leveling tank question

[josephavela]

Ok so I just setup a 135 but I noticed it is was off leveled on the right side to were very little water enters the left overflow the tank is completely setup water, sand, rocks, everything. So I been researching and I know I'm going to have to shim the tank( never shimmed a tank before) but question is after tank is leveled how do I go bout filling in the gaps at the back of the tank with it being against the wall?

Any thoughts or suggestions are appriciated thanks!

[Lairdc76]

How off level is it? If its alot, then you might need to look at your stand or find out whats causing it to lean. If you want to fill the gap you might can use a this bead of black silicone to hide it..

[josephavela]

I say its off by maybe half a inch. I think its just my floor cuz I read that if there was something wrong with the stand I would have gaps between the trim of the tank and the stand but that's not the case.

I mean the gaps that the shims are going to leave under the stand how would I fill them in the back of the stand to evenly distribute the weight. Cuz I can fill the side and the front.

[myjohnson]

I would take water out of the tank ASAP.

The glass will crack under pressure b/c the tank is not balanced.

Go to HD and get some wooden shimmies.

Hammer them in until the tank is balanced.

[jeb102385]

I had to put shims under my 190, there is no need to fill in the gaps on the ground. Just get the tank level. Home depot sells black plastic ones and plain wood ones depending on the color of your stand, but I have used both and they are both good

[jeb102385]

And I doubt the tank Would crack over a 1/2" difference in level

[josephavela]

I would take water out of the tank ASAP.

The glass will crack under pressure b/c the tank is not balanced.

Go to HD and get some wooden shimmies.

Hammer them in until the tank is balanced.

Yeah those are my plans for today HD was already closed last night hopefully it will be ok till then its really just unleveled left to right so I ain't to worried

[josephavela]

I had to put shims under my 190, there is no need to fill in the gaps on the ground. Just get the tank level. Home depot sells black plastic ones and plain wood ones depending on the color of your stand, but I have used both and they are both good

Yeah I believe the plastic ones are called composite shims it don't seem to hard I was just worried bout the gaps cuz they said you should place shims every 2 to 3 inches to distribute the weight

[CRUSHER]

copied and pasted:

Often times people bring home a new aquarium and place it where they want it and check it with a level before filling it with water. That’s all good and they should as a beginning point. The bubble of the level should be relatively close to middle and in between the two little lines. But if it's not 100% centered there is no need to panic. Consider that some people are placing their aquariums directly on top of a carpeted floor etc. and that the aquarium is thus far empty. Once you fill that aquarium, things have a way of leveling out because all that extra weight compresses the carpeting / flooring material and you are probably good to go. So, if the level is close, you should be fine. Once filled halfway or so with water, you should have no more then 1/8 of an inch and certainly no more then 1/4" difference at each end of your Aquarium, measuring now from the surface

Rule #1 is that Water seeks its own level and in fact will always be level.

If you fill it (or at least half fill it) and it is off more then 1/4", then you may need to remove the water, shim and re-level again. Of course, the above is all relative as a 10 Gallon Aquarium that is off 1/8" is off way worse (technically) then a 125 Gallon aquarium that is off by 1/4". Why? Because the length of an aquarium magnifies the discrepancy so the longer the aquarium, the easier it will be to see any difference end to end. YET, that being said the weight of water in a 10 Gallon Aquarium has far less potential force to do damage then the weight of water in a much larger 125, so care must be taken to get it close especially in the bigger capacity aquariums. (Note I didn't say exact.) The important thing is to keep the stand 100% underneath the tank itself. Never shim under the tank (never between the tank and stand) as that can create high and low contact points under the aquariums frame (which is not good) because that is what causes cracks and leaks. If necessary, shim under the stand between the stand and floor.

Lastly, consider that any shims you do use will see tremendous crushing force PSI (pounds per square inch) and thus must be strong enough to sustain the point pressures of all that weight. (Foam is not an acceptable shim as that acts only as padding and easily compresses under the waters weight to where you started with in the first place.) To illustrate my point, take a piece of foam and place it on the floor and then stand on it. See if it holds you up or if it simply flattens out under the pressure and your weight. (In aquarium use, foam is a "feel good" material because it makes you feel good about using it but it does absolutely nothing.) In general,Plastic too should not be used for leveling a stand as most plastic can (and will) later crack or break down. Plastic may hold for a while but when you least expect it, it could fall apart later on which could then leave you in a precarious situation. Shims should only be solid wood or metal capable of sustaining the point weight pressures they will see. In general I have found that as long as your level is between the two lines, you should be OK once it settles in. If your aquarium is off a bit because your floor is off a bit, you are probably better off without shims at all as long as the level from end to end is less then 1/4" off, especially if you're talking about a 4 foot or longer aquarium. Just my opinion from my experience...

Note: Most aquarium specific stands have a flat bottom without legs. That is certainly easier to shim then a stand of some sort that has legs only on the corners or worse yet, 6 or more individual legs. Extreme care must be taken to shim a stand with legs and you must ensure that the stand remains solidly on the ground with no "wobble". Many people today buy "tall" aquariums and those present another factor. It is vitally important to check the level front to back (especially with tall tanks) as they can easily lean forwards or backwards and could fall over with enough coaxing from children, pets or general foot traffic. You might consider anchoring the stand to a wall to prevent this situation.

[josephavela]

Yes I am definetly going to drain the tank and remove the rock today and get the tank level as possible so I don't have to worry thanks hfb for the help

[troy tucker]

As for the gap after its level. You can get 1/4 round and trim 3 sides of the bottom of the stand.