My tank is not level - break it down and level it?

[Toby_H]

The stand is sitting flat on the floor and the tank is sitting flat on the stand. This doesn't negate from the fact that there is additional force exerted on one side vs the other.

Provided the first sentence is true, the "additional pressure" is extremely insignificant. You can do the math to calculate the additional pressure which will be the weight of the water that is beyond the 90* line. My guess this will be the weight of a couple cubic inches at most. This will be equal to adding about 1/4 inch of depth to the overall tank. Do you think if your tank were 1" taller the whole thing would fall apart? Nope... the design it with much more of a margin of error than what you are dealing with.

 

[JK47]

The stand is sitting flat on the floor and the tank is sitting flat on the stand. This doesn't negate from the fact that there is additional force exerted on one side vs the other. However, the tank is acrylic and the long term effect is probably nil (now that I think about it). Considering the fact that acrylic adhesive melts and bonds acrylic together it may not be that much of an issue.

grrrr... decisions decisions.

Thanks for all your responses.
Chris

One more questions for ya Chris before you consider your approach or if you do anything at all. Is your tank/stand placed parallel over the floor joists? Your tank and stand may be level but if it's layed over one or two floor joists the long way and not spread over many, the floor may bow from the weight, not your tank.

 

[chrisngo]

One more questions for ya Chris before you consider your approach or if you do anything at all. Is your tank/stand placed parallel over the floor joists? Your tank and stand may be level but if it's layed over one or two floor joists the long way and not spread over many, the floor may bow from the weight, not your tank.

The floor that the tank sits on is in the garage. The floor is concrete. I did check the floor and I did notice that there are cracks in the floor. There are some level spots and some unlevel spots in the floor. The floor seems to be leaning properly (in accordance with the tank) and I think the underlying foundation is settling.

I really don't know what to think now. It's about 75% full right now and I'm very close to just emptying it. Then again, if it ain't broke (yet), don't try to fix it. Any difference with this problem when the aquarium is acrylic and not glass?

Chris

 

[Toby_H]

Both glass and acrylic tanks should be kept flat on the stand...

If there is a crack in the floor that the tank is sitting on, I would be concerned and would shim to remove any affect of that crack...

If the floor beneath the tank is not cracked... and the tank is slanted to the same degree as the floor it's sitting on... I think you are more likely to do more harm than good shimming the tank...

When I say "if the floor beneath the tank is cracked" I mean if the crack literally goes under the stand... I understand there are cracks in the garage floor that the tank is in...

 

[tcarswell]

I should have noted in my first post... Always shim the stand not the tank

 

[chrisngo]

If the floor beneath the tank is not cracked... and the tank is slanted to the same degree as the floor it's sitting on... I think you are more likely to do more harm than good shimming the tank...

Exactly! No cracks run under the aquarium. At this point, I am thinking about leaving it alone.

Chris

 

[johns]

">">Might be a little late, but this is how I did it

 

[johns]

Not sure how that happened oops

 

[dwilder]

i just wanted to say that i know leveling a tank is mostly for the appearance but that it is not that hard to level a tank stand and have the stand and tank be fine so if you want it level go for it

 

[chrisngo]

I know it's not difficult, but it's just time consuming. I would also be "starting from scratch" with the water. I am trying to avoid that. The tank has been running for some time, so I think at this point I can let it run the way it is.

Chris