To Level Or Not To Level

Marco S · Mar 17, 2019

I did everything I could to get my Red Sea 750 XXL even and checked it from every angle and it looked good. After filling it up with water for the leak test it is 1/4'' lower on one side but the bubble is right in the lines on the level. ???

I guess I want to know if that is acceptable or if I need to figure out why it isn't level? And what is the purpose of the leveling mat?

JasonK84 · Mar 17, 2019

With water, just being in the lines isn’t close enough. The bubble must be centered between the lines to be level. I had the same issue with my 120 and easily corrected it with leveling wedges.

It won’t cause any issues not being perfectly level unless you have crazy surface agitation that caused the high side to spill over.

Here is a pic of me leveling the tank after it was filled. The excess wood just snaps off and you don’t see it anymore.

Also, a longer level (full length of the tank) will produce better results.

samnaz · Mar 17, 2019

It's not uncommon to see a difference in level with a dry tank vs a tank filled with water. Use shims beneath the stand to make sure it's level.

SPR1968 · Mar 18, 2019

I would make sure it’s as level as possible to retain all structural integrity, but also you will keep looking at the tank, and you will notice it, and it will start to drive you mad and maybe take away some of the pleasure

Best to do it now before you get to far in, and you will be pleased you did later when your enjoying the tank

Marco S · Mar 18, 2019

The thing with the Red Sea stand is that the stand itself does not sit solid on the floor. It has like 30 or so little rubber feet screwed into the bottom. The process of leveling involves emptying the sump and taking the bottom of the stand off to access the feet and then screwing or unscrewing them until it is even. Even though it is a pain in the butt, I am going to go ahead and do it sometime this week. Better to start it off right.

Marco S · Mar 18, 2019

SPR1968 said:
I would make sure it’s as level as possible to retain all structural integrity, but also you will keep looking at the tank, and you will notice it, and it will start to drive you mad and maybe take away some of the pleasure

Best to do it now before you get to far in, and you will be pleased you did later when your enjoying the tank

And this is the reason, (more than any other) that I will go through the process of getting it level before going any further.