Leaning Forward

[AdelitaGSD]

Just set this up the day before yesterday

I just setup a new to me 55 gallon and it is leaning forward. Not level by 1/2 inch. Do you think moving the tank all the way back on the stand would help. As of right now it’s hanging over the front (Board touching the floor on the bottom) board quite a bit.

I just setup a new to me 55 gallon and it is leaning forward. Not level by 1/2 inch. Do you think moving the tank all the way back on the stand would help. As of right now it’s hanging over the front board quite a bit.

I think it’s a tv stand.. but it has been on it for awhile and the stand is super sturdy even before weight is added.

The 3rd pic is the back and the 4th pic is the front ( to show the boards underneath)
The 5th pic is showing how munch over the front board the tank is sitting. (The blue sticks show where the boards run)

Also (6th pic) I tried to sketch out how the support looks with out the table top, from the bottom (what’s touching the floor), and the size of the top itself. That’s why maybe moving is all the way back in the stand may help?

See pics and hopefully I explained it well. .

 

[John58ford]

I love that you drew these diagrams and are a technical person. First I want to make sure you know a 55 gallon with just water is about 675 lbs total weight, add sand and rocks etc which are denser than water, 750 is a likely total. An 82" TV currently averages about 100 lbs. Add some other stuff (receivers, amplifiers etc) and the total weight is likely 300lbs expected.

I'm all for using other than normal tank stands but there are differences. A tank stand if particle board is usually made with water resistant adhesives bonding the particles, not the case with a TV stand. A tank stand will be designed to hold almost all the loading on the outside two legs, not the case with a TV stand. Your aquarium will likely be ok on this stand but if the stand gets wet or is outside it's design specs (usually a safety factor of three times the expected load) it will likely fail catastrophically.

Here's the bad news, the 2x 47-1/2" boards are mostly to stop the lower shelf from bowing. Most of your load from the tank is going to come down on the two side boards. Unfortunately it is going to be harder to shim this stand than most because it is designed deferent than most tank stands and does have the boards running across under the lower shelf. (Likely because it was designed to take a more centered load from a TV) In design world this would have allowed the manufacturer to use a slightly thinner top panel and the longest biggest board (the top panel) is usually the most expensive part for them to supply.


Now good news and a suspicion:
You could shift your tank back on the stand but really it shouldn't change anything. I believe your stand is sitting on the "tack strips" that hold your carpet back to the base boards. In some installations the tack strip would be mostly under the baseboard trim, in others it can be as far as 2 inches from the wall. Sometimes there are other details near the edge of the floor like the carpet padding etc having an installation flaw.

If you take a needle, and stick it in the carpet repeatedly every 1/2" or so along the side panels can you find a hard or raised area near the back half that is hidden under your carpet?

The set up looks great BTW, I hope we (the forum collectively ) can figure out how to help you make it work.

Edit: I found it listed as an aquarium stand on Amazon. Amazon.com: Aquarium Stand - For 55 Gallon Tank (Cherry/Black) (24 3/8"H x 50"L x 15 3/8"W): Home & Kitchen

You are likely safe as far as the load and water resistant factors go.

 

[AdelitaGSD]

Thank you so much for the response! I have had saltwater aquariums a long lime ago, so originally posted on a saltwater site I was already a member of and with the comments was freaking out that it was a TV stand! I think I’m going to remove most of the water and try to move it further from the wall and hope it help... if it doesn’t then I’m not really sure where to go from there.

Hmmm moved it 4 inches from wall still not level. Going to move it back about 2-3 inches from wall (just so it’s past the tac strip) and get some shims. With this tank where would the shims go? The front corners only or also the front 47.5 board?

Thanks

 

[AdelitaGSD]

Success! Drained and put the plastic shims in the front corners a couple along the front board and one in the back right corner. Thanks for the advice!