Unlevel 125 Gallon Questions (I NEED YOUR ADVICE!!!)

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A

APAC

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Apr 14, 2009
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Indianapolis
So I just set up a 125gallon that I've spent a lot of time/money on and when I was filling it up with water it didn't look to unlevel but by the time I filled it all of the way up it looked much more unlevel than my other large aquariums. I measured the difference form the left side to the right and it is exactly 1/2". I also measured the difference from back to front and it is nearly 1/2". Wow my basement floor is so unlevel because the stand is perfectly level.
-I need all the advice I can get....I recently posed this question under another thread: 125 Gallon Helluva Deal.....
-I am starting to worry a lot about this aquarium and am contemplating whether or not I should go out to walmart tomorrow and buy some wood shims to level the whole thing out.
 
I would get Styrofoam and see how that works, the tank once fully filled should level itself
 
styrofoam does nothing to level a tank. The proper way would be to level the stand with wood shims as you mentioned. Once the stand is level the tank will sit level atop it.
 
I used wood shims on my 150 gallon didn't get it complety level but as close as I could about a 1/16 of an inch from one side to the other and front to back.
 
thanks for the advice guys...I just emptied the tank and when I wake up tomorrow I'll go to lowes or walmart and buy a pack of wood shims. I need to raise the right side of the tank ~1/2" and raise the back of it by almost 1/2". How should I go about doing this.....should I make 2 columns of shims on the side of the stand which is 20" wide? how many columns of shims should go in the back across all 72"? Should I put shims along the entire thing or just on the ends and the middle?
thanks for the advice guys I really appreciate it...just can't afford to lose this new setup because of my impatience. My 125 and 110 fish room will have to wait a lil bit longer.
 
I had shims stacked at right about 3/4" on my 125. The floor was really unlevel. Shims are the way to go. I would space the shims no more than about 24" apart. You want to spread the weight across the length of the stand.
 
I just set up a 125G in my basement. The concrete floor slants to the left and back for water drainage.

The stand has eight 2x6 legs. I used four different thickness 2x6 strips of wood, 1/32" metal nail strips, and duct tape for the final mm. It took me about two hours to get the tank level and flat. No two shim stacks were the same size. The right front leg is directly on the floor, while the back left leg has a shim stack over an inch high. I then filled up the tank to test the level under load and drained it to correct a couple shims.

I added 1" of EVA foam mat strips on top of the stand to allow for uneven shrinkage of the wood stand/legs over time.

I even added foam strips to the bottom shelf of the stand to support a 75G water-change holding tank.

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When your buying shims, pick yourself up a 3 or 4 foot level. Much easier to level it before adding water and seeing that its off.
After you shim the stand and begin filling with water, keep checking with the level as it fills. If you start seeing it settle and come out of level, drain and adjust the shims.
I am VERY fussy with getting everything perfectly level, you do it once the right way and it will be that way for years...

Burt :)
 
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