Wood under stand?

[Alysiak00]

Was getting ready to setup the new 65g and I had an idea. My new tank will be placed on carpet and I was worried about tipping and weight. Has anyone put a piece of wood uder their stands for weight distribution? I want to cut a piece 40x20 as the stand is 38x19.

[aleonn]

I'd use a leveler to determine whether or not your tank is level first. The weight should be evenly distributed as long as everything is level. When you add water and rocks, the stand shouldn't tip over or anything. JMHO though, someone else please chime in with a different perspective :)

[Lynnmw1208]

I would check to see if it's level as well. I have my tank on carpet and after it is filled with water, it's heavy enough to be stable. I was lucky that my floors were really even where the tank is so I didn't have to shim anything.

[Alysiak00]

It's not only for leveling its for weight distribution. It's in a mobile home and weight could be an issue. The tank is already level it just wobbles with the present 45g.

[evsalty]

I do not think that a board that is only 1"-2" wider then the stand is going to make a bit of difference if the floor itself is not solid/stable. Now if your stand is just 4 legs at the corners and that is all that is touching the floor then perhaps a board could help but if it is a typical stand under your current tank that is able to wobble then the board is not going to do anything. You need to find the floor supports under the area you want to place the tank and make sure you are crossing several of them.

[Alysiak00]

I thought that having more weight distributed over a bigger surface area would lower the strain. And its over top 2-3 supports

[kzooreefer]

I have my 29 gallon on carpet and its not level drops down 1/8 inch over its length. Haven't had any problems in 5 years and had freshwater for longer than that with the same setup.

[evsalty]

Thinking more about this it seems to me that if your current tank is wobbly then you have one of two issues.
1) the 45g stand is not sturdy and is the cause of the wobbliness

2) the floor is not strong and is flexing under the weight of the 45g tank/stand.

If number 1 is the issue then you will have fixed it by usning a new stand. But if number 2 is correct then adding an extra 200lbs onto an already weak floor is going to lead to disaster.

Knowing that this is in a mobile home would make me question the floor strength first and foremost. I had both a 55g and a 50 Tall in a mobile home before without any wobbliness of either tank so I know it is possible. But then age of the unit comes into play.

[evsalty]

I thought that having more weight distributed over a bigger surface area would lower the strain. And its over top 2-3 supports

While that is true you have to go much bigger to make any real distributional difference. 1-2 extra inches is not going to make much of a difference. Again I would be looking into finding out what is the cause of the first tanks wobbliness insted of just throwing guesses at it. Basically if you find the cause of the 45g's issue you can determine if you will have this issue with the new setup.

[Alysiak00]

It's not a crazy wobble with the 45 I think its just because of the carpet. I'm just meticulous about my hobbys and didn't know if it would reduce it any with the wood. It moves about 1/2" in either direction if I push on it

[MarkGP]

Is this by any chance the stand for and oceanic tech 45?

[Lynnmw1208]

If it's the floor, can you get under the home and put supports? If it's not the floor I would look into the stand as others have mentioned. I had an oceanic 30 gallon hex tank and that stand was pretty shaky.

[evsalty]

It's not a crazy wobble with the 45 I think its just because of the carpet. I'm just meticulous about my hobbys and didn't know if it would reduce it any with the wood. It moves about 1/2" in either direction if I push on it
Unless there is something under the carpet below the tank that is allowing the tank to rock on it then the carpet should not be the cause of the wobble. Or you have like some serious seroius padding under there because the weight of the tank should be compressing the carpet down equally on all four sides. A 45g should be weighing in around 400-500 lbs as an average. My 46 bow never wobbled on carpet.

[Alysiak00]

update: Looked under house and there is two metal support beam DIRECTLY under the tank. Can you say jackpot. Okay so anyways, i did some digging in the house design and it says theres 1/2" padding under the carpet and we have pretty thick carpet.

also, its just a standard 45g. I went to a buddies house in the same park and he has the same amount of wobble in his tank (on carpet in same house design)

[bpoore89]

My 220g is in the basement but on the carpeted floor. The stand was perfectly level on the concrete, but on the carpet it was slightly off. Nothing a few shims couldn't fix. She's sittin pretty now

[bpoore89]

Oh and I've swam in mine on the stand on carpet. Its not going to tip over. Believe me

[Habu]

Mine moves a little on thick carpet as well. It is a 180g

[Chris27]

Putting the tank on a piece of plywood will only make it wobble more.....a load resting on legs at the corners is far more stable then if it's resting on a flat, unleveled surface, such as carpet and padding.