keeping your aquarium stand level........or BOOM!

aquatic-Bizkut

aquatic-Bizkut

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Jul 22, 2005
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i would first like to thank the people who run this furm, it is amazing and the best built i have seen ;)

ok, now to my question. i have heard this before, "you better have your aquarium stand built perfectly level, or else if a corner is off level it can lead to the seals breaking in the future and exploding the tank"....... :eek:

i have also heard that it just really isnt the whole "level" thing it is how the stand is built, if its a quarter of a inch to short on one side it could ruin it, or if it rocks a little tiny tiny bit then your pretty much done for......

but which one is it, ??????? :confused:

i have a stand made out of sturdy wood made back in highschool by my fellow family member.... here it is... and its only holding a 20 gallon tank... and it is on carpet, so take these all into consideration.
Picture811762363.jpg


it seems like it is sturdy enough i have heard its about 10 lbs to 1 gallon of water, and gravel, plants, ect. so it would be around 200 lbs on my table there, correct ? well i sat on it along with my sister and it held, so that should be fine.... (altough we didnt sit on if for a very long time...)
 
and here are some examples of how level it is... or how level it isnt..

this is the left bottom of the tank.
Picture81176236999.jpg


and here is the bottom right of the tank.
Picture811762370.jpg


here is top left of tank(on tank).
Picture811762365.jpg


top right (on tank).
Picture811762366.jpg


left side of tank.
Picture811762367.jpg


right side of tank.
Picture811762368.jpg


:help:
ok there you have it, my tank and its levilability... and i noticed once on solid ground it kinda rocked a little bit..... but cant really tell on carpet... as you can tell i only have my gravel and plants in right now, nothing yet further, i need some info before i go on, please post suggestions and information that will and would be useful, thank you for all your help in advance!
 
In my opinion, as long as what it is sitting on is flat, i.e. the tank isn't rocking on the stand, then it will be perfectly fine and you have nothing to worry about as far as the tank breaking or seals breaking. It being level has nothing to do with it. It would be more like if it was sitting on a bump in the middle or something that would cause a high concentration of stresses or somethign once it was filled.

As far as sitting on carpet and getting it level, I would fill the tank up and let it sit for a day and look at the water level as compaired to the top of the tank. If you like how it looks then you are good and just keep it. If you would like to adjust it, then adjust it. I like to place shims (I ususally fold up a piece of paper to the thickness I desire) under the corner that needs lifting.
 
ahhh yes, that was what i was thinking, i mean my brother is in construction so i have picked up some stuff over the years..... but yeah shims will do fine, and i was thinking about the same thing - water being parallel to the top of the tank... if not i will add some shims.... thanks for your help, its very apreciated, i will start filling my tank and cycling it tonight
 
The angle of your first photo makes it looks like it's about to tip to the right. :D Seriously, I'd don't think you have anything to be concerned about with the levelness. If you're at all concerned about it being unstable on the carpet, you can tether the stand to the wall (a good idea if you have any small kids.)
 
Lots of good advice... funny to be reading this post because I just put a shim under my 10 gallon today. It is on my dresser and the dresser leans a bit toward the center so one side of the tank was slightly lower than the other. Now it's level again. I think it's okay as long as there is no specific point of stress.
 
A length of webbing (like Ikea shelf tethers) screwed to the stand and then to the wall works well too. :)
 
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