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Levelling A Rimless Tank

NatalieHurrell

NatalieHurrell

Member
Joined
28 Dec 2020
Messages
235
Location
Basingstoke, UKw
Hi all,

I'm hoping you can put my mind at rest.

My new 216 litre (90 x 50 x 48h) tank has arrived. It's on the manufacturer's solid stand (solid sides directly on the floor, support at the back directly on the floor, front trim supporting the tank directly to the floor). It's in our lounge, on a newly carpeted concrete floor, placed about 3 inches away from the wall and clear of the carpet gripper. The stand came with a black foam stuck to it to even out any minor anomalies.
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I've had quite a few tanks over the years (last count 10 or so), but never a rimless one. I understand it's important keep things as level as possible. This tank is level from left to right, but currently about 2mm out diagonally/front to back). Should I be concerned? I appreciate it might change once filled, but it's a blinking heavy tank already! The bubble in the level is never outside of the two lines in any direction, but not dead central.
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The design of the tank means that the front 2cm of tank is not actually standing on the base. This is so that once the doors are closed the finish is flush to the front of the tank.
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I've debated using a thin wood strip under the right side, but can't find a thin enough one. Maybe a thick felt furniture pad might work. Could use wood shims, but don't really want anything showing on the outside of the cabinet. Am I worrying unnecessarily?

Thanks all.
 

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I’m a bit confused that it’s not level in the diagonal, but you’re saying it is level left to right. dies the stand have feet at all? Key is how level will it be once filled and the carpet is compacted.
 
hypnogogia said:
I’m a bit confused that it’s not level in the diagonal, but you’re saying it is level left to right. dies the stand have feet at all? Key is how level will it be once filled and the carpet is compacted.
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In basic terms, it's level left to right, but the back is 2mm lower than the front. No feet. It's solid to the floor on the sides and front, with a wide support in the middle, at the back, also to the floor. Hope that makes sense.20220227_162950.jpg
 
Hi, If it doesn't have any kind of adjustable feet you'll have to shim under the stand.

I'd say 2 mm is well within tolerance and won't affect the stand/tank in any way. Plus like others have said its's likely to move a bit once filled
 
You could try sliding cardboard or corrugated plastic under the stand.
J-Bonham said:
I'd say 2 mm is well within tolerance and won't affect the stand/tank in any way.
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I agree, 2mm isn't going to cause any issues. my 90 cm tank stand isn't level diagonally for almost 1.5 cm and I still have no problem over 2 years of having it. I kind of lost my sanity every time I do water change though :crazy:
 
Thanks all. It's only because it's rimless I seem to be worrying more. At least it's straight left to right, across the front, which is our main view of the tank. I know it's really thick glass, but it just looks so much more fragile!
 
Hello, no worry for that.
The problem of levelling with the empty tank is that the "carpet" is not fully compressed by the weight. So the level you see may not be acurate. Best should be to try and level the stand without the tank, by using small pieces of wood or whatever solid enough, then put the tank on the stand. 🙂
 
If the top shelf of the cabinet is 100% flat then you are good to go... A Torqued surface is what is deadly for an aquarium in general.

See the picture bottom right... That's an exaggerated example torqued shelf... A top-shelf with the slightest torque will put a strain on the glass and seams and one or the other might crack in time under the pressure.
Soorten_moment.png

Thus when the shelf is 100% flat with no torque but not 100% level won't put much excessive strain on the aqaurium. It won't look nice since you will notice this with the water level in the tank being unequal to the top rim. But you can fill it up safely without any fear of the tank exploding on you. Since it stands on a soft underlayment it might be the cause of slightly out of level. Then first slowly start to fill the tank up with water so it gets some weight to it and keep the level on it and see what it does. If it's still not level once completely filled then you know it's probably not the carpet causing it but the concrete floor below it. And then you need to figure out something to get it levelled up.

In this case what I would do personally, is cut a board (Plywood or something) a tad larger sized as the cabinet put that on the floor and shim this level with 7 shims, one at each corner, one in the centre and one in the middle front and back. Level this board and put the cabinet on top. And make that board the same colour as the carpet to make it look a bit better.

Anyway placing something heavy like that that needs to be levelled on a soft underlayment can always be a hassle and difficult to get right on the first try. If this aquarium is something long term in this location then you could consider cutting the carpet away and putting it directly on the concrete. 🙂 Then you still might need that extra board on the floor.

Good luck!
 
Thank you. Cabinet is well built and level, so will try a test fill and see what happens. Only just put carpet down, so my other half may strangle me if I cut a piece out of it! Happy to put a sheet of thick marine ply down if needed though.
 
Its going to take a few weeks with the tank filled for the carpet and underlay to fully settle.
The front to back level , you will probably not notice any deviation, its more the front view left to right that will catch your eye more.
After its settled and when you are doing a big water change, you should be able to very carefully ease the stand just enough to wiggle some strips of 3mm hardboard or 3mm plywood under it to level things up.
Always turn your spirit level around to see if it gives the same indication, they can be knocked / go out of true.

Something you might want to get others comments on, but we would not want to have the sides of the tank unsupported like that unless the makers guarantee its ok ? we always look for the whole tank base and sides to be fully supported by a solid base and equally large foam or polystyrene layer.
 
I thought that too, but it's how it was made by Seabray for Maidenhead Aquatics. Tank and cabinet delivered together. All of their Planta tanks are the same. I even checked pictures online to be sure.
 
I once made a plywood bottom tank that was custom made to stand on an irregular surface and solved the issue like this with metric inserts and used metric bolds as levelling feet. In this case, the bottom panel of the tank itself was made from epoxy treated plywood. I needed the board anyway so why spend energy on a glass panel... Anyway, a board like that to level and support can hold anything also a cabinet. In this case, it worked a charm the tank is still standing already for a few years now on an unlevel surface.

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Just to give an idea of what kind of possibilities are available you could consider.

I actually used the very same technique once to level an outdoor aquarium in the garden on a concrete brick wall but did it the other way around. I drilled holes in the non-level concrete surface screwed bolts in. In the same pattern as in the picture above. Then put the level on the bold heads and levelled them to each other. Obviously, the bolds are sticking out from the concrete, I did put a washer on the bolt resting on the concrete then measured the distance between washer and bolt head. Then did cut a piece of 15mm metal tube to fit in between. Screwed the bolts out again, put the tube over it each bolt its own propper length and screwed them back in again. The piece of metal tube and the washer under it supports the bolt preventing it from pressing further in under the weight from the tank. Also, this aquarium stands already quite some years in the garden on these upside-down levelling feet.

It's the exact same thing as levelling feet in the board, but then they are screwed in the floor instead.
Naamloos.png

Lets Level forever!... In any way possible... :thumbup:😀
 
NatalieHurrell said:
Thank you. Cabinet is well built and level, so will try a test fill and see what happens. Only just put carpet down, so my other half may strangle me if I cut a piece out of it! Happy to put a sheet of thick marine ply down if needed though.
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The tank will effectively destroy the carpet and underlay, so you could consider cutting out a suitable rectangle to sit the cabinet directly on the cement if you're sure you won't be relocating the tank. When you sell the house you'll need to have that room recarpeted in any event. 😉
 
Andy Pierce said:
The tank will effectively destroy the carpet and underlay, so you could consider cutting out a suitable rectangle to sit the cabinet directly on the cement if you're sure you won't be relocating the tank. When you sell the house you'll need to have that room recarpeted in any event. 😉
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It took 34 weeks in a pandemic to move house. We couldn't face another move for at least 20 years 😵😵
 
NatalieHurrell said:
After all that, I filled the tank and it's pretty much spot on level all round!
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I was trying to level my tank just this last week after moving house, and I knew in the back of my head it would change when I added a couple hundred KG of water, but its nothing an easy thing to adjust then is it?!

Glad you got it to where your happy!
 
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