martynmarion

I have a problem that I am afraid I know the answer to, but I'm looking for the easiest way to solve it.
My new 75 gal. cichlid tank is in my living room, on carpet. Before I filled it, the tank was level so I added 50 pounds of pea gravel and 20 lbs. of white sand. In addition to 6 rocks, I put my water in. I had most of the rocks and 80% gravel on one side, a piece of driftwood and a rock or two on the sandy side. As you can probably guess, during my first water change, the water level is about 1/4"higheron the 'heavy' side. While I would like for someone to say 'no problem' I know in my heart
that the stress on the tank will be a problem in time. So- what is the easiest, safest (I have started with 3 african cichlids), and best way to level my tank? Do I need to take all of the water out to move it,what is the least stressful thing to do with the fish, etc. Special note: I have moved all of the rocks to the 'light side' thinking perhaps it is a carpet issue, (perhaps smashed
down)butit has only been one day, so this might help the problem, but knowing the luck I have, I doubt it. Any suggestions would be appreciated, or I'll buy you lunch if you want to come over and level it for me!!!

susitna-flower

Old school carpenters used 'water levels' for a really good reason. They don't lie.

You are right to be concerned about uneven pressure, but the main problem will come if you put something under the one end, and that puts some part of the tank in an unsupported condition.

If there is any place that wouldn't be subject to this unevenness, you should find it before you do anything to the tank. ie. If you want to have it setting on something, use a level and find out if it level. You can level the cabinet with wooden wedges, but the top should be solid so the weight of the tank is then spread over the entire length . Am I being clear?

Many floors sag and are uneven. It probably isn't the carpet. IF it doesn't offend you, and isn't more than about 1/2" in 6 ft. I wouldn't worry about it. If it offends you, or is say 2" in that space, you will probably want to remedy it. If you drain most of the water out, you should be able to move it without moving fish. Good Luck

sirdarksol

Out of curiosity, did you check which way the floor supports run?
For a large tank like that, you want to cross the supports, rather than run along them. The worst would be if the tank was sitting between the supports.
It could be that the floor is settling under the pressure, though this is unlikely. (Mostly would be due to poor construction. Something I've got to worry about in any part of my house that the previous owners worked on)

sanya69

Hello Everyone! I would deffinately look at he way the supports run. I am only able to place my tanks in certain areas for that exact reason. It beelive it will help putting the heavier item on the other side to see if this does help. Good Luck! Other wise... you might have to remove almost everything and shift the entire tank, stand etc over!

Chief_waterchanger

... you could go under the home and reinforce the floor joists. Take some 4x4 lumber and either add to the floor studs already in place or do something as simple as building a box that will fit precisely in under the home to hold the floor there. You would want to jack the floor back up on the one side, but you can do that simply by moving the tank temporarily then moving it back after the floor is in place and the supports are secured.

All of this is only if what Susitna-Flower said about it being more than 1/2 inch per 6ft were occuring.

Carol (Butterfly) may be able to enlighten us more on this subject if she sees the thread, her husband is quite the handyman.

martynmarion

Thanks for your support. I do have the tank running across the supports, I was afraid if I ran with the supports I would come home some night and have my tank fallen through the floor. As far as climbing under the house and jacking the floor up, you obviously don't know that I have absolutely no talent in the area of carpentry. I would destroy something or hurt myself. While I am glad to know that you feel that with the slight 'lean' I would be ok, it bothers me. You know how it is when you get a new tank. You want everything perfect. I think I will try and remove all of the heavy rocks and most of the water and shift it. I guess if I still leave 20-30 gal. I can leave the fish in the tank. With a little help from a friend, can I move/shift a 75 gal. tank with substrate and 20-30 gal. of water in it?

martynmarion

By the way susitna, you are right ---it is not the carpet. And I think I know what you mean. I can slip something under the stand's legs if I need to, but not under the tank bottom but on top of the stand. Correct

neverendingninja

Well, we usually say a tank weighs 10 pounds per gallon, because water is 8.3 pound per gallon, then add in substrate per gallon and the size of the tank. So, you're looking at moving 300+ pounds.

It may be possible if you're very strong, and so is your friend, but the problem is that the bottom pane of glass can not support this weight very well. If anything, you're going to need to move the tank and stand together in order to keep from compromising the tanks integrity.

martynmarion

There is about 3/8" of play with the bottom of the tank and the top of the stand. Can I safely 'scoot' the tank around on it, without actually picking it up? I hope that by maybe doing that I won't have to move the tank AND stand very far.

CPVFD325

I believe they mean shim the stand, not the tank. I just set my 46g corner tank up and between the old floors and the carpet (carpet raises slightly right at the trim line) It was slightly leaning, I used a level and figured how much i would have to shim. Then i just simply cut a strip of OSB to set under my stand. The weight of the tank pushes the OSB strip far enough into the carpet you can barely see it, and I now have a level tank with no visable water line difference.

Shim between the stand and the floor, NOT between the tank and the stand.