Unleveled Tank... how big of a Problem?

[rerana]

My tank generaly has a lot of flow on the surface, but I turned off the pumps the other day and noticed that the tank is not leveled. Yikes! It is not a lot, but it is not minor either. When everything is turned off, the waterline in the back is about 54 millimeters off the top, but only about 49 millimeters (about 1/5 of an inch) difference.

The tank sits on some wood laminate, that is on top of concrete. It is the red sea reefer 425xl, which is about 110 gallons including the sump.

The tank has been set up for about a year now. How much of a problem do you guys think this is?

Any help welcomed.

Also, if i have to fix this, how hard of a task can that become?

Back waterline is where the black clip starts

Tank as it is

Gap that is created when I make the bubble in the middle.

 

[Dream54ing]

I personally would try to shim the bottom of the stand to get it leveled. imo, overtime can get worst.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

IMO, it is a significant issue, especially considering that it is a rimless tank with no bracing. I'd get a few brute trash cans from home depot, drain as much water as needed to level the tank, then pump the water back. Place the corals on the sand and keep them just barely covered with water, or put them in the cans.

 

[rerana]

Thanks for the feedback. Definitely the safe route. I know it was level originally, so must have happened over time.

Any thoughts on how to "lift" the tank to get the shims in there once I drain tank as much as possible?

 

[ReeferNoob77]

Since it was level to begin with would lead me to believe your floor may not be properly supported for your tank and starting to sag.

 

[ReeferNoob77]

Since it was level to begin with would lead me to believe your floor may not be properly supported for your tank and starting to sag.

 

[Bouncingsoul39]

Thanks for the feedback. Definitely the safe route. I know it was level originally, so must have happened over time.

Any thoughts on how to "lift" the tank to get the shims in there once I drain tank as much as possible?

Get a couple o' strong dudes.

 

[Dream54ing]

agree, floor might be sagging, but also check the stand. moisture can possibly cause stand to sag as well....

should be too hard... get 1-2 guys/gals to lift the tank slightly and another to slip the shim under. make sure the bottom of the stand is making full contact with either the floor or shim. no air gaps. hope that make sense.

 

[Fudsey]

Sitting on concrete I doubt the floor is sagging. Probably just a little out of level in that spot or laminate crushed in the front.

I would check to make sure stand is OK though.

And if the tank is about 1/2 empty, it should be pretty easy to tip it back a little to put a shim under

 

[rerana]

Sitting on concrete I doubt the floor is sagging. Probably just a little out of level in that spot or laminate crushed in the front.

I would check to make sure stand is OK though.

And if the tank is about 1/2 empty, it should be pretty easy to tip it back a little to put a shim under

My thought is the same. Somehow the laminate is getting a bit crushed. And add to it that it might have not been perfectly level to start off. It was definitely level before water went in, but im not sure if I bothered to recheck after that.

I just took a look around the stand; looks fine to me, but will keep an eye on it given its not obvious what caused this to happen in the first place.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Id be more concerned about the tank shifting when its full but if your tank was always off by that amount it will not cause long term issues other than aesthetically looking off. Mine is off by about the same and its because of the stupid legs they put on it. My floor is slightly off level.

 

[ca1ore]

As long as the out of level is consistent, it's actually not that big of a deal. It would be much worse if the tank were twisting.

 

[rerana]

Luckily the off-level is constant Back (Higher) to front (lower), so there is no twisting. I'm not sure how constant it has been though. I'll probably just take a shot at leveling it off this weekend. Just thinking about it all day has left an uncomfortable feeling that one day it will give....so many coral and so much work, would be a sad way to end it all.

 

[rerana]

Thanks all for the input, I Fixed the Problem, sort of.

I bought some plastic shims from Amazon and went at it today. Unfortunately, I went a bit too far and now the tank is too raised in the front by about 3cm. LOL. I now have to adjust it and get it right, which is not a big deal.

So what I did was place two shims together and wedged them underneath the stand in an empty area. Once they pulled the stand up a bit, I was able to wedged a single shim under one of the "foots". If i did not do this in an empty area first, I would have never been able to get under the "foot" without damaging it. I did this to all of the stand feet in the front and the middle and left in the double wedges in there as well. This was my lazy process of not having to take any water out at all. I was able to get by with just the shims and a rubber mallet. Luckily there was no damage to the cabinet or any part of the cabinet.

Shims under the stand, using flash to highlight area


Without flash the shims are not noticeable


Shims


Went a bit too far

 

[Pntbll687]

Doesnt look bad.

If your this concerned about that small of a difference I would get a laser level, there's always a margin of error with a bubble level, because the same measurement might look "different" at different times

 

[rerana]

Doesnt look bad.

If your this concerned about that small of a difference I would get a laser level, there's always a margin of error with a bubble level, because the same measurement might look "different" at different times

I think you are right, I am not that worried anymore. Initially, I was worried because when I was measuring the top water level versus the top of the glass with all pumps off the difference was about 1/5 - 1/4 of an inch off between the front and the back glass, which seemed significant. I wasn't really going off the bubble. Side to side has not an issue (luckily). I'm sure with what i'm using to level off, I'll be able to fix the issue easily, just some minor adjustments.

This is now one less thing to worry about. Now I can go back and worry about keeping corals healthy.