My 90 Gallon Fish Tank Is Not Level

[mibson]

I just moved and my 90g tank is in the loft, I used a level on the tank and it is 5-6mm lower in the front than the back because the floor is a bit uneven. What is the best way to fix this?

I really want to avoid taking out the fish , again, and draining all the water.

Anyone have some advice on how to level my tank?

I have considered removing all the water except for about 3 inches, so that i can slip something under the tank or stand to level it.

Right now I only have the tank 1/3 full because when I had it 75% full, it was a tiny bit wobbly from front to back.

I have old yoga mats that I can cut into strips and glue together so that the final matt is about 10mm high in the front and progressively decreasing in thickness to 0 mm in the back then place this under the stand. After the yoga mats compress from the weight I think it should level the tank by raising it 5mm in the front and progressively less, to 0 mm in the back.

Anyone have some advice on how to level my tank?

 

[Geoff1991]

Woah... a tank in the loft? You sure its safe up there?

Also if its wobbly it may be easier to put a large piece of plywood or mdf on the floor under the tank, that way you can shave bits of and make it sit steady on your floor then put the tank and its stand on top of that.

 

[mibson]

Thanks for the ideas, I did think of using wood or mdf. Shaving it down so that it is very even seems difficult.

I did have an engineer check out the loft because I was going to put a 265gallon tank up there (ended up too expensive). He said the loft is very well built and I could easily put a large tank up there. The floor is strong but it has a spot about 10 inches wide that is a bit high (5-6mm) that runs around the entire wall of the loft. It is this high spot that is causing the tank to tilt slightly forward. If I move the tank away from the wall another 10 inches it will be level, but this will make the tank 16inches from the wall, it does not look good like that.

I would appreciate more ideas? Even tips of how to make a piece of wood or mdf that is 4 feet by 2 feet wide, that slopes from 0mm to 5-6mm.

 

[Geoff1991]

Id just use a belt sander myself, since its only MDF

 

[Tolak]

Get a package of shims that they use for door & window installation. All my tanks are in the basement, concrete that slopes towards a floor drain. Some start out 1/2'-3/4" out of wack, often on a diagonal. A couple of shims take it up to 1/4", beyond that it's regular lumber. Shims are cheap, I use a lot of them. Always shim between the floor & the stand.

You will need a friend if you want to shim when it has water. Drain off a good 75% or more, more is better. It sounds like the back is solid, start with the two front corners, working back & forth little by little until you get it level. Your friend can either pry the stand up with a bar, or if he (or she, I've seen some strong women) feels strong, lift it slightly.

Once the front two corners are shimmed to bring it level, fill in a few spots around the perimeter. You don't want to lift the tank with these, just make solid contact. Once you are done shimming, fill 1/3 & check level. Fill 2/3, check again. Bet you can guess what comes next.

When it is full & level take a sharp knife, score the shims, and snap off the excess for a neater look.

 

[mibson]

Thanks! that is my plan, thanks for the tips!