Fish Tank Not Level ?

fm1978 said:
You really need that number to be 0cm and 0mm...
 
If you're absolutely certain that the concrete blocks and the wood that's sitting on top is level then you really only need around about 1cm (some might suggest 1/2 inch) thick piece of polystyrene to 'iron' out any imperfections. You don't need much - it's only to take the pressure off the tank in case there's sand or grit or other hard bits of mess under the base of the tank that could crack the glass when it's filled.
 
I'd thoroughly recommend bolstering you concrete supports in the centre and even using a second piece of wood to spread the load underneath - is that some sort of chipboard/mdf you have under there already? 
Its a kitchen worktop which is around 4 /5 inch thick. I had support in the middle but then the tank was not sitting on the left and right support. So i add blocks to the center  the same amount that is on ether side of the tank and then the tank rises and sits on the center support but not on the left and right support. I have measured from the center of the tank to the bottom and have noticed its the same has the left side and right side so the stand is holding up in the middle. I am guessing that the tank needs to be raised on the left hand side ? Seen has the right side is higher than the left side ? I am gonna empty the tank today and raise the left hand side.
 
That should start ringing alarm bells then...
 
Each set of blocks, if you're using the same blocks, should be exactly the same height. If not, the floor has to be uneven or the blocks are poorly made. That's not good! Can you check any of these things elsewhere?
 
The worktop should be fine, that's quite a good material to use. Are you certain it's not buckled or warped over any part of it?
 
fm1978 said:
That should start ringing alarm bells then...
 
Each set of blocks, if you're using the same blocks, should be exactly the same height. If not, the floor has to be uneven or the blocks are poorly made. That's not good! Can you check any of these things elsewhere?
 
The worktop should be fine, that's quite a good material to use. Are you certain it's not buckled or warped over any part of it?
Yer im sure it was a brand new work top
I thought is show some images of the spirit level
 
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The blocks was made in a mold so i know that every block is the same size. They cement into a mold and let it set in the mold so i know they are the same size. I am thinking i need to make the left hand side of the tank higher ?
 
If the blocks are OK, the tank is OK, the worktop is OK, it only leaves the floor itself and the 'styrene. Something is warping under the load of the tank and water. 
 
Are you able to get another worktop of the same size and put that on the floor first? Then build the blocks (left, centre and right supports) back up, another work on top of the blocks, then your 'styrene, then the tank?
 
If the floor is warping under the small footprint of one of the sets of blocks then it would help to spread the weight more evenly over the full 6ft of the tank.
 
fm1978 said:
If the blocks are OK, the tank is OK, the worktop is OK, it only leaves the floor itself and the 'styrene. Something is warping under the load of the tank and water. 
 
Are you able to get another worktop of the same size and put that on the floor first? Then build the blocks (left, centre and right supports) back up, another work on top of the blocks, then your 'styrene, then the tank?
 
If the floor is warping under the small footprint of one of the sets of blocks then it would help to spread the weight more evenly over the full 6ft of the tank.
 
 
I am gonna try and empty the tank and then lift the left side of the tank up to make it higher. Im gonna try and put something under the work top and on top of the blocks to higher the left side so it should level the tank out.
 
I'm really not sure that's an ideal solution...
 
Could you get any joiner friends in to have a look at the floor maybe?
 
I can see this ending in disaster. 
Please, please do it properly otherwise you are just putting the lives of your fish in needless danger.
 
Sophie said:
I can see this ending in disaster. 
Please, please do it properly otherwise you are just putting the lives of your fish in needless danger.
 
Agree very strongly!
 
I'm trying to be gentle and diplomatic, but, I think you really need to get a 'man' in to look at your set up ASAP!
 
I have had a man come out and look at it and he has said that the tank is level the stand is level and the floor is level and he can not do anything more. I have told him well why is the water like this and he has said its because there is so much water in the tank.
 
nicky1200 said:
I have had a man come out and look at it and he has said that the tank is level the stand is level and the floor is level and he can not do anything more. I have told him well why is the water like this and he has said its because there is so much water in the tank.
 
Well that makes no sense whatsoever.
What a useless man!
 
Empty the tank.
Put a thinner piece of poly in.
Refill the tank.
Check the tank is level and everything is working correctly before you even think about fish.
 
 
:D
So much water makes it unlevel?! 
Any volume of water can be level, if put on a level surface.
 
 
Gah!
 
I have just noticed that i have blocks supporting each corner but the left back corner the blocks are not supporting the corner  Its a bit further forward here is what i mean
 
This is the right hand side you can see the blocks are all the way back to the wall
 
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And here is the left hand side which is not all the way back there is a huge gap
 
XFpc9Q4.jpg

 
 
Maybe its uneven because each corner is not being supported ?
 
The tank is 2 cm out on the left so im now gonna try and put a 2cm shim on the left to make it higher seen has the water level is 2cm lower on the left than the right.
 
I doubt its the blocks in your pics that's causing thus.

really recommend you empty the tank, put fish in a small tank with filter and heater, they should hopefully be fine while you sort this out.

try with 1cm poly first. If that does still show an uneven tank then maybe its your floorboards that cannot cope with the weight if your tank and water.

that's worst case scenario though.
Remember 1 litre of water is about 1 kilo in weight, so am assuming your tank is about 250 litres, so that's 250 kilos plus weight of tank and decor plus weight of worktop and blocks, over 300 kilos resting in a few floorboards. Heck of a lot of weight!

Hopefully you have concrete floor or supports.
do not put a 2cm shim under the right side of rank, that's gonna add pressure to middle of your tank and may break the base glass.

lifting up a tank on one end full of water is really asking for trouble. Glass is brittle and does not bend well!!

you do not want a broken tank with 250 litres of water all over your floor with fish dying. Really not an experience even worth think about! :(

Ask someone to help you out and get this done properly. There are no short cuts or quick fixes am afraid.
 
It's a 6ft tank so it's more likely to be in the region of 400-450 litres - I'm guessing from your first picture it's 6ft x 2ft x 1.5ft...
 
That's a heck of a weight to be putting on weak floorboards...
 
fm1978 said:
It's a 6ft tank so it's more likely to be in the region of 400-450 litres - I'm guessing from your first picture it's 6ft x 2ft x 1.5ft...
 
That's a heck of a weight to be putting on weak floorboards...
 
Thats fair enough although I based my measurements on pic, looked like length 6ft, width 1ft and height 1.5ft so using forum calculator i came up with 255 litres but with a width of 2ft then, its 510 litres! 
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So certainly the weight of whole set up is between 300kg to 550kg ish. 
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And yes, that is a heck a lot of weight on weak floorboards whichever way you look at it! 
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Thats IF it is the floorboards thats giving. I can't tell until he puts in a thinner sheet of polystyrene, taking out the 2 inch poly one first obviously and then take it from there.
 
Really hope OP will do things properly. Not trying to fit a shim on left side of tank by lifting it while full of water and shoving shim under tank.................
 

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