dangers of uneven water level

[FUA]

just wondering if anyone could give me information on shimming a tank stand. I have a 150g tank and the floor is about an inch or more out of level in six feet. This is really the only place I can set it up.


Is it usually better to try and shim a stand or allow the water level to be off. I read that uneven water levels could be dangerous. I was wondering if the danger was the tank bursting or leaking. I understand that tipping over is another possible danger. I really want to get this tank set up and advice would be appreciated

 

[fernandesbe]

Hi,

It is very important to try and even out the water level otherwise the added weight on whichever pain of glass will stress the joints to the point where the silicone will start splitting the pieces apart, or even worse the glass will burst if it is a few years old. I would recommend putting a piece of wood under your stand to even it out NOT the glass. I had about an inch to an inch and a quarter of added weight to the front side and could see the silicone stretching on my brand new 180 gallon tank thats when I went to the basement and installed a pole directly under the tank and would jack it up a few centermeters every few days.......hope that helps pm me if you need more info......

 

[bignick]

I put my 210 in a basement and i had the same problem. I just drained the tank and but shims in. After 4 months of sittng filled with watter it has settled and is maybe 1/16th o fan ich off. I may have to jack it up again but for now i'm leaving it the way it is.

 

[MammothReefer]

I put foam down between my tank and stand

 

[nyvp]

my 560g was off as well. I didnt want to drain so I took a carjack and a 2x4 on its end and jacked it shimmed oneside and then did the same to the other till it was perfect. just do it very slowly.

 

[FUA]

Thanks for the comments. I also talked to the local "fish store guy" who said I could shim the end and then put a shim in the middle of the front and back to support the full length of the stand. I am on thick carpet so I was thinking of putting the whole tank on 1" marine plywood to give me a level playing field. I will give it a try and see what happens.

 

[dougchambers]

Do you have space or provisions in your stand that you could add leveling jacks? When we built our in-wall stand, we used these;

They work great and made leveling our system much easier. If I recall, we slope 1.5" left-to-right and ~1.25" front-to-back.

-Doug

 

[FUA]

how do you mount the leveling jacks? I would probably have to make some modifications to the stand to use those. those do look useful though.

 

[dougchambers]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9379641#post9379641 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by FUA
how do you mount the leveling jacks? I would probably have to make some modifications to the stand to use those. those do look useful though.

There are a couple different kinds of inserts. This is the one we used;

We flipped the stand upside down, used a spade bit to drill a counter-bore and mounted the insert. Works great if you have the room for the insert. There are other types of mounts depending on your stand base.

-Doug

 

[AcroSteve]

I have an oceanic 110 that is about 1" out of level. The tank is over 10yrs old and it has been in it's current location for over 3 years with no problems.

So, it does not look very good, but catastrophic failure is not probable.

 

[AJT]

If you shim, make sure you do not use wood shims. After a few water spills, & it will happen, the wood shims fall apart. If you shim use metal ones.



my .02

 

[nyvp]

I used the plastic one from home depot

 

[jman77]

where can u get leveling jacks at?

 

[dougchambers]

I got mine from www.mcmaster.com with a search for leveling feet.

-Doug