Water Level

[smudgedj]

I just filled my tank and I have a 5mm difference in water level from the left side to the right side. The tank is 2m long, it's sat on a wooden base then on polystyrene, is this 5mm difference a problem?

 

[Twinklecaz]

That would imply that somewhere the surface isn't level


I can't see mine when it's full, the water line sits under where the hood sits over the glass.

 

[JoshuaA]

Being an uneven weight distribution I wouldn't say thats very good especially being a glass tank. Get a spirit level to see how far off it really is, then make your decision.

I wouldn't suggest putting it on polystyrene as it can compress unevenly and therefore could be the reason why your tank is angled.

 

[scobie140]

Shouldn't make any diffrence, aslong as the base is evenly supported.

 

[waterdrop]

I assume on a 6-footer this is really not very far off. I guess the skew between the water surface line and a tank-top line is not very obvious... seems, at least superficially that it should be ok.

 

[smudgedj]

Thanks for the replies, in the end I empted it and readjusted the stand and everything is level now. To be honest I don't think it would have been a problem as you wouldn't see the level with the top on, but I knew about it and it would annoy the hell out of me, so I spent a few hours fixing it.

 

[OldMan47]

As long as you have evenly supported the tank, the slight uneven water level would not be a problem. I have a 6 foot long, almost 2 meters, tank that is off by about 12 mm from one end to the other. Because the tank is fully supported along its length, that 30 year old tank never seems to have any problem with structural integrity. On the other hand, a much smaller tank that is not well supported along its length will fail in a fairly short time, like just a few years.

 

[drobbyb]

Just to add another confirmation here: Like the others have stated, that really isn't much of a difference at all. As long as the tank's weight is evenly distributed and the tank is fully supported, you will be fine.

 

[waterdrop]

What kind of filters are you going to run on this monster, lol~

 

[smudgedj]

What kind of filters are you going to run on this monster, lol~

I'm running two filters, one under gravel at 1200lts and one internal power head at 2800lts.

 

[meguro]

run dual externals or a sump, none of that old school junk

 

[smudgedj]

run dual externals or a sump, none of that old school junk

I would but I live in Bolivia and that's all I can get hold of. However I never considered a sump, do you have any web sites links on building them?

 

[OldMan47]

That old school stuff is not junk Meguro. I am presently running tanks that use sponge filters, old fashioned box filters, hang on back filters, internals and various other configurations, including 7 tanks with canister type filters. Each filter, including the undergravel filter, has its strengths and weaknesses. Understanding your equipment is far more important if you are using "old school" equipment, but many millions of fish were bred for the better part of a century before the canister type external filter was invented. Those fish lived in environments every bit as good as the ones you can get today with a "proper" canister filter. I even run one of my tanks virtually unfiltered by mechanical means. I circulate a lot of water in that tank but it uses a true biological filter, plants, to maintain my water chemistry. I did a large water change on it just last month, after about 4 months of no water changes. I tested right before the water change and found 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and 10 ppm nitrates. Try that with your state of the art filters, but please don't wait that long for the water change. The nitrates coming from your modern filter will build to intolerable levels.
Please note that using the NPT approach to fish keeping is not recommended for a beginner. It takes some minimal skill to make it work right.