Hi, I'm hoping someone will have advice on leveling a stocked tank as there's a lot of different information online.
The tank is 2ft long, about 56l. I've attached a photo so you can see the stand it's on, which is an oak table with four legs instead of a full base, and a solid top which has shown no signs of warping. The tank is glass, on a raised edge so the glass bottom doesn't make contact with the wood, and there is nothing underneath (which I believe is correct for a raised edge). It's on a laminate floor and has been filled for almost a year, and had been used before by me but not for more than a few months.
I've always known the level was a bit off, but as I fill it up so the water surface isn't visible and clearly pay very little attention while doing water changes, I've only recently become concerned about how off it is. What's mostly made me anxious is that the seals look white to me (but looking at a photo from setup, I think they always were). I thought I could see one of them starting to peel inside, but I poked them with a credit card and I think the seal just has a chunky edge instead of being smoothed in line with the glass. The back left corner is about 1cm lower than the front right corner, so it's off in every direction.
(In my teens at my mum's house we had a 3ft Juwel tank on a stand, on an uneven carpet floor and it was over 1cm out. It took several years but one day I saw water slowly dripping from one of the corners. I panicked and called a LFS who just told me to empty the tank asap. I didn't have another tank set up so I put a smaller one together right away, and because of the leak we transferred the fish after a few days. Obviously it didn't have enough time to cycle and we lost some of the fish. After emptying the tank we never used it again, it's still empty at her house. I suppose the trauma has stayed with me.)
I can't find much info about leveling a tank on a table with legs instead of a solid base. To anyone who has experience of this, can I remove most of the water and slide something like a piece of cardboard/foam under the back left leg? Would I have to shim more than one leg otherwise risk not all legs being in contact with the floor? Is the tank a risk that should be emptied, never used again and stock donated to a LFS? I'm a very anxious person so I feel I need to ask how much I need to worry about this. So many thanks in advance for any advice
Tank not level, advice wanted
- PaulVerrall
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Could you not just take 80% water out and get a cheap stand from gumtree to put the tank on. As for the seals if on a now flat surface not so much pressure, maybe in the future look at re-siliconing them.
- Ric
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Of course, once you have had a tank leak you have had that bad experience, so no wonder you are worried.
My take is: the air bubble is in between the two lines, which means it is basically level. If you want it dead straight, I don't see why you couldn't partially empty out the tank and then put something underneath (a wedge or a slim piece of wood) to level the table. Depends a little on your strength, of course, but I think your tank is small enough that it could be lifted with just taking a couple of buckets of water out.
Something like cardboard or foam might be too soft and flatten out over time but might be do-able for a while. If possible, try to put something firmer, like wood, underneath.
My take is: the air bubble is in between the two lines, which means it is basically level. If you want it dead straight, I don't see why you couldn't partially empty out the tank and then put something underneath (a wedge or a slim piece of wood) to level the table. Depends a little on your strength, of course, but I think your tank is small enough that it could be lifted with just taking a couple of buckets of water out.
Something like cardboard or foam might be too soft and flatten out over time but might be do-able for a while. If possible, try to put something firmer, like wood, underneath.
- Kiwi
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Thanks so much for your replies, I feel better already since nobody's saying the tank's about to explode I'm probably worrying over nothing and tend to read too much into things (when I set up the tank I asked four people for opinions on the safety of extension cables; every opinion was "I don't know, I've never thought about it" ). Looking at an old photo I can see that the imperfections I can see in the seals and the glass not being completely flush were there from the start, so aren't evidence of warping.
@PaulVerrall The table it's on has nothing wrong with it, it's the floor that's uneven. The surface of the table is flat and all legs touch the floor, it's just on a slight slant. The only way I can level it out is by shimming a corner, I'm just nervous of creating uneven pressure across the legs in doing so.
@Ric Thank you, maybe I'm making too big a deal out of 1cm! If it's not a threat to the tank's integrity I can leave it as it is, but I could definitely lift it to get a small piece of wood under a leg. I just don't know whether this would cause the other legs adjacent to it to not sit on the floor quite right, creating a bigger problem, if you see what I mean? Like when you get a wobbly table at a restaurant. I have zero experience with shimming/leveling in this way. I really appreciate the advice
@PaulVerrall The table it's on has nothing wrong with it, it's the floor that's uneven. The surface of the table is flat and all legs touch the floor, it's just on a slight slant. The only way I can level it out is by shimming a corner, I'm just nervous of creating uneven pressure across the legs in doing so.
@Ric Thank you, maybe I'm making too big a deal out of 1cm! If it's not a threat to the tank's integrity I can leave it as it is, but I could definitely lift it to get a small piece of wood under a leg. I just don't know whether this would cause the other legs adjacent to it to not sit on the floor quite right, creating a bigger problem, if you see what I mean? Like when you get a wobbly table at a restaurant. I have zero experience with shimming/leveling in this way. I really appreciate the advice
- black ghost
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As long as it’s only off in that one plane it’s fine (if the two sides, front to back, are level). It’s when front to back is also off that you’ll get problems. Either way, I would empty or nearly empty it and put biscuits (the joinery kind) under the feet to level the stand.
- Kiwi
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@black ghost It is definitely off on both planes. Only about 0.5cm back to front, but it's enough to bother me. Biscuits are a good idea, although I've seen some opinions online that shimming a four-legged table is bad altogether because of the potential to wobble. As it only has two fish in it I'm considering donating them and removing the tank or finding somewhere else to put it.
- black ghost
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Shimming is only a bad idea if you don’t get the table perfectly level. If it’s done properly it can’t wobble. Having said that, it’s not easy to do when all four corners are different.
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You’re not that far out. I know it plays havoc with your head, especially if you’ve had accidents before, but for what it’s worth I think it will be fine. I have a near 300 litre tank that is pretty much the same front to back and I eventually found peace with it. You will too.
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- Kiwi
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Thanks everyone, I haven't decided what the best course of action is but I have several options to think about now, and I'm feeling less worried I feel okay leaving it until I have reason to mostly empty it and then I'll see if I can level it out safely.