Leveling an aquarium

[modernhamlet]

Does anyone have any sound advice for leveling a large aquarium? It's a 75g sitting on a standard black metal stand on hardwood floors. I definitely need to put something under each foot of the stand, to prevent the metal from digging into the floors. Should I level from the floor or from the point where the tank and stand meet?

Any advice from those that have been through this before would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[schizo_fish]

definitely level from the floor.
Placing something between the tank and the stand may cause a slight unnoticable bend in the tank which may cause the tank to break or crack.
and you dont want that to happen

 

[Opcn]

/me agrees with SF

Also you should take a piece of soft foam and put it in between the tank and the stand

 

[Tolak]

Wooden shims that are used for door & window installation work great for leveling stands. A bundle costs around $1, you can level quite a few stands with one bundle. I've used them on hardwood and concrete floors, and my basement floors have a pretty severe pitch to them.

The top of the stand is designed to support the tank evenly around the perimeter, you never want to shim that. The foam between the stand and tank helps to even out any irregularities in the stand or tank.

Tolak

 

[rvm]

I had to level off my 150g last weekend. That was a hell of a job!!! I emptied as much water as I could (probably left about 8" of water in the bottom. Just enough for the fish to be OK in) then I got a friend to come round with a big industrial crowbar which we used to lift the tank while I slid in small pieces of aluminium plate under the feet and then measure it with a spirit level. It was quite scary to see how far out it was!! Took about 6mm to level it off, and I just noticed a couple of days ago that it is very slightly out lengthways as well, so I gotta do it all again now!!!

 

[schizo_fish]

my tank was about 5mm lower at one end and its only 1m long. So i raised the one side with bits of card, but over the past month its squashed down a bit and there is a slight difference again.

 

[Max Action]

My 75 gallon started out nice and nearly level, but over a short period of time the weight on the 100 year-old hardwood floor had an effect - the corner furthest from the walls (the least supported corner) started to sink slightly.

I went to the source of the problem and put a floor jack from the hardware store in my basement, beneath the corner of the tank above. With this I was able to level the tank, as well as stablize the floor - now the water in the tank doesn't wiggle and jiggle when someone walks quickly past.

 

[schizo_fish]

i couldn't do that, my tank is in my bedroom which is upstairs.
(i dont live in a bungalow, incase anyone thought i was stating the obvious)