Leveling question

[Eric23]

I'm trying to level a red sea reefer 350 (73 gallons).... I picked up the tank from a local board member and picked the only spot in my house on a that it would fit and be on a load bearing wall bit the floor is almost and inch off left to right. Front to back there's no issue. I've never a had to level a tank this much before and I'm running into a problem. I have shims on the front and left sides of the tank. I didn't need them on the right, but can't get shims in the back. Do I need to shim the back out or can I leave it how it is ? You can see in the picks below that the left side is almost an inch off the ground while the right side is sitting right on the floor.

 

[azbigjohn]

I am not entirely sure I understand.

Is the tank level now, without shims in the back, or is it sticking up off the floor in back, and you cannot get sims back there?

If the bask is on a load bearing wall, then I would think the back panel would be level, and you would be more level along the back wall than the front, where you have all your shims.

If it is level, and supported as is, I would think it is okay, but if you ave part of teh stand not in contact with the floor, I would try and shim somehow to support the bottom of the stand (and therefore your tank) more evenly.

 

[Eric23]

Half the back of the tank is touching the floor. From the center to the left there is a gap. I have the stand 3 inches off the wall and whenever I try to get my hands back there to try and get shims in I end up moving the stand around and messing up all the shims I already put on the sides and front. I guess once the tank is on the stand I can fill it 1/4 and it wont move around as much.

 

[Sleepydoc]

Your floor is an inch off level??? I'd be more concerned with checking that out first.

As far as your tank goes, the base should be level and coplanar. If you dont' have shims in the back, it either means the floor is also sloping front to back or you are not coplanar and you risk compromising the tank's integrity.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I agree....that stand looks to be about 3 feet or so, and with that short distance the floor is off by an inch????

Please take your level and flip it around 180 degrees and see what you find. Either you had an absolutely terrible builder of your home, or your level is off...and I've seen that before, especially if it was dropped.

 

[Eric23]

I rent this house. It was built in 2005 and the floors are like a roller coaster for some reason. There's a lot of cupping and peaking and all the corners go up on the first floor. Ive looked at it from the basement and all the joists are double 2x8 supported by triple 2x10 beams that are held up by steel poles going to the concrete floor. Everything looks good there no rot and nothing is warped but it seems like the foundation itself is out of level so in turn so are the beams and joists.

 

[Eric23]

Maybe my level is off I'll try a different one

 

[Eric23]

The stand is 48x20

 

[jduong916]

is the hardwood warped?

 

[redfishbluefish]

The stand is 48x20

But even at four feet, with a 1 inch drop, you can't put a can of soup on that floor without it rolling away!!!

I'm still betting on a level that's way off....most likely dropped....seen it too many times.

 

[Eric23]

It's a piece of crap 3 foot plastic level that probably been dropped a million times. I have a good 4 footer at work I'll bring home tomorrow and double check. It would make sense because it was reading level but the doors weren't lining up right so it's probably off

 

[Eric23]

But my floor is pretty bad.. There's a peak in it from the front door to the back door right over the center support beam.

 

[Sleepydoc]

You can check the level by putting it on a flat surface, shimming up one end to make it ‘level’ if necessary, then flipping it 180º. If it still reads level then it’s good. If it reads level one direction but not the other, then it’s off.

Even though things look good in the basement, something’s wrong - floors shouldn’t be that far out of level and it makes me worried that significant shifting is occuring.

 

[don_chuwish]

I'd want shims at least every 6 inches if it turns out your level is fine and the floor really is that bad. Try adding some weight to the stand so it doesn't scoot around as you work on it. Also might not hurt to move it further from the wall - you'll probably want some access back there after the tank is up and running anyway.

 

[Eric23]

I turned the level 180 and flipped it tops and bottom and kept getting the same results. I'm still gong to try with a better level but I think this one is correct. I put the level on the floor and this is what it looks like. You can see that toward the right side of the stand which is about 2 feet away from the corner of the house it's off but not that bad and then toward the left side of the stand it's way off and then 2 feet passed the stand it's not so bad again. I have this through my entire house. Im not a carpenter but I'm assuming there's something wrong with the subfloor not the joists or beams. This is only a 75 gallon tank so I'm not to worried and the place where it's at is with the back against the wall supporting my bathtub which is reinforced from the basement with a steal beam and steal poles underneath it and a few feet to the right of that is the front of my house so it's probably the best support in the entire structure ?

 

[don_chuwish]

Wow. They used really cheap flooring too.
If you can get it level and sufficiently shimmed you should be fine until the house falls down.

 

[Eric23]

Yeah the owners who built the house live in China and we rent. They definitely made some strange choices. The floor is really cheap and the finish is pealing all over the house. They did however go all out on kitchen and bathroom fixtures, granite, and things like that. The windows, doors, and floors they decided to save money for some reason. The house is drafty and everything is falling apart. It looks great when you walk in but upon closer inspection it's a different story.

 

[Forsaken77]

I'm trying to level a red sea reefer 350 (73 gallons).... I picked up the tank from a local board member and picked the only spot in my house on a that it would fit and be on a load bearing wall bit the floor is almost and inch off left to right. Front to back there's no issue. I've never a had to level a tank this much before and I'm running into a problem. I have shims on the front and left sides of the tank. I didn't need them on the right, but can't get shims in the back. Do I need to shim the back out or can I leave it how it is ? You can see in the picks below that the left side is almost an inch off the ground while the right side is sitting right on the floor.

If you need to shim that much, I would've went with composite shims. The wood may crush when wet because they're supporting so much weight. You also need more shims, forming less gaps when it's that unlevel. That a very big gap. Just my opinion.

 

[Eric23]

I used composite shims those are not wood and I did add more shims. Right now the tank is about 1/2 full, I've been letting it sit for a few days circulating salt water and tomorrow night I'm going to start my transfer

 

[Kammetal]

What ever you do make sure its level before you transfer. Just hate to see a fellow reefer lose out. Trust me I’m going through the same thing as I found out the maker of my aquarium installed the braces all unlevel causing a level nightmare