[My1stTankInYears]

Hi I just joined the site as I'm making my first fishkeeping move in about 20years and this sub-section of the forum may just be where I can get help.

I have a new tank (Aquanano 22L) and new stand (Hagen Marina Style 60) that should hold a Marina 60L tank.

The stand had little in the way of cross beam support so I added my own - each 'back' you see here is contiboard I fitted between the uprights held with Unibond No More Nails, which I've found to be strong.




So problems?

Well depending upon where I place the tank on the top of the stand it wobbles as not all feet are supporting. This is a bit of a worry as the tank may be subjected to forces its not designed for? And the Marina Style 60L tank itself does not have legs. So maybe the stand is not 100% straight and not designed for legs? (I'm only worrying about all this because I'm surprised the tank wobbles at all :-( ).

Secondly and finally the whole thing - tank and stand - wobble as you walk past it. And its placed right next to a busy doorway.

18 second Video Here: 2014 08 07 - YouTube

If this were a strong angle iron stand with a thick support below the tank I'd not really worry but here I don't know if the stand is flexing below the tank. And I know glass will not bend...even 1mm. It will crack instead. It seems the underlying floorboards run lengthways to the tank. So if I tred on one floorboard its just levering at a small part (the floorboard's width) of the stand. So again I'm back to wondering if the tank is getting stressed by maybe the stand flexing below it?


What to do (if anything)?

I have a piece of coniboard remaining. I could top the stand with it but a double layer would look a bit obvious and ugly. I could make a small plinth for the tank to stand on - may also be ugly. Or I could put it at the bottom of the stand - less noticeable and may help distribute the force of the floor boards evenly so there is no flex.

Orrrrr am I worrying about nothing and going OCD again (which I really do anyway).

(oops also the tank is not quite level - a pic here - but I doubt this matters much across its 30cm width?




Hopefully this all made sense!

 

[DKRST]

Based on the size of the tank, a little out-of-level shouldn't be a major issue if the tank is evenly supported at each corner. The movement of the stand is worrysome. I had a similar issue with a tank. I ended up adding a thick top to the original stand and attaching the added top to studs in the wall using two thick metal "L" brackets and screws. That reduced the movement of the tank. In your case, I'd say level the tank stand using shims under it before securing it to the wall, if you decide that will work. You'll still get some "bounce", but not as much.

Next option: build a structure to place under the stand, BUT if the floor moves, that structure will still potentially transfer the movement to the tank. You could do this and then secure the original stand to the wall also, which should solve the problem.

NOTE: my tank was approx 160L acrylic, so the stand issue was somewhat magnified in my case!