Unlevel tank?!

[The603]

I think you should be very concerned about the weight and pressure being put on that cam lock, as well as the tanks seams.
I would rather drain the tank on my terms, rather than find a compromised seam has started leaking.

Once the cam lock is properly seated, recheck the tanks level, it may not need to be shimmed. In theory the weight of the water and contents should push straight down into the carpet, thus keeping it level.

I'm by no means a structural engineer but I do know the manufacturer put that cam lock there for a reason, I wouldn't underestimate what could go wrong.

 

[The_Labyrinth]

It looks like the weight of the tank is making your camlock hole (intial location) shift and it wided the hole. Typical for partical board. Someone suggested to not let that get wet at all and that is good advice as particle board will absorb moisture and get weaker. Overall, do not be too concerned about it but empty your tank now that it has settled and do a re-level with shims at the bottom of your stand and you should be ok. A 125 is lower in height than a 150 in the same footprint so if the stand was designed to carry a 150, your 125 should be just fine.

 

[embsidney20]

Thank you everyone. I've just checked everything out this morning and all exactly the same as yesterday.. Phew! Shims arriving this afternoon. Will I have to remove the tank from the cabinet to sort out the cam??

Dreading it. I've just moved my fish in after they've been living at someone's house whilst I moved home my fish have only just forgiven me ha!

But I will do it if it has to be done.

So many people have told me it being unlevel will be fine as its such a small tank but I'm quite an anxious person and this tank is not as relaxing as it is meant to be at the moment so I am more than happy to get the water level.

But I am scared that the shims will create further stress elsewhere.. This won't be the case will it? I will check the level of the stand once the cam is fixed but I am certain my floor is uneven beneath the carpet anyway (it's placed about 1/2 inch away from the gripper rods so I'm assuming that's OK?)

 

[embsidney20]

I'm guessing I shim the length of the left leg to evenly distribute everything? 75 in a pack so that's fine if that's the case!!

 

[Colin_T]

You could put a piece of wood under each foot of the stand. That would flatten out the carpet and might help even it up without twisting the stand.

 

[embsidney20]

You could put a piece of wood under each foot of the stand. That would flatten out the carpet and might help even it up without twisting the stand.

I used to have a 220 litre tank cabinet placed on top of a sheet of wood, I never even checked the level of that tank and had no problems so I guess the size of the board distributed everything out evenly on the carpet?

 

[NannaLou]

Only a small 54 litres here, but on a chest of drawers (I stood/sat/ wobbled to weight test) on carpet. There isn’t a single straight or level anywhere in my house and I used a cork backed table mat under the bottom of the chests of drawers and that worked a treat

 

[embsidney20]

Thanks all.

Fluval contacted me. They said I can twist the cam lock into place even if the aquarium is full and that the slight difference in levelness will not harm the aquarium?!?!

I'm seriously at a loss. Atleast I have all this in writing from them in case anything went wrong but I'm just torn on what to do now

 

[NannaLou]

I change mine because the wonky water line was driving me mad

 

[embsidney20]

I change mine because the wonky water line was driving me mad

Quite A few people have said thats the only problem it certainly does in mine cos the deeper end is at the max fill point under the trim so the right side is permanently on show!!

Fluval seem pretty chill about it even though they have seen the same pics.. The kept avoiding my shim questions and I never got a straight answer about that though I am worried about causing the legs to bow with shims just because of the way the stand is built. Ughh!!!

Gonna go ahead with a half drain, fix this lock and decide whether or not to shim it up!

 

[Fishfinder1973]

It’s not off the level by much.I doubt many folk do have a perfectly level tank.
Mines is off level about the same,but I’m not too bothered.

 

[embsidney20]

Thanks! Is your water level visibly off like this too?

 

[NannaLou]

It’s not off the level by much.I doubt many folk do have a perfectly level tank.
Mines is off level about the same,but I’m not too bothered.

It’s when there is something in/on the tank that shows the level is out as above, not seeing the water line one end but seeing it at the other

 

[Fishfinder1973]

Yes my water line is lower at one end by about 5mm.
Yes it can be annoying when filling,but the aluminium trim hides it once it’s full.
You can have a level tank when setting it up,then off level once it’s filled.

 

[embsidney20]

So I just wanted to update this thread in case anybody is scrolling Google like a paranoid little maniac like I have been the past couple of weeks

I tried to move the cam as Fluval said, with a full tank, and it rounded off under the pressure they are sending me out a replacement. I tried one last time before it broke in half! (it's very soft metal) now it has broken I can actually remove it, luckily the pin is straight still at ready for a new cam so apparently I can just slot this in and lock when the new one arrives. There is barely any damage to the wood surprisingly, it was the longer end of the cam hanging out which has made it look like the hole has got bigger.

As for the uneven water level - I've had a walk through with a friends husband about this and he is saying the same as Fluval. He has multiple tanks and all are slightly unlevel,these are all super expensive marine set ups so it was a relief to hear he wasn't worried at all.

As everything to do with my tank is unlevel, the floor / cabinet /tank it should be fine as they all sit at the same level. So if the stand was unlevel on a level floor then that would be more of a worry etc and it's only 1cm,nothing drastic like an inch or more.

And as the left side of my tank is higher but equal in both corners and the right side is lower but equal in both corners the tank is not twisting so even though it looks off the water will naturally even out pressure as the tank is square on its cabinet. That probably doesn't make sense lol I can't remember what he said word for word but Fluval and quite a few others have said the same

He also said shimming it on that stand is likely to make pressure into the carpet uneven and cause stress elsewhere. As my tank is well and truly stuck in the carpet I have decided to leave it and bloody hope for the best....

If the tank fails I will be sure to eat my words and update this thread.

Fingers heads toes and knees crossed. I'll never stop checking those seams