Thinking of taking my tank apart and leveling it

[sunnysjourney]

Hey guys my tank isn't leveled properly, the left is off by about 3/4" (pic attached) but the stand sits perfectly on the floor (concrete with ceramic wood like flooring) and the tank sits perfectly on the stand... I set it up without thinking everything through properly about a year ago (edit: a couple of years ago, actually. Time flies!) and since then I have regretted my decision. Mainly because the overflow on the left doesn't get as much intake as the one at the center. And also because I have become more OCD over time. My setup is a standard acrylic 240 (8' X 2' X 2') with built in wet dry filtration at the back (its an aquasystem aquarium & stand). I recently acquired a 135 gallon that Ill be setting up so I was thinking of moving my existing fish to the 135 and setting up this tank properly. (buff / paint the back black & fix up some return tubing, etc...)
My question is:
- Will placing a styrofoam sheet between the tank and the stand solve my issues or should I use shims between the stand and the floor? Are there any other options?

notice how the water level on the left side is a good 3/4 - 1" lower than the right.

 

[DN328]

Yeah, this hobby and OCD doesn't mix...I can relate to that LOL. My peninsula tank is a hair slightly lower on the "front" of the tank vs. the back/overflow end.. What happens is the water slightly hits my Eurobracing as the water flows and I have surface agitation (purposely from the return loc-lines). This also is attributed with the teethe on the internal overflow weir ideally should be lower...but that's another thread in itself.

With a level, the bubble is within the lines and a normal person would just leave it alone. For my case, I don't think it's worth it to change since my tank sits on carpet so I'm thankful it is so level.

I don't think styrofoam itself will help you in this case. What kind of bracing is on your acrylic tank? I ask that since you should or should not use styrofoam depending if you have Euro-bracing or Plastic perimeter on the tank, respectively. Either way, if you're gong to go through the trouble, I would just shim the stand to level. Have you used a level to see how much you're off by? Good luck.

 

[sunnysjourney]

Thanks for your reply buddy... I'm not sure the tank has any outer bracings, the bottom is a clean flat acrylic that is 8' X 2' X 1/2" thick. And yeah, I'm probably going to end up shimming the stand. I'm off by around 1" over 8 feet, haven't used a leveler yet, Ill do that sometime today (or tomorrow). Also, using a styrofoam under the tank wouldn't hurt would it?

 

[qguy]

if your off 1 inch, you need to shim 1 inch. Depending on how your stand is constructed, you may need to use a shim that is the full length of the stand, basically you would need a wedge thats 1 inch on one end and 0 inch on the other end

 

[DN328]

Thanks for your reply buddy... I'm not sure the tank has any outer bracings, the bottom is a clean flat acrylic that is 8' X 2' X 1/2" thick. And yeah, I'm probably going to end up shimming the stand. I'm off by around 1" over 8 feet, haven't used a leveler yet, Ill do that sometime today (or tomorrow). Also, using a styrofoam under the tank wouldn't hurt would it?

So are you saying you don't have any bracing that attaches the tank walls and bottom panel? If so I think 1/2" styrofoam would be fine in terms support. For glass tanks with the traditional plastic perimeter it's advised not to use styrofoam.

 

[qguy]

why is styro not advise as support, all my glass tanks has styro support, the largest is a 250g never had any cracks in the past 30 years

 

[pops]

the question I have is, is it a trimmed tank? if it is a trimmed tank it is designed to ride on the trim, placing any type of padding under it will void the warranty and can lead to bad things. shim the stand not the tank. if it is not a trimmed tank, glass bottom rides flush to the sub-straight sheeting. Yes a thin Styrofoam sheet or card board should be used, BUT NOT TO LEVEL, again shim the stand at the bottom. not the tank.

 

[DN328]

why is styro not advise as support, all my glass tanks has styro support, the largest is a 250g never had any cracks in the past 30 years

I don't think it's about the glass. It's more of (glass) tanks that have the plastic trim on the top and bottom perimeter of the tank. Said tanks are made to set flat on a hard surface and not something that will crush, like Styrofoam.

I too use 1/2" Styrofoam on my tank (with eurobrace on the bottom). This is what the builder recommended picking up at a home center.

Having said this, I know someone that had his 150gallon with trim sitting on 1" Styrofoam without any issues (at least not while he had the tank running). But based on my understanding this isn't something that is recommended.

 

[pops]

all my tanks trimmed except the 180, its custom built, this the only tank I run a pad under. reason being is the bottom pain rides across the stand sub straight. any little bumps, peace of gravel, what ever will create a pressure point on the bottom pain, so you line it to absorb these and keep the pressure even across the full bottom pain,. on a trimmed tank, the bottom pain rides on that trim, its designed and built to do this, adding padding can compromise this design.

 

[DN328]

Agreed Pops. I have a metal stand, and have a 3/4" MDO Plywood and then the Styrofoam to compensate for the imperfections and uneven pressures for the hard surfaces touching glass.