Tank not level!!! Advice needed.

[joelsaxton]

I built a stand for my 96x24x24 glass reef tank. I leveled it after building it and it was perfectly level. I put the tank on the stand, and as I was filling it for the first time, I noticed that the water was slightly higher at the back end of the tank. Using a level, much to my chagrin, I see that I am 1/8" to 3/16" lower at the back of the tank than the front. This means as the tank is 24 inches from front to back, there is a decline somewhere in this range. I have no clue how this could have happened, except maybe the empty tank (~350 lbs) somehow "compressed" the stand over a matter of weeks. To make things worse, I have the stand bolted to the concrete floor in four places, so shimming under the stand might be impossible. I am not sure how to correct this. The tank is so big and heavy, even when empty, that I would need to recruit 3 or 4 friends to help lift it off the stand. The stand itself is strong (12 4x4 posts) and 3/4" plywood table on top of 2x4's. Do I need to worry about this, and if so, how could I go about resolving this?

[CaliforniaDreamer]

It does seem strange that your tank is no longer level. Your concrete floor would (should) not sag and 4 X 4's Really wouldn't compress under the weight very much and would do so evenly. What would worry me is that something failed under the weight to cause the shift. I would first verify your level (check it with the level orenteted both ways). If the level checks out I would start looking for the cause, I don't think I would leave the tank that way. :(

[spleen93]

Perhaps the floor itself wasn't level to start off with? And I agree that I wouldn't leave it like that. :(

Spleen

[joelsaxton]

It seems that I have 2 choices:

1 - leave it the way it is

2 - empty the tank, chop off the pipes, carry the tank off the table, use some kind of hydraulic jack to bust the concrete floor bolts off the bottom of the stand (which will probably cause significant damage to the bottom of the structure), then shim it, redrill the floor, and put 4 new floor bolts in.

someone here at RC must have had this problem at some point...

[joelsaxton]

spleen, the floor is perfectly level. As you know, when concrete is poured, it makes itself perfectly level. The leveler shows this. As the tank is only 24" high, I might leave it the way it is.

[bj32482]

foam under the tank?

[natex]

My tank was off kilter for about 3 months, then it resettled to level. I have no idea how, or why. Moral of the story is, if you fill tank up to the plastic molding, it should not make a difference. If you can't see it, its not a problem.

I would bet dollars to donuts the floor is a little tilted.

To level the tank try using a rubber mat from home depot. Cut it at an angle and let the weight of the tank do the rest. Other than that, I would just leave it.

[joelsaxton]

what kind of rubber mat? It seems it would just get compressed and then produce almost negligible effects. My gut says that this leveling discrepancy will not make a difference, but if it does, and my tank is destroyed, then I will feel like a real horse's ***.

[Highlander]

I had a 120 which was 1/4" off level front to back due to my floor not being level, it was never any kind of a problem or concern.
I'd just leave it.

[natex]

The heavy black mat they sell by the foot. I have no idea what it is "supposed" to be used for but it worked as a base for my iguana cage. Just put the mat in the rear and let it compress. If you get 1/16 of an inch out of it you should be golden.


I was ready to sell my tank because it was about 1/2 inch off at worst! I put it off and put it off. When I checked the tilt, just after making arangements for my girlfriend to take my coral, hey presto it was level. I try not to think about what the floor joists look like...:rolleye1:

[joelsaxton]

heavy black mat. I might look into that.

[SOMEthinsFISHY]

THIS IS NOT OFF ENUF to make a difference just forget about it

I have seen tanks much worse than that !

[joelsaxton]

I see you have been in the hobby for 35 yrs. So how much worse have you seen?

[ChristopherB]

Given the size of the tank, I'd remove the tank and plane off the back end to make it level. Make sure that you level the stand in its final resting position to get it right. It sounds like the floor you initially leveled it on is slightly different from your final location.

[spleen93]

Originally posted by joelsaxton
spleen, the floor is perfectly level. As you know, when concrete is poured, it makes itself perfectly level. The leveler shows this. As the tank is only 24" high, I might leave it the way it is.

Concrete doesn't always level out perfectly - I've seen some slight elevations near walls before (or maybe the people pouring the concrete didn't know what they were doing). :) In any case, if the level on the floor comes out level, then it's a moot point anyway. I think the pads are a good idea just in case.

Spleen

[Navyblue]

I have my tank on a steel stand and about a month ago I realise that the water level in front is higher than that of at the back. I can't remember whether I see this a few months back when I moved this tank. what makes things worse is I recently added a heavy hood resting on 2 side wall of the tank. So far I do not have any plan yet, but I wanted to know what will happen too.

[Deuce67]

I have a 90 g AGA. Right side is 3/16 higher than the left. Its been like that since my freshwater days. Going on 5 years now.

[comatose]

First of all, why would you bolt the stand down anyway?
if you are off 1/8" from front to back do not worry about it, if you are 3/16 off you might want to relevel it.

how i level my 180 glass tank without a level is fill it with water upto the top of the bottom rim(about 1/2 of water) then level it that way till it's even with the rim all the way around the tank, that is more acurate than a level since water seeks it's own level.

[joelsaxton]

It serves as a room partition, so I wanted to make it part of the floor structure -- basically like a wall. Objection?

[comatose]

yes, now you can't put shimms upder the legs to relevel it because you bolted it down.
you bolted it cause you thought it might move?
trust me a tank that weighs over a ton when filled will not move.

[joelsaxton]

oh, well. Too late now. Here is an image where I marked the water level in photoshop. It is not that bad I guess.

[ingros]

I'm not sure how your stand top is designed, but I had the same problem with mine and I solved it by pouring about 3 gallons of two part epoxy onto the stand top - it cured perfectly level. My top has a lip around it to seat the tank so this worked for me, but without the lip to hold the epoxy you would have to try one of the other options suggested.

John

[comatose]

that looks like more than a 1/4", at least to the naked eye it does.

anyway when the tank is finally full you might notice the water line on one side of the tank and not the other, meaning the water line will not be hidden with the top trim and it may bother you over time.

if it will bother you then it's better to take care of it now before it's all filled up.
do you have a picture of what the stand looks like inside at the floor?

[Dubbin1]

You didnt use treated lumber to build the stand did you? If you did then right there is your problem. Treated wood will shrink (A LOT) over time.

[SOMEthinsFISHY]

relax it will be ok !

[joelsaxton]

ok, ok I will.

comatose-I don't have a good pic of the stand itself. It is 4 ft high by 8 long by 2 wide. It has 10 4x4 posts (actually doubled 2x4s), 4 2x4 posts, angle irons between the posts for additional support, and various metal braces. The front and side panels are 2 ft x 4 ft 1/2" thick plywood. The tabletop is 3/4" high grade oak plywood. The vertical strength is more than enough to handle the 175 lbs / ft^2, so my only concern is lateral motion. I saw a tank almost this size supported by less than half this amount of wood at the LFS. I couldn't believe it. I figure overkill is better than underkill.

[Lost His Marbles Name]

Try going to a horse tack shop and ask for 3/4 inch rubber for horses to stand on it will come in all different sizes. I uses one 3/4 inch on my tank and it worked.
Thanks to Nanook

[Caryliss]

This might be a really stupid question, but is it possible that top brace isn't level but the tank is? IE, the top brace isn't fully seated on the glass, and sits higher on one side than the other? Try taking an exact measurement of the tank, from bottom frame to top of top frame, on all 4 sides to compare.

[joelsaxton]

I see that the water is slightly higher on the back end of the tank than the front end. The more the tank fills, the better it is starting to look. It might be about 1/8 of an inch over a 24 inch span. I think I will leave it alone.

[comatose]

Caryliss if you look at the last pic he posted in this threed you can see that it is not level from the bottom brace.

joelsaxton is it possible to unbolt just the one side of the stand then slide shimms under each leg on the low side then let it down and rebolt?

[joelsaxton]

The concrete bolt is designed to expand as it is pounded into its hole, making it virtually impossible to pull it out without tremendous force. Yes, I now regret making this move.

[comatose]

after you fill it up and before you add the salt your gonna have to see how it looks and make a judgment call

[joelsaxton]

that is my plan.

[SOMEthinsFISHY]

Originally posted by joelsaxton
I see that the water is slightly higher on the back end of the tank than the front end. The more the tank fills, the better it is starting to look. It might be about 1/8 of an inch over a 24 inch span. I think I will leave it alone.

GOOD choice !!:rollface: :rollface: