How much lean b4 you shim up the stand?

[targaboy78]

I am still in the process of setting up my 175 bowfront and I noticed that it isn't level.

It's dead square vertical on the sides but it seems to be leaning out away from the wall about 1/4" at the top.

It is 28 1/2" high, so really we are only talking about 1/8" every foot in height.

Is this something I should be worried about?

Would you try shimming up the front of the stand?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Paul.

[mark]

I'd be less concerned if it was leaning towards to wall, even then, 175g is a big tank, I would try to level.

[Scavenger]

On a 175, I'd get it as level as possible. It's a lot of weight!! Is your lean full or empty? I'm pretty sure if that lean is empty, it will increase when the tank is full. Another concern is if this tank is on a concrete slab ( aka basement) or supported by house floor joists. If this is on joists, I highly recommend you level to almost perfect and confirm you are perpendicular to the joists and not parallel. Even then, I'd give thought to additional floor support.


Edit for afterthought :)

[saltynuts]

make sure it level as it make one hell of a mess! i lost my 230 that way.
now i get kick azz stands made that are solid and put foam under it.
its not something you want to play around with!take the time and fix it right.
my tank wiped out my hole basement 4 feet up the walls all the floors.
and lots of other stuff!
man i cant stress it enough get that thing level you will be happy you did it!

[targaboy78]

Thanks for the feedback folks.

I shimmed up the full length of the stand with 1/8" backerboard and then did some micro adjustments using playing cards. (It's not like I am any good at poker anyway).

I've got it to within 3/32 of an inch.

I decided that I am going to run a water line for my RO/DI unit to the same area, so while I have the basement ceiling opened up, I'll get my contractor to beef up the joists. He checked them prior to the project and assured me it would be OK. What the heck, it's more work for him and I am sure he won't mind.

[Delphinus]

You say the sides of the tank were perfectly vertical before you shimmed?

Are you sure the wall is level (100% vertical)?

What I'd do, if it was me, is measure the level of the tank horizontally in both axes, and then shim based on that. Now, if it was my tank, and I did that... and the distance to the wall wasn't the same at the top and bottom, then I'd assume the wall is out, and leave the tank alone.

(If, however, I then found that the sides weren't vertical anymore, after verifying the tank is level horizontally, then I'm not sure what I'd do. Contact the manufacturer, I guess. I don't make tanks for a living so I can't claim to have a deep understanding of the processes involved, but it seems to me that there's no reason for the tank not to be perfectly square when empty. I think it would mean the edges weren't squared or that the glass isn't sitting squarely against each other.)

[targaboy78]

Hi Delphinus,

Thanks for the info.

Just for clarification; When I took the tank off the stand and checked, it was the stand that was out.

I was not measuring from the wall, (I would bet money that my walls are not square), I was using a water level.

The sides were 100% vertical and still are.


But I sure do feel better about everything now. Time to start plumbing it in.

[kari]

:lol: , I found one wall in my house that was actually plumb when it was built.

If the tank is sitting on a wood framed floor, the floor is probably sagging or the stand is not built square. If it's the stand, shim it to sit plum, surface level and flat. If it's the floor I'd look at supporting it with additional framing. Use a 3' or 4' carpenters level to scope out level-a-tude. A carpenters type square to check if the stand frame was built square.

[kari]

Oops, to answer the question I would say make it as level as you can.

[Myanth]

I built a metal stand out of square 1"square tubing on the top and shelf and 1 1/4 round pipe legs with 1 inch threaded rod attached to feet so that the pipe legs stand on the nut on the rod. I hope that made sense cuz I don't have a picture.

Anyways.... I knew my slab wasn't level because I have um.... water leveled it before:wink: and this way I could adjust for any plumb/level issues. stands perfect now. Might be an idea as I know a few people who after all their original messing around, found that the loaded tank caused a settling of sorts that resulted in an uneasy lean.

my $0.02
Mike

[TheReefGeek]

Make sure you put foam (3/4" pink stuff from the hardware store works) between the stand and the tank as well.

[Osiris]

The way I leveled my 120 is I filled up my aquarium 1 inch above the bottom, made a mark on a piece of scrap Red Oak that I trued on my chopsaw and went all around the tank and shimmed accordingly.


Wayne.