# Can't get my tank perfectly level. Acceptable margin of error?



## klibs (May 1, 2014)

[strike]I would redo everything.
Torsion like that (twisting the tank) is the worst kind of stress you can put on those silicone bonds. Might eventually rip one apart and then you have 29 gallons of water on your floor.

For peace of mind I would re-do your stand setup. I would also not mess around with leveling your tank while it is half-full. Seems like a bad idea.

Use shims to get the stand level. My apartment floor is also carpet and is also not even (not even close lol) so I took many hours to put shims under the stand and get in perfectly flat.

If you put particle board on a uneven surface it will not do anything... [/strike]

EDIT:

a 1mm difference in corner height probably is not that big of a deal. I was thinking you had a 3+mm difference in tank height.
My floor is so uneven that I have to put like an inch of shims under the front of my stand to get it level...

Because your stand can be adjusted at the corners you should be able to get it level. If not then the surface of the stand itself isn't level (which is very bad).


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## Public Alias (Mar 25, 2012)

Thank you for the response.

I was able to get the stand pretty level. The edge of the stand sticks out from under the tank about 3mm on both sides, so I was able to rest my level on that. Measuring from the edge of the stand itself, it seems nearly perfect on both sides. 

Oddly, if I instead measure from the top edge of the tank's bottom plastic rim, there is a slight difference between both sides. I did my best to take a pictures of this. With that said, the tank seems to be making contact with the stand on all four corners, and even when I had the water down to about 2/5ths full, it still made contact on all corners with no rocking. I'm starting to wonder if the tank itself was manufactured with a slight non-planar-ness.

The unevenness seen in the pictures is small enough that I can center the bubble by lifting one end of the level less than 1mm above the tank's rim.

Maybe I'm over obsessing on this. Maybe the stand and the tank have some slight degree of defect when it comes to planar-ness. I bet lots of people just bolt the stand together, put the tank on top, eyeball it, and never have a problem...


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Not to throw grit into the works but there is also a common problem that might be giving you fits. How do you feel about the level? Is it something that you picked up recently or a tool that has been used and you know you can trust. 
At times, I have found levels are not truly level!!! 
To test for this, try the level one way and then turn the ends around and see if you get the same when turned around.


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## Raymond S. (Dec 29, 2012)

Very interesting point from PR.
I would say the most harmful thing for any tank like Klibs says is twist.
I would try the level on both ends from front to back. This should be very near exact.
I would measure the height in both corners front and back before doing this to be sure
you are not measuring something out of square.
I have never had a tank perfectly level. But I check the twist very close.
And on one tank I intentionally made it lean forward so the water line would be above the bottom of the top rim in the front but not at the back. But only about 1/4" difference.
BTW I have two Brooklyn stands and love them. Not finished the second one yet but I put the first one on top of two of the old real concrete cinder blocks to raise it up so that when I sit in a chair in front of it, it is eye level.


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## schnebbles (Jan 10, 2015)

I'm glad I read this!! Will be certain to make sure my tank is level when I set it up. Hopefully it's pretty level to start.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

First off that particle board will be history after a few times of spilling water on it. Better to have just put a square of wood under each leg. Put water in the tank up to the first rim and use that to check level. Stop obsessing with the level.


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## Public Alias (Mar 25, 2012)

As far as the twistyness, it seems that my Manhattan stand was the problem. I emptied out most of the water and took the tank off and the stand looked visibly twisted to the naked eye, I didn't even need to use my level.

$12 worth of cinder-blocks and one $6 piece of plywood and things look much better now. There is no rocking. There is a tiny tilt, but the bubble is still well within the two lines, and even better, the tilt is much more consistent from end to end, so minimal twisting.

I really wonder why my Manhattan stand got twisted. It is about 3 years old, and one of the vertical beams was rusted and bulging out slightly near the top, but it didn't seem to be the cause of the twisting.

PR, the level actually was inconsistent, so I had to make sure that the same end faced the wall each time, and the same side faced up, so that I could at least compare readings to each other.


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## Dead2fall (Jun 4, 2014)

I've never leveled a tank in my life.


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## neonmkr (May 16, 2008)

I don't worry to much about how level the tank is. My 55 has been set up in the same spot for the past 20 years with one end about 1/4" higher than the other. My 110 is about 1/8" out of level front to back. The thing is that the top surface of the stands are flat along the entire length or width of the tank so that there is no stress point on the tank wall.


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## BrentB (Dec 4, 2014)

Dead2fall said:


> I've never leveled a tank in my life.


Amen. 

I live in a 100 year old house I would hate to put a level to anything :hihi:

Brent


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

The twisting is more of a concern than slightly out of level. 
Many of my tanks are not level, but are listing evenly in whichever direction they are out of plumb. Rarely more than 1/4" (about 6mm), I would not worry about 1-2mm. 

On the other hand I have one special tank that I really worked to make certain is as close to perfect as possible. It has a low edge, and I fill it all the way up, and the water level is perfect. It took a couple of re-dos, and shims, and lots of checking with the level in all directions.


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## Public Alias (Mar 25, 2012)

It's really reassuring to see that some of you don't worry about leveling so much, and don't seem to have any problems.

Some of the first search results that came up when I started reading about the issue mentioned exploding tanks, and that freaked me out. 29 gallons of water and substrate on the floor would definitely upset the building management. 

Before I threw out the old stand I put it upside down on my kitchen table - which is planar - and when three corners touched the table one was raised almost 1/4 inch. That must have been why it was so difficult to get the tank to sit non twisted. I could somewhat compensate for the twist by adjusting the height of the feet, then the full tank would sort of squish the stand into a flatter state, but then as the stand fought back against the tank it seemed to get a little more twisted overnight.

What a headache! Whether that stand was safe or not, it was worth it to just build the cinderblock stand so I don't have to think about it anymore.


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

I think that is the smart thing to do: Get a better stand when you know yours is that far out of plumb, level and square. 

I have several tanks on concrete block stands. They don't shift or settle! 
I usually build a box out of 2 x 4 the size of the tank so it is supported all around.


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## Raul-7 (Oct 17, 2003)

You always level especially with large and frameless bottom aquarium (ie. rimless). Last thing you want is uneven pressure points causing leaks.


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## GraphicGr8s (Apr 4, 2011)

I love the angle iron stands myself.


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