120 Gallon Stand Not 100% Level (floor Isn't Level)

Hey everyone. I have done so much research before purchasing my 120 gallon and a custom stand from a buddy who builds them as a hobby I have been in the fish hobby for about 3 months now with a 5G and a 20G. Naturally I wanted bigger!

Well I ran into a problem. I researched so much before posting this and I feel like my case is a little different based on the sever decline. My floor is severely unlevel. So we put a 1" board under the side that the water was too low and shimmed the supports. But after filling for a second time, I realized it leans towards the wall now, setting the water level off by about 1/4" higher on the back. Ultimately it will take some serious shimming to level it out because the whole back needs to be lifted lower on the left and higher on the right. Doable but not the most ideal. So I'm deciding whether or not to leave it, shI'm it, or come up with some crazy other idea. Any input is helpful! Pics attached

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• Clay VanArsdale
• Oct 10, 2018

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• Clay VanArsdale
• Oct 10, 2018

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• Clay VanArsdale
• Oct 10, 2018

IMG_20181010_173328

• Clay VanArsdale
• Oct 10, 2018

 

It doesn't matter if the floor is not exactly level as long as the tank itself is level and all four corners and edges are touching the stand. You're just going to have to keep shimmying it out until it's level. I try to run like a credit card or something underneath the tank edges and make sure there's no gaps.

Sweet tank and stand by the way I can't wait till we get a bigger place so we can upgrade

 

It doesn't matter if the floor is not exactly level as long as the tank itself is level and all four corners and edges are touching the stand. You're just going to have to keep shimmying it out until it's level. I try to run like a credit card or something underneath the tank edges and make sure there's no gaps.

Sweet tank and stand by the way I can't wait till we get a bigger place so we can upgrade

Thanks! Yeah I was going to shI'm but wanted to check. The tank is completely flat on the wood it sits on, so it all needs to be done from the bottom. I'll definitely shI'm it out more. Considering composite vs the wood I have in there now.

 

Shimming the stand at the floor is your best bet. You shouldn’t just shI'm one side. Using a level on the rI'm of the tank, once you achieve level on all four sides, you will need to shI'm the tank at the floor all around every 4 to 6 inches for the level to maintain once you put the wait of water in it. If you don’t do this it will lean to the area of least support under weight. Don’t use a board. Go to the local hardware store and buy proper shims you would use to level a door or window. Not sure what kind of floor the tank is going on, can’t see pictures, put you can cut trim the shims after so that don’t stick out. Styrofoam sheet between the tank and stand may also help with that 1/4 inch.

 

Shimming the stand at the floor is your best bet. You shouldn’t just shI'm one side. Using a level on the rI'm of the tank, once you achieve level on all four sides, you will need to shI'm the tank at the floor all around every 4 to 6 inches for the level to maintain once you put the wait of water in it. If you don’t do this it will lean to the area of least support under weight. Don’t use a board. Go to the local hardware store and buy proper shims you would use to level a door or window. Not sure what kind of floor the tank is going on, can’t see pictures, put you can cut trim the shims after so that don’t stick out. Styrofoam sheet between the tank and stand may also help with that 1/4 inch.

Thanks for the info! The tank is completely flat on the plywood of the stand. The plywood is sitting on 2x4s that ultimately support the edges of the tank. So my guess is my floor is unlevel there, or the tile that the stand sits on is causing it to be unlevel (I am on a concrete slab.) The board that runs the depth of the stand on the left is the perfect height to help level it out, and we did shI'm the edges of the stand so there are no major gaps between where the wood stops and where there are shims. I think we will break down the entire tank setup this weekend, then add more supports (I believe a few more are needed based on videos of tank stands that I have seen being built online), and ultimately level it out and set I back up. I may just use shims instead of the board we have there now.

I think that taking the extra few hours to drain/move the tank and level it better will offer me years of reassurance that I desperately need. I am sure that the fear of X gallons of water being poured onto the floor is probably a common one when someone gets a large tank for the first time!

 

Awesome tank!!! No wall or floor is totally plumb. Using the shims for doors and windows really is the right way to do it. They are not expensive.

What are you going to stock?

 

Awesome tank!!! No wall or floor is totally plumb. Using the shims for doors and windows really is the right way to do it. They are not expensive.

What are you going to stock?

I'm definitely going to shI'm it out soon! Right now I have a young Black Ghost Knife, a young blue Acara, and a Chinese algae eater in my 20 that will be moved over as soon as the tank is cycled. I know all of those require larger tanks but I promise they will only be in the 20 gallon for a month and a half max! All 3 are about 16" of fish combined but they will definitely grow. The 3 get along well so I think they will make good tank mates. I will probably add one are two larger fish like a discus, or pleco. Maybe both. And probably some smaller schooling fish. I'd love a dinosaur bichir, but I know when full grow they will eat anything smaller than 3".

 

I have the same problem in my house - when I had a 75, I had to use a combination of shims (long and short) to get it level. Finally got it right and worked great for over a year when I sold the tank.

 

Id advise against adding discus with a chinese algae eater. They tend to get bitey as they get older and can suck on the side of disc shaped such as discus or angels. Theres tons of horror stories out there of CAE taking out large patches of scales / slime coats off of fish.

 

I have the same problem in my house - when I had a 75, I had to use a combination of shims (long and short) to get it level. Finally got it right and worked great for over a year when I sold the tank.

Good to know. I appreciate the comment!

Id advise against adding discus with a chinese algae eater. They tend to get bitey as they get older and can suck on the side of disc shaped such as discus or angels. Theres tons of horror stories out there of CAE taking out large patches of scales / slime coats off of fish.

I actually have read about this. There is a good chance that the CAE will move to a 30G I am setting up next month, but hes just in the 20G for the time being.

 

So I wanted to post an update. I wasn't satisfied with the stand braces, so we added 9 2x4 braces throughout it today. Then we shimmed the heck out of it, put the tank on, shimmed more, then filled. It's almost 100% level. Water level on the left is about 2mm lower than the right, which is my opinion is nothing to worry about. It wasn't noticeable when half or 3/4 filled.

Now what's weird to me is that the middle water level seems to be higher than the left side, but it is the same height as the right side. This doesn't make sense because the tank base is touching all the way around the plywood except in one spot where I can get a playing card through, but 2 playing cards won't fit. Almost as if the middle of the tank is bowing up? Another theory is the top plastic rI'm was not mounted flush to the top of the glass. I can try to post pics soon.

 

Actually, scratch that guys. It was the fact that there was light coming in the left side of the tank vs no light on the back and right side. Plus my bubbler on the sponge filter in the middle. It was all all perception! My bad. Everything seems good to go!