Leveling a tank

[puffermichigan]

Hi everyone,

I've been away for awhile--new job and no Internet! I just moved my 75 gallon from Michigan to Illinois, and set it up with my GSPs. They did not like being transported in buckets, but they are eating and look ok back in the tank now.

I have set the tank up in my living room (rented apartment, carpeted floors), and it is not level. I am going to have to fix this somehow--I've searched the forum and read in other posts that people use beadboard to set their tanks on to keep them level. My tank is on the stand that it came with, it only supports the rim of the tank. I worry that adding a layer of anything between the tank and the stand would make it precarious in some way. Is this something I need to be concerned about? The support edge of the stand is really just slightly wider than the black rim of the tank.

I appreciate any advice, I felt I had to set the tank up quickly it was late, I did the move by myself and relied on the kindliness of my neighbor to help lift the tank. I am just really worried now because of the unevenness. Haste has made waste.

[Tim]

You can use shims to level out the stand. Not sure how easy it is to get them in between the stand and the carpet though.

I knew my floor was like the moon, filled with craters so I decided to get an aluminium frame for my tank that is standing on 8 adjustable legs.

A tank does not need to be perfectly level btw, but I don't remember the margin.

[RTR]

Glass tanks only have need for the frame to be supported. Never put pressure on the glass base.

Plastic tanks need even support for the entire tank bottom. Uneven support can result in seam failure or cracking/shattering of the base piece of plastic.

Shim the stand, not the tank. Normally this is done before the tank is filled and again after it is test-filled with water.