# Stand not perfectly level with rimmed aquarium



## Willcooper (May 31, 2015)

Rimmed aquariums are not meant to have anything touching the glass. The rim takes all of the weight which leaves the glass slightly raised. Shim the stand to correct the wobble.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Is the tank still empty? If so I’d fill it slowly and see if the issues work themselves out with some weight added


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## Sentinel (Jul 15, 2018)

Thanks for fast replies. The stand itself does not wobble. Nor does the tank on the floor, but tank wobbles on top of stand. I did add 2x4s to reinforce the back end. That must have changed it ever so slightly. It's an aquarium stand from LFS. The top looks and feels smooth. The tank itself does not wobble on the floor.

Or what if I just add on a piece of thin ply wood on top of the stand? The stand is perfectly level, and the tank is too.


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## tater12 (Mar 8, 2019)

You can do foamboard as well I used it when my stand I put my 20 long wasn’t perfectly level on top


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## Tyrant46290 (Jul 21, 2018)

Fill it. You'll be just fine. I have a 40 as well as a 75 that had larger wobbles. Rimmed tanks can hold it just fine. Plus, you stand will probably adjust the little bit with the weight anyways


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

Sentinel said:


> Alright took off a 26g acrylic tank (36" x 10") and same stand, put on a 40 gallon rimmed (36.5" x 15.5") *and it wobbles ever so slightly.* Maybe a 1/32" left rear, and 1/16" gap left front. Do I put a mat or pad down or what? The stand is wood, I just repainted it. Seeing what my options are. I am not replacing stand, it is very overbuilt and reinforced.
> 
> So far I'm thinking
> -yoga mat or aquarium specfic pad trimmed
> -a piece of plywood or something that is for sure perfectly flat so all corner make contact to aquarium rim


That right there would scare me. I don't like when a tank wobbles. It is going to rack. You can get away with only having support in the 4 corners. You can get away with supporting it on 2 1x4s vertical right down the middle. You can't, long term, get away with a tank that wobbles. Shim the tank so that it won't wobble.

And I never liked putting mats or anything else under a tank. No need to. Ever. I've kept fish a long time. I also have a lot more tanks than most here and still have never used a mat.


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

So you are saying the stand top is totally flat and level but the tank wobbles? This would indicate a tank which was not made right and that would prompt me to look at returning it as defective. If there is no way to do that, I would definitely shim the bottom of the tank to support all four corners evenly. This is also going to have some risk as it will take a very good eye and good shims to avoid having stress on the tank. 
If shimming is needed, I would search out the composite shims to use as wood tends to have more variety in the density of the wood, which can lead to changes in the support over time. 
I might also do some really good looking at why the bottom of the tank is not even. Any chance of a defect in the plastic at the bottom which might be causing a bump to make the wobble?


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## Sentinel (Jul 15, 2018)

Going to recheck it all after work today, with a 4' level and square. Just called the manufacturer, Visio, and they assured me it would be fine to place a thin yoga mat under the frame, and cut the excess. And that the foam would do nothing for supporting the bottom glass, which would be bad. I could cut out the center so just the frame takes out minor imperfections and no foam touching glass at all. I might do some sanding before this and see what all I find today. Thank you everyone will all input.


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## Letsfish (Jul 11, 2017)

I have 2 tanks in my basement a 55/29,they are on stands I built .These tanks sit on a carpeted cement floor and when I set them up they were level,but I did need a few shims.After a while I did notice a difference in the water level [about 3/16"] from one end to the other,most likely due the compressing of the carpet and padding over time. In my case I think it is nothing to worry about but I did not have any wobble. In your case I would put a level on the top and shim it to eliminate the wobble while maintaining level,fill it up with water check it again for level and you should OK


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## ChuckM (Jan 11, 2018)

Sentinel said:


> Going to recheck it all after work today, with a 4' level and square. Just called the manufacturer, Visio, and they assured me it would be fine to place a thin yoga mat under the frame, and cut the excess. And that the foam would do nothing for supporting the bottom glass, which would be bad. I could cut out the center so just the frame takes out minor imperfections and no foam touching glass at all. I might do some sanding before this and see what all I find today. Thank you everyone will all input.


 Sorry, been out of the country...
What was the result of your checks? I've been through this and wanted to toss in a couple thoughts too.
As someone else said, don't fool around with uneven surfaces hoping that the added weight of the water will smooth it out. It may, or it may not. If it doesn't you wind up asking the seams of the tank to take up stresses they weren't designed to take. You're pretty close so the risk is minimal, but why risk it by guessing?


In my case I picked up a CraigsList 65 gallon Aqueon tank and stand for a good price (solid seller, had a good rapport with him). The stand was one of those spindly-looking angle iron deals that, once I had the filled tank on it, scared the hell out of me. I ended up filling in three of the sides with 3/4" marine grade plywood screwed to the angle iron to significantly stiffen it up.


More to your issue though; I cut another piece of the plywood for the top and found it had a slight warp diagonally across the face. I flattened it by bolting a 1.25x1.25 piece of angle as long as I could make it, to the underside across the warp (concavity down) and used the straightedge of the angle and countersunk machine bolts to pull it flat. I don't know if that works in your case, sanding may be enough. But you should start with a level, truely flat surface, unloaded.


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