The Aquarium is safely on the stand!!!!! I am breathing a lot easier now that the hard part is done. Now I can enjoy taking my time and getting everything set up. Here are the pictures.
I had purchased two large (8.5 inch diameter) suction cups for use with glass. With these, the two srtongest of us (not me) could lift one end at a time so that we could slide 4x4's under on each end and the middle. This just got it off the ground enough so that everyone could get their hands under it to lift.
How many mathematicians does it take to lift a 340 gallon tank?
Eleven of us lifted without difficulty to the height of the supports that I made out of the crate that the tank was shipped in. Two people were ready and slid the supports under the tank when it was high enough.
That's my wife Ellen (in the blue) on the far side ready to move one of the supports into position.
On the supports.
I sent everyone to get food and drink (but no alcohol until the lifting is done) while I applied construction grade glue to the stand top and put on the 3/4 inch plywood. I waited until now to do this since the weight of the tank would be ideal for leveling out the top by forcing the glue out of the high spots and into the low spots to get a very level surface.
Tamping it down.
Adding the 3/4 inch foam. You can see one of the suction cups on this end.
Moving the tank and supports closer to the stand.
Sliding the tank onto the stand. This proved to be quite easy since the supports matched the stand height.
Fine tuning the position.
All done with the decorative facade pieces back on.
