area just beside the door is.
If the back is out of level to start with, it will be hard to shim, you may want to take measurement so you can have a one piece shim cut to fit.
Understand that things may change when you put the water in as floor joist bend under weight.
So I would be re-checking the level at stages while you fill it with water.
What you do if you find it going out of level as you fill? good luck.

It wasn't clear to me from the pictures, whether the tank was on a table or tall enough to be standing on the floor. But the short answer in any case is don't put the shims directly under the tank. Rest the tank on a flat surface that can be shimmed from underneath, so that the tank will have uniform support across the whole bottom surface.

edit: Are we looking at just the stand in your pictures?

if it were me...i would provide a drip pan [for lack of a better word] with 1'' sides. fill with sand. place the tank in the sand. level it

you want the bottom of that tank supported in its entirety 100%

Sorry for the late replies guys, I got sick after coming back from a business trip, back to snow and ice :\

slownsteady said:

It wasn't clear to me from the pictures, whether the tank was on a table or tall enough to be standing on the floor. But the short answer in any case is don't put the shims directly under the tank. Rest the tank on a flat surface that can be shimmed from underneath, so that the tank will have uniform support across the whole bottom surface.

edit: Are we looking at just the stand in your pictures?

Click to expand...

Yeah, it's just the stand in the photos, tank is in another room.


My plan at the moment is to get a piece of plywood cut to the same dimensions as the base, put that under the stand and shim that, checking at different levels, micro adjusting as I need to.

All the research I've done indicates that should work...one question....are gaps ok or should I use as many shims as I can to eliminate gaps?

If you are going to create a plywood base, you have the chance to think beyond using shims....like small feet under the base, perhaps. Or possibly shaving the base until it sits level (this could be tricky). But whatever you choose, you can also consider some kind of trim around the base to hide the leveling devices. You even have the option of putting leveling feet on the base, like the kind found on appliances and some furniture.

re-read slownsteady' 2 responses, they are correct.Each shim under the glass is a weak spot. you'd be smarter to level the stand, and have a solid surface for the tank. I would use leveling feet under the stand rather than shims

elbo said:

re-read slownsteady' 2 responses, they are correct.Each shim under the glass is a weak spot. you'd be smarter to level the stand, and have a solid surface for the tank. I would use leveling feet under the stand rather than shims

Click to expand...

I'm not shimming the tank at all, only the stand, as seen in the photos.

Plan is to have a piece of plywood cut to the area of the stand, it is only 3/4 thick, and shim that with no gaps. I have excess shims and already have the wood, and black paint so it will blend in.

I also asked on reddit for aquariums and another aquarium specific forum, and leveling feet were discouraged. Rather than try and learn enough to understand the argument, I just opted for the safer option

slownsteady said:

If you are going to create a plywood base, you have the chance to think beyond using shims....like small feet under the base, perhaps. Or possibly shaving the base until it sits level (this could be tricky). But whatever you choose, you can also consider some kind of trim around the base to hide the leveling devices. You even have the option of putting leveling feet on the base, like the kind found on appliances and some furniture.

Click to expand...

Shaving was my first option due to the problems I had (irregularity with part of the floor being raised in the floor in addition a sloping floor), but I was able to move the aquarium slightly to my left, so the slope affects it left. With shims, I can get the difference down to 5mm, which is acceptable.

Shims seem to be the only safe option that all are recommending, as on aquarium specific forums leveling feet are discouraged.

I think shims will also look nice. I already have the wood, and have about 100 black shims, and have black paint for the wood.

This seems like I can level the stand and have it look as it does not asethetically.

My shims are rated for more than enough pressure/weight.

Any reason this wouldn't work? I already have everything so as long as this is a good plan I'm ready to go ahead.