Tank Leveling Question

CastAway · Oct 28, 2013

I'm a newbie, in the midst of a new build. My rimless tank is five foot long. I have a four foot level, and it appears that over the length it may be 1/8" off, or out of level. There will be some challenges I'd like to avoid in trying to level it. Any advice or input? Do I HAVE to level it? Is 1/8" over the five foot length too much?

AZDesertRat · Oct 28, 2013

I use wooden wedges and shim between the floor and stand at all weight bearing locations like corners and center supports so it has a good firm base. I would think on a rimless tank being level and not racked or twisted in any direction would be very important since thye do not have the added strength of trim and center braces. On one of my sons tanks I ended up ripping a 6 foot long piece from a 2x4 that was 1/2" thick at one end and tapered to nothing at 6 feet so you would not see any gaps from the front. On my current stand I levelled it with several inches of water in the tank then added the bottom or base trim piece once it was level and filled so it hugged the tile floor.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 28, 2013

If that bubble indicates where it is now, I'd say you're in good shape. My tank was leaning forward so I had to put several wooden shims under the tank to kinda push it back. Worked perfectly fine for me.

CastAway · Oct 28, 2013

Ehh, this is a better picture of how it sits right now. I think I know what I have to do, just dreading it. My patience with this build is just wearing thin.

Sobo's Reef · Oct 28, 2013

I would just try the wooden shims. I use them on my 90g currently and I used them on my old 180g tank I used to have, never had any problems.

CastAway · Nov 1, 2013

I was worried that wooden window/door shims might compress over time. All totaled, it's over a ton of weight. So, while wandering around Home Depot wondering how the heck I was going to do it, I ran across these long strips of metal; I think they're used for concrete forms. Anyway, they were the perfect length and width, and stacked they were exactly the heights I needed. I improvised and used my car hydraulic jack to lift the stand and tank, slipped the strips into place, and wallah! Perfectly level now. I'll supplement with the heavy duty plastic shims I bought, at the points where I have vertical steel supports. What do you think?