If the tank is sitting flat, then why level?

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I just noticed I could see light under the 20 gallon that sits in my dresser in my room. I guess the dresser is higher on the sides than in the middle, I'm going to sit a piece of wood under it next water change, if I can pick it up without breaking it.

The sides are supported fine but the middle is just floating there, I could slide a few sheets of small paper under it.
 
I recently had a seam burst, I think you might be talking about the fourm I have giong on 195 burst at seams. I know tank level is important and I even thought that about my 55 gallon. When I got the 195 said ok its got to be level so I used a 3 foot leveler and it looked good to me so I filled it up, I was so happy about how the tank looked I just raised the water line to make it not visable that I was almost a inch off on water level(side to side 6 foot span). ok so I let it slide for a couple of months then as everything started to come together new sump was built and it was time to move it under the tank. I said to myself I may as well fix that level, so had full stock of fish and inch of sand in the tank, I held it off for awhile because I did not want to take the fish out., so anyway I took the fish out one day kept all sand and about a 1/4 of water still in the tank, went out to the garage and lugged in the car jack :) grabed some 2x4s and rolled it under there snugged it up jacked the left side of the tank up cause that was where the water line was higher and shimmed the wood, let the tank back down couple more adjustments and all and all wasn't too bad to do, checked levels like before and filled wow i did good serious it seemed to be almost perfect I was very happy I said wow thats great if anything it leans forward a little enough to throw water line from a 24 inch span off 1/2 well needless to say i left it like that. but why I said all that for this question.

If I am reading right there have been atleast 3 people inclueding me that have replied that have said not too long after they fixed level the seam burst, so IS it a good idea to relevel? I know sounds stupid but I just wanted to clear this theory up in my head and I don't want anyone elses tank out there bursting at the seams.
 
What i dont get is some people are saying there tank is 3/4" or 1" our of level. How dont u see that when your setting up your tank and fix it then? 1" on a 55 gal tank is quite a bit 1" in 4'
 
i was 1 inch off on a 6 foot span, my 55 was a sinch to setup and level never had problems there but my big tank gave me all sorts of problems getting level even with a leveler i mean i don't use a leveler much but when the bubbles in the middle its all good and i checked the sides front and back, showed a little bubble lean from front to back but was still within the black lines.
 
IMO the less you move adjust and pull at your tank the better. I have a 210 and the right side is lover by 1/2 inch and i am leaving it that way. A tank that big should not be moved at all expecially after the tank has settled not to mention the 200 lbs of substrate most people would have in a tank that size.
 
ok cool so here we go you feel more comfortable to not adjust it which is what I was wanting to point out thank you ....good point about the less is better in this aspect. if tank is moved for new a level as it settles it will have to adjust to another stress point? which might result in seam burst.
 
I was under the impression that if the tank was flat (planar to the ground) it was fine.

because there is even stress on all seams that way. Even if one side is a bit lower than the other, it doesnt matter because the tank is square to the ground, if that makes any sense.

if there is one part of the tank higher or lower than the other in the front to back plane, it puts a 'twist' on the tank, which is very bad. that puts stress on the seams.
 
yep very good points i see what your trying to say as like a fat cat "standing" on your chest feels alot heavyier then a fat cat "laying" on your chest

good points about it would make it twist and maybe pull away from the seam, but what i'm getting at is people reading this fourm saying oh i better level my tank a.s.a.p. because it might twist and/or burst which yes it just might, but also brings up should it be left like that or should it be fixed. maybe it depends on how long it sits and how off it was and all sorts of stuff but just wanted to raise some questions up out there..
 
mikeandannie;2156869; said:
ok cool so here we go you feel more comfortable to not adjust it which is what I was wanting to point out thank you ....good point about the less is better in this aspect. if tank is moved for new a level as it settles it will have to adjust to another stress point? which might result in seam burst.
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Thats kinda what i was getting at and what i believe.

I also believe its best to try and get a level tank when you first set it up. a 1/2 inch in my opinion would not cause enough stress to burst a tank. On my 210 how many more LBS are on my left side? 20LBS TOPS and its got to be less than that. If 20LBS either way would break my tank I would only have a pond outdoors
 
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