fish tank not level
 

i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one side than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up one end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

"SJS0678" wrote in message
...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one side
than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite
level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live
with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up


As long as the stand is a well built stand it should do fine. The downward
force on the stand is slightly off center, but not enough to have much of an
impact on the stand. It would have to be really bad to be putting force on
the stand in a direction which would cause the stand to fail.


also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up one
end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

Not unless you get a house jack, jack up the joists under the stand where
the sag is and install a lollie column.

Amateur
http://66.70.90.41

(SJS0678) wrote in message ...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one side than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up one end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

I think your tank is fine. At a previous residence I had floors that
were not level, and it didn't bother the aquariums for the 5-1/2 years
we had them set up there. --Mark


Mark Stone -- tractorlegs at msn dot kom
OSCAR Lovers! http://www.geocities.com/cichlidiot_2000/oscar.html
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop
up one end, is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

I think your tank is fine. At a previous residence I had floors that
were not level, and it didn't bother the aquariums for the 5-1/2 years
we had them set up there. --Mark

It's probably fine, but it would BUG ME every time I looked at it.....maybe
when you need to do a water change you could level it. ;)

Cindy

Better check that your floor studs are not sagging,
125gal, u may need support from underneath in the
basement...
....Kodiak

"Amateur Cichlids" wrote in message
. ..

"SJS0678" wrote in message
...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after
the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one
side
than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite
level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live
with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up


As long as the stand is a well built stand it should do fine. The downward
force on the stand is slightly off center, but not enough to have much of
an
impact on the stand. It would have to be really bad to be putting force on
the stand in a direction which would cause the stand to fail.


also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up
one
end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

Not unless you get a house jack, jack up the joists under the stand where
the sag is and install a lollie column.

Amateur
http://66.70.90.41

Hi,

I wouldn't be too laid back on this one. Personally, I've have had tanks
that have been slightly off level before without any ill effects. The only
failure I've experienced was a slow-ish leak from an older, second-hand tank
that still caused a fair amount of damage. I think that one was due to
older, dried-out silicone.

However, I've been advised by my LFS owner (who is very experienced in the
trade) that, apparently when the tank isn't perfectly level, the angles and
difference in weight places more stress against some of the planes of glass
and joints than others. It shouldn't affect a well-built stand, but in some
cases, the unequal weight/force can cause the tank itself to fail, which can
be catastrophic.

Based on this, in the long term I intend to shim up my 90 gallon setup,
which is slightly off level at the moment. It'll be a nasty task and I hope
to get it done by draining most of the tank and enlisting a few strong
friends to help lift the tank and stand without actually doing a full
tear-down. The floor itself should be strong as it's close to the center
beam of the house and spans several joists, but the lack of being level
concerns me, and it's not a risk I'm interested in seeing the down side of!

I know: typical second-hand internet advice, so take it FWIW... ;-)

- Rob


"Mark Stone" wrote in message
m...
(SJS0678) wrote in message
...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after
the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one
side than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite
level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live
with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up
one end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

I think your tank is fine. At a previous residence I had floors that
were not level, and it didn't bother the aquariums for the 5-1/2 years
we had them set up there. --Mark


Mark Stone -- tractorlegs at msn dot kom
OSCAR Lovers! http://www.geocities.com/cichlidiot_2000/oscar.html
The ".Edu" meens i are smart.

Rob wrote:
Hi,

I wouldn't be too laid back on this one. Personally, I've have had
tanks that have been slightly off level before without any ill
effects. The only failure I've experienced was a slow-ish leak from
an older, second-hand tank that still caused a fair amount of damage.
I think that one was due to older, dried-out silicone.

However, I've been advised by my LFS owner (who is very experienced
in the trade) that, apparently when the tank isn't perfectly level,
the angles and difference in weight places more stress against some
of the planes of glass and joints than others. It shouldn't affect a
well-built stand, but in some cases, the unequal weight/force can
cause the tank itself to fail, which can be catastrophic.

Based on this, in the long term I intend to shim up my 90 gallon
setup, which is slightly off level at the moment. It'll be a nasty
task and I hope to get it done by draining most of the tank and
enlisting a few strong friends to help lift the tank and stand
without actually doing a full tear-down. The floor itself should be
strong as it's close to the center beam of the house and spans
several joists, but the lack of being level concerns me, and it's not
a risk I'm interested in seeing the down side of!

I know: typical second-hand internet advice, so take it FWIW... ;-)

- Rob

I agree with you - I would fix it rather than have to worry about the tank
coming apart.

Cindy

The warranty for my 125 gallong tank says it is null and void if the tank is
not placed on a proper stand, which in turn is placed on a flat and level
surface. I don't think a slight variation is a problem as long as the floor
is flat but my understanding is that it *does* place additional stress on
the tank.

And no, there is no way to move a tank with risking damage other than
*completely* emptying it first.

--
Jonathan Wood
SoftCircuits
http://www.softcircuits.com
Available for consulting: http://www.softcircuits.com/jwood/resume.htm

"SJS0678" wrote in message
...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one side
than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite
level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live
with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up one
end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

As you don't give any details of your tank stand, its very hard to advise
you on what to do, with regard to levelling it up.
There's a few ways of doing it, from a couple of car jacks on each of the
lower corners to double wedges [ two wedges narrow edge end to end and
slowly hit each wedge in turn, so that the wedges climb on top of each
other] which if done correctly will lift anything, But what ever you do,
must be done slowly to avoid water slop,
bassett


"Jonathan Wood" wrote in message
link.net...
The warranty for my 125 gallong tank says it is null and void if the tank
is
not placed on a proper stand, which in turn is placed on a flat and level
surface. I don't think a slight variation is a problem as long as the
floor
is flat but my understanding is that it *does* place additional stress on
the tank.

And no, there is no way to move a tank with risking damage other than
*completely* emptying it first.

--
Jonathan Wood
SoftCircuits
http://www.softcircuits.com
Available for consulting: http://www.softcircuits.com/jwood/resume.htm

"SJS0678" wrote in message
...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after
the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one
side
than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite
level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live
with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up
one
end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

"SJS0678" wrote in message
...
i just moved my 125 gallon fish tank (not fun) into my sunroom. after the
water was in, i noticed the water is about a half inch higher on one side
than
the other, and i took a level and found out the sunroom is not quite
level. my
first question is will this imperfection jeopardize the structure of the
tank/stand? i dont want 125 gallons of water in the sunroom! i can live
with
the imperfection if it doesnt mess anything up

also, short of draining the tank and puting something down to prop up one
end,
is there any other way to make the tank level? thanks

The advise you've gotten here is partly right and partly wrong.

If one SIDE of your aquarium is higher than the other end, it just doesn't
matter even one little bit. With a uniform slope there are no extra forces
or stresses that amount to much of anything at all ..... not in your stand
or your tank.

But here is what does matter. If the floor is uneven so that one CORNER of
your tank stand is not in the same plane as the other three corners. That
will put torsion (twist) into the tank glass and that could cause big
problems. That is easy to see if you can wobble your tank back and forth
before you put water in. After you put the water in the floor deflects and
you can get a feel for it by looking at the water level in all four corners.

I'd say that if you are at all worried about it then go ahead and shim it
level.

Kevin