How level does my 400 gallon acrylic tank need to be? I filled it up with water last night after getting it set up and all the plumbing done, and the water level is off by 1/4" to 1/2" from side to side. Does it "HAVE TO" be perfect or can there be some forgiveness. I have it on its stand which is on a concrete floor in my garage with a peice of carpet between the floor and the stand(intent was to help with leveling).
Levelness of tank (400 gallon)
- Thread starter JP!
- Start date
It should be alright, I have seen many tanks a little off level due to crappy sagging floors. Ideally it should be right on but a little won't kill you.
Any wobble?
Is it evenly out of level, not just one corner. What I'm looking for is stress on the glass. If it's even no problem. Of course the carpet could crush and screw everything up any way.
Does your garage drain out or is it level. I ask because mine is level. Oh and after my catastrophy last month, DON'T store anything on the floor in a cardboard box, use the plastic bins so it can float out.
Send us some pics.
Dr Joe
.
Is it evenly out of level, not just one corner. What I'm looking for is stress on the glass. If it's even no problem. Of course the carpet could crush and screw everything up any way.
Does your garage drain out or is it level. I ask because mine is level. Oh and after my catastrophy last month, DON'T store anything on the floor in a cardboard box, use the plastic bins so it can float out.
Send us some pics.
Dr Joe
.
Thanks for the replies everyone. The tank is Acrylic, so I would assume that it shouldn't stress crack like a glass one. The garage does not drain out, but I have my doubts about it being perfectly level though. The stand is pretty sturdy and I even added some reinforcing 2x4's before putting the tank on it.
I didn't put any styrofoam or padding directly under the tank between it and the stand. The guy that had it before me had it the same way for over 2 years no problem.
I didn't put any styrofoam or padding directly under the tank between it and the stand. The guy that had it before me had it the same way for over 2 years no problem.
Generally garage floors slope between 1/8" to 1/4" per foot. Many slope a total of 3 1/2 inches or so from the back wall towards the main vehicle entry door.
Your interest is more about straight-line rather than level.
Foam or carpet pad is more about making up for variance between the tank & stand, rather than leveling.
Tanks with top trim help hide out of level tanks.
All my tanks at home tip slightly one way or another at least 1/4 inch.
The only tank I have that is level is at work on a (float-leveled) concrete floor.
I think thats what they call it when they use a thinnner cement that will level due to gravity.
tried to call my contractor buddy but his phone battery died.
Your interest is more about straight-line rather than level.
Foam or carpet pad is more about making up for variance between the tank & stand, rather than leveling.
Tanks with top trim help hide out of level tanks.
All my tanks at home tip slightly one way or another at least 1/4 inch.
The only tank I have that is level is at work on a (float-leveled) concrete floor.
I think thats what they call it when they use a thinnner cement that will level due to gravity.
tried to call my contractor buddy but his phone battery died.
my tank i had to build a plywood playform for it since the place i use to live at the floors were very un-level, the tank even on the platform was still un-level by about 1/2 inch in water height. wierd thing the parts that were un-even the stand bottom had no pressure on the floor, i could shove things under it! as long as the stand is flat bottom where the tank sits and is very rigid i see no problems, i currently have my tank on a slab floor and the water level now is off 1/4" from side to side. only thing i had to modify was put some airline tubing around my overflows ( on one side) so that the water level draining was at an equal level. its hard to get an 8ft tank level!
i'm looking at putting together a ~1000gal plywood/pond liner tank in my garage and was also wondering about garage floor slope. i haven't measured the floor slope yet (haven't even cleared room to move in the garage yet) but i suspect that the floor is flat with just the construction-code-required drainage slope. i'm going to leave the water level at least 6" shy of the top to protect against jump-outs, and odds are, fear of structural tank failure, will mean that i'll over-engineer the structure to death, but has anyone heard anything that should have me worried?
I disagree. The larger the tank, regardless of acrylic or glass, the greater the forces any uneveness exertys. Al;though you might be okay, understand that you are definitely stressing your tanks joints in a way that its not designed to handle.