New Tank And New Stand Wobbles.

[BubblesLotsOfBubbles]

I'm making my first fishkeeping move in about 20years and 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.

Short (18second) 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!

 

[Ch4rlie]

Sounds like its the floorboard thats weak under the stand rather than the stand itself.
 
Try placing the tank and stand in another area, say further corner in that from that doorway, where there will be less traffic to cause floorboards to move the stand and tank, see if any difference.
 
Also, have the tank next to the door is not always the best idea, especially if you have children running about. Accident waiting to happen imo.
 
A very slightly unlevel tank is not a major worry imo. I in fact have the same tank and i know the filter output is on the left side and when thats on, it will sort of level up the water level anyway  

 

[ShinySideUp]

I wouldn't worry too much. It's looks like an acrylic tank with only 22 kgs of water in it and the stand looks pretty substantial plus I believe you were stamping about a bit to show the wobble, more than might occur just by walking around. If you can move it away from the door a little then that would be a bonus, but I don't think you have much of a problem. My own tank weighs 800kg when full and the empty tank alone would kill someone if it fell on them, I always have a nagging fear of a failure of the stand in some way, a small tank like yours wobbling a bit wouldn't worry me at all,

 

[cambojnr]

I had the exact same stand for about 9 months and it was wobbly when the tank had nothing in, but once filled its fine, sadly the tank sprung a leak and had to replace with my new set up.

 

[BubblesLotsOfBubbles]

Thanks for your replies.
 
Unfortunately this is the only place I can put the stand so its got to stay. Does that alter anyone's opinions as the advice was to move it ideally? (btw door opens toward the tank so there is no chance of anyone bumping into it as they pass).
 
LOL ShinySideUp I wasn't quite stamping but shuffling about just to get the effect. Does it affect your call on this if I say its actually glass (yes even the rounded corners) and the only acrylic is the internal dividers for the filters?
 
Cambojnr (a large format reference?)  sorry to hear that. Where did the tank leak and do you think there is anything I could do to prevent the same? I'd be gutted if this leaked and messed up the stand (took ages to chose it then reinforce it and make it look 'professional').
 
Also just between all of us

I got this bigger stand with an eye (LOL not told anyone in the house yet!) on getting a bigger tank for it - would a tank that fully fitted the stand still be OK with this wobbling and uneven top? Worrying that a length of  ca 60 cm of glass is more demanding of an even surface than that of 30 cm.

 

[ShinySideUp]

Being glass rather than acrylic means it will be heavier but so long as the surface it rests on is flat (as in even as opposed to level) there shouldn't be a problem. The fact that the tank moves when you walk around obviously points to you having floorboards so be careful if you get ever bigger tanks, they can only take so much weight.

 

[BubblesLotsOfBubbles]

OK Shinyside. Guess I will cross that bridge if I come to it (I think I will, but not that much point in speculating now about then).

 

[ian_m]

My mates tank placed on an old chest of drawers failed due to poor floor boards.
 
What happens was, under the weight of the tank, the drawer unit twisted slightly to accommodate the uneven floor in his house, basically one of the front legs was pushed lower than the other three. The top of the unit was no longer flat, thus warping the tank. This caused the silicone in front left and back right of the tank to tear, leaking water, luckily he noticed before too much water escaped.
 
Was fixed by re-siliconing the glass and standing the drawer unit on a piece of 18mm ply with spacers stuffed under to "fill the gaps".
 
His new house has concrete floors so is no longer an issue.