Tank/floor Level

[HarlowS]

Hi all, First post (of many no doubt) so go gentle

I have returned back to keeping fish after 6 years, I have got a 175 litre corner tank withj bowed glass and am setting this up at the mo. The issue is floor level. I half filled it and then noticed that water level was about 6mm lower on the left than to the right. So i emptied it out again and have spent the past 2 days trying to level it out as best as i can. I have had it settled now for 6 hours and it still has 2mm diffeerence in water level from left to right which i just cant get rid of. Will this be ok ?? Its seems fine from front to back (according to spirit level).

Many thanks

Stuart

 

[Tortea]

2mm Doesn't really matter as long as the filter can still filter, i have about 1cm difference but once the water level goes above the wood you can't tell the difference

 

[waterdrop]

Good question! I've not heard people really quantify it. I worked pretty hard to level mine as it is important, but 2mm is really tiny. I just took a rule and confirmed that mine is off by that much and its been fine, so for my 2 cents I say 2mm shouldn't cause you any trouble.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[HarlowS]

Thanks for the replies. You read so many horror stories about tanks cracking due to the level that im just paranoid now. Fingers crossed it will stay at 2mm.

Im adding 10 litres each hour and making sure the tank doesnt settle any lower on either sides.

 

[waterdrop]

Our current tank is actually in its second physical incarnation. It was one of those tanks that comes with a matching cabinet underneath and the top board is particleboard. The cabinet has one steel support in one corner and this is attached with a screw in a hole that is countersunk from the top. A small amount of outside splash from the tank made its way to that countersunk hole and caused the particle board to swell and expand. That caused a "high point" on the floating base putting point pressure on the bottom glass, which cracked. I was sitting in the dining room and heard a water noise that didn't sound right. I headed into my son's room and to my horror there were gallons beginning to soak the floor.

The whole family pitched in with towels and luckily we keep a couple of aquarium buckets and large plastic cups to bale in the same room with the tank. We were able to contain the disaster and the retailer replaced the tank and stand. I was fishless cycling at the time and was able to keep my bacteria alive by setting up my filter to run on a bucket system.

Ever since then I always place a thin sheet of heavy black plastic that I cut to be very slightly larger than the tank base just as an added attempt to keep the top board dry. I am also very fastidious about water drops that go down the outside during maintenance operations. Anyway, a word to the wise!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[OldMan47]

The thing that jumps out at me in this discussion is that the method used to level a tank is very important. If WD was trying to level his tank and raised that corner, that ended up swelling, in order to get the level to read right, the result would have been the same. It is far more important that the surface that a tank sits on be flat than that it be level. Tanks are mostly just held together by adhesives, the silicone sealant in a modern tank. They cannot resist any constant twisting force on the joints or the joint will fail. Glass is also both strong and fragile. As a large object with uniform forces applied, it can contain huge forces, like the weight of water in one of our tanks. With a force applied to a small area, the glass itself will fail.

 

[Amberleaf]

On my 10-gallon tank on my dresser (the female Betta one), there's a small difference where the water level on the left is higher than that on the right. However, it's not even a centimeter's difference, so it's fine; I'd just leave it.

 

[erk628]

My 150 gallon the stand was wobbly when I got it home I used wood shimes to fix that. It still about 1/16 of an inch off from one side to the other but thats the best I can get it.

 

[waterdrop]

Right, good point OM, my tale was indeed a story of surface level gone awry rather than a tank out of level, they are two different things and I didn't mean to confuse the issue but just to remind beginners that these topics do indeed have importance.

My understanding is that while overall level is important and you want to get things to within a few millimeters (this is a guess?).. that a typical tank will stand up to things being a bit off, would you agree?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[HarlowS]

Ok, well as the tank is on a solid wood cabinet i guess it would be the cabinet and not tank in this instance that would take the risk of twisting ? Hence being able to relax a bit more....... i hope lol

 

[OldMan47]

The thing to avoid with that arrangement is shimming the cabinet legs in such a way that the top surface is trying to twist or warp. A constant pressure like that on a wooden top will indeed warp it. That is when the issue becomes one of trying not to damage the tank.