Levelling

[joecoral]

just bought a new tank (rio 180) but where I want to put it against a wall, the floor slopes down towards the middle of the room (whether it be the carpet, or the floor itself which is slanted i dont know) so how can i best level it?
I have some 1" polystyrene sheeting which i can put on the floor under the stand, would this help?
Any input appreciated
JC

EDIT - spelling mistake

 

[SkiFletch]

Polystyrene's a little flimsy . The reason it slants towards the room is because of the way carpet is held down to flooring. There's an extra glue pad all around the edge of the carpet making that slightly raised above the rest. If you pull the tank maybe 3-4" away from the wall you MIGHT loose this effect. If that doesn't fix your problem, consider shimming with wood or plexi glass.

 

[joecoral]

wouldnt shimming make the weight on the stand un-even and possibly cause it to break?

 

[Tolak]

You place the shims between the bottom of the stand & the floor. You can get a pretty decent level off of the stand itself without having to place the tank on it. This is easier to work with, and gives a good enough level for most tanks. Shims that are used for window & door installation are great for leveling tanks.

If you are setting the tank up on a wooden floor, especially a larger tank, first level the stand. Place the tank on the stand, and fill it 1/3, then check your level. If it's still level, fill another 1/3, and check again. if it's still level, fill to the top, and check again. If there is any settling of the floor which would cause it to go out of level, drain, shim accordingly, and start filling again.


Polystyrene, foam, or any other padding will not level your tank, it will only even out the pressure between the two surfaces.

 

[Rooster]

... or adjust the stand, metal stands should have adjustable feet... wooden ones can be adjusted with a saw or sander.
If this is going to be a permanant fixture, I would be temped to remove the bits of carpet where the load sits, and remove a bit of the carpet gripper or skirting thats causing the problem.

 

[joecoral]

on closer inspection i dont think its the carpet, it seems to be the whole floor is on a slant, so it looks like its a shimming job

 

[joecoral]

have been looking around but none of the major DIY chain stores sell wooden or composite shims. How would I go about making my own? ( bare in mind i'm a student so my access to tools is extremely limited)

 

[joecoral]

something like these would be ideal but i don't know where I could buy them from
http/www.stadon.co.uk/wedges.htm

 

[joecoral]

I was thinking though, if the tank is true on the stand and the stand is true on the floor, does it need levelling for a drop of 15mm? surely placing small wedges under the front of the cabinet would increase the strain on the base of the cabinet (i am not using the black plastic feet thing that juwel inclue, so the cabinet base is simply a flat wooden base on the floor)

 

[Rooster]

Can you not get someone to plane a little off the stand ? I would not use small wedges, as you say they would be under a LOT of pressure... you need to make something that spreads out the weight.
If you do NOT sort this, you might get away with it, but I wouldnt sleep at night ! glass is pretty unforgiving stuff if the loads are'nt right.

 

[joecoral]

I don't want to plane the stand if possible as the tank is only going to be in its current location for 12 months then it will be moving house with me. If I went to a DIY store or timber yard and bought some MDF or plywood, would they able to plane it or whatever so it would be the right shape to level the tank?
JC

 

[joecoral]

ok people, i'm running out of time so i need to make a decision about this pretty quickly.
I can NOT
- plane the base of the stand
- make a base for the stand out of self levelling cement

so, do I
a) just shim the stand hope for the best (using these: http/www.screwfix.com/app/sfd/cat/pro.js...9&ts=03444)
B) place the stand on a piece of styromofoam which is in turn on top of a piece of hardboard the same size as the stand base and has been shimmed as in the other option (but this caters for any uneven bits in the floor as well as it not being level)
c) do nothing as the tank is flat on the stand and the stand is flat on the floor
d) Some other option

 

[Tolak]

If you wedge the low end to level, then support the middle with wedges that are half the thickness of the wedges on the lowest end you should be fine. The high end will have full support, the middle will have two support points, as will the low end.

All but one of my tanks are in the basement, on a concrete floor that slopes to a floor drain. On my longer stands I've used pieces of 1/2" to 3/4" strips of wood to bring them closer to level, then used shims.