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melev

Shifting the tank into position

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13 Comments
by
melev
, 11-20-2010 at 09:01 PM (5852 Views)
As you know, the Marineland 400g is pretty heavy. It took 8 of us to lift it into position and place it on the stand. It took four of us to carry the stand in. Combined, it's probably 1600 lbs. I'm home alone, and I want to shift it into position, aligned with the walls of the house.

Being an only child, the one thing I've always been good at is coming up with a way to do it myself and not wait until someone can come over. I appreciate the help, but I hate waiting if there's an option at my disposal. Using a 2-ton roll-away car jack, a 38" header, and a 22-ton can jack, I figured this can't be that big of a deal.

The tank was hoisted up on the 2-ton jack, using the header to lift the tank and stand at once. The can jack was placed against a solid object and with a little leverage the tank could be moved over an inch.



Then it had to move toward the kitchen about half an inch.



Using an 8' 2x4, I checked and rechecked that the sheetrock at the ceiling was in line with the plastic trim of the tank and the metal leg of the stand.





The overflow end of the tank had to come into the fishroom about 1/4" to keep the plastic trim flush with the sheetrock in the hallway.



It is where it belongs.

Now it is time to level it, and I'm open to suggestions. The concrete is uneven and looking at the tank from the kitchen end (the Starphire panel), the right corner needs to come up 1/2". Once it is up where it belongs, the far end (the overflow) will have to come up as well.

The slab concrete can hold the weight, and the stand is powdercoated. I'm trying to decide what to put under the corners of the stand that will hold up long term, can handle getting wet from time to time, and not do damage to the steel frame (rust or electrolysis). I'm thinking the material needs to be 2" wide like the tubing, and probably extend about 6" from the corner to help spread out the weight over a bigger area. Bobby suggested flat stock, like aluminum or stainless steel. I know that oak shims are used to level homes, but they don't get soaked in saltwater when accidents happen.

Since the tank is in place, I don't intend to pour some type of concrete mix to fill such a void, but I'm wondering if slopping some type of mastic or similar material to fill in the gaps might be worth doing.

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Tags: floor jack
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‎ DIY projects

Comments

  1. Duhfactor's Avatar
    Melev,

    Do you think that once you have it where you want it with fiber shims (home depot in the window and door dept) you could tape off the perimeter of the tank stand, and pour self leveler (tile dept) mixed loose inside the frame? I've used self leveler many times, and you can mix it pretty loose, and it goes into every nook and cranny you can think of. If it doesn't, you can coax it in small spaces with a little skewer. The nice thing about this, is it bonds very well to concrete, especially if you use the etching compound it calls for. If you fill the inside of the stand 1/4" or so above the bottom rail surface, it would prevent the stand from moving side to sidel, and provide a very flat surface for your new acrylic sump... It sets up in a couple hours to the point you can work on it too.
  2. Spyder's Avatar
    The first thing that popped into my head that fit your criteria for shims were these.
    http://www.acehardware.com/product/i...LAID=109338893
  3. Jnarowe's Avatar
    plenty of composite shims available, but you could make them with cast acrylic too. Now THAT would be DIY!
  4. Hat39406's Avatar
    Stainless steel is the way to go! ;-)
  5. Jnarowe's Avatar
    That's a joke right?
  6. byrdman's Avatar
    I believe the easiest would be the aluminum flat stock. Raise tank place under stand an your done. No mixing or anything. Set it, forget it.
  7. brotherd's Avatar
    Interested to see how you will finish the drywall around the trim and stand.Will the space under the tank be accessible from the front?
  8. brotherd's Avatar
    Also,is the floor sloped towards the french drain?
  9. melev's Avatar
    Yes, the sump area will be accessible from all sides. The concrete floor doesn't slope as much as I would have preferred, but after a few gallons I have a pretty good suspicion that the rest of the water will head down the drain.

    I'm trying to decide what will look best woodwork-wise. Originally I'd planned floor-to-ceiling, but now I'm worried that it may look off with so much wood and a 'sliver' of tank in the middle. That is why I've not cut off the sheetrock on top, as it helps me think it through somewhat.
  10. Spyder's Avatar
    I can't see any metal fitting they criteria, aluminum will corrode and even stainless will rust if you don't maintain it and both will scratch the powder coating.
  11. baker.shawn's Avatar
    perhaps cedar shims would work?
    as far as woodwork for around the tank have to considered stone work? perhaps a Manufactured Stone Veneer
  12. maroun.c's Avatar
    I thought you will have levelling feet on the stand?
    any reason not to use those?
  13. melev's Avatar
    I just couldn't get past the idea that the threads were taking the entire load of the stank on four tiny points of pressure. If a screw/bolt was 1/2" wide, all the weight was on the threads. If I was using hardened steel like the kinds used to build engine blocks, odds are it would have been fine, but then there's the point of all that pressure on four tiny bits of concrete compared to the rest of the foundation. I just wasn't comfortable with that.