Tank leaning forward... Is it safe?

[therealswimshady]

Hi all,
I've recently moved my tank in preparation for filling in a couple of weeks but have noticed a slight lean away from the wall.
I know if I was to lift the front of the cabinet with shims I would have to support every point that touches the floor and don't really have the tools available to do this accurately.
Any ideas if the amount of lean in the photo will be safe as it is or if there is anything I could do?

Thanks in advance.

 

[aumoenoav]

Is it leaning just forward or to one direction? Leaning forward this much is not the best, if it twist to the side much worse.

 

[therealswimshady]

It's only leaning forward, side to side is level. Previous owners of the house had hand finished wood flooring put down in the room so none of it is perfectly level.
Perhaps I could try shuffling it around until I find the sweet spot lol!

 

[Jesterrace]

Keep in mind every gallon of water weighs approximately 8lbs, even for a small tank that's a lot of weight and that doesn't count the live rock, sand, tank itself, other equipment. I would definitely find a more level spot.

 

[lacrosseboss18]

How big is the tank? Do you know how the beams in the house run?
Can you take pictures from far away to see everything

 

[therealswimshady]

Tank is 160 litres (just over 42 US gallons).

Tank is between 2 chimney breasts and the beams run left to right as you look at the photo. There is also brickwork supporting the floor front to back of the photo that is dead centre of the tank that I believe is part of the houses foundation (I was able to check under the floor when we had the hearth for the fireplace fitted).

What if I were to cut a thick sheet of wood to stand the cabinet on rather than directly on the floor?

This tank has sat happily in another part of this room for 4 years now, I guess I was just lucky the floor was a lot more level there.

 

[HB AL]

I've never used a level on a tank in 30+ years, some had slight leans, never thought about it and never had an issue. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Smo]

Looking at your stand...you only need to shim the front corners on the sides. It appears the load path is just thru the side panels. You can shim by stacking old credit cards or I use hotel key passes I collect when traveling. Small pieces of acrylic sheet stock would work too if you need additional thickness. Be prepared to fill and drain your tank several times to account for floor flexure under load.

 

[Jay1661]

My 29 gallon has the same degree of forward lean. Kinda regret not putting some shims underneath to level it out. If my tank was rimless it would overflow. But it’s definitely not that bad of a lean, I’ve seen worse.

 

[mjlash22]

I would definitely level out as much as possible before filling. If that's the lean empty, it's sure to get worse when filled.

 

[aumoenoav]

The problem is the silicone could start leaking if you dont do anything about it. Its not a huge tank so should not be a load issue. If your floor would curve of 160kg you have other things to worry about than the tank.

 

[mch1984]

hard to tell from the first picture, but are you leveling using the canopy? If so, tank the canopy off and put the level on the tank its self, it may be the canopy not the tank.

 

[Greybeard]

Playing cards make excellent leveling shims... and yes, I'd try to level it. Some, at least, that level appears to be way off.

Will the seams break out because it's not level? Probably not. Having a perfectly FLAT surface for the base is important... wracking a tank _will_ cause it to fail, but a bit of a lean isn't usually a problem. I'd still try and level it... it's not that difficult to do.

 

[mjlash22]

Playing cards make excellent leveling shims... and yes, I'd try to level it. Some, at least, that level appears to be way off.

Will the seams break out because it's not level? Probably not. Having a perfectly FLAT surface for the base is important... wracking a tank _will_ cause it to fail, but a bit of a lean isn't usually a problem. I'd still try and level it... it's not that difficult to do.

This is what I used to level my reefer 250 at my old house. 1 deck did the trick.

 

[Greybeard]

This is what I used to level my reefer 250 at my old house. 1 deck did the trick.

Playing cards are the traditional way to level a pool table If it works for that, it'll be just fine under an aquarium!

 

[therealswimshady]

Thanks for all the advice guys, it's much appreciated and one of the reasons I value this community so much.

So I took the canopy off and put the spirit level directly on the rim of the tank and it was still off by the same amount.

I cut a board out of an old table top and put the entire unit on it...this made it lean further forward and also added a wobble, so that went straight on the scrap heap!

Now I have shimmed the whole unit so it's completely level, looks a bit of a mess now but when I fill it with water I will check they're all secure then trim the ends off level with the edges of the unit.
I've tried to make sure that all of the contact points with the floor are properly supported.

Most importantly, the tank itself has always been on a completely flat surface (if not completely level) so there is no chance of putting the glass or silicone under any extra stress.
Between the tank and unit is a wooden board then a layer of proper tank base foam stuff (can't think of the proper name for it now).