Leveling a Tank
 

I never leveled my 10 or 12 gallons. I've got my new-to-me 33 gallon to within an 1/8" (36x12x18, with a crossbar at the top). I'm thinking my 40b (36x18x14) will have to be bang on.

What is an acceptable margin of error?

After having a tank break on me... I level to within a 1/2mm using a surveryers scope

Any idea how much you were out on the tank that broke? What size tank was it?

The level is a great idea. I'm a cartographer in a legal land survey firm, and I have surveying field experience. It never occurred to me to grab equipment from work for this job. *doh!*

An unlevel tank won't break from that alone, that's another issue. If you can run a 2" wave on a tank without concern why would 1/8" off level be a problem?

On that note why is it so hard to level a tank?

It was out by 1/8" from the shim compressing BUT the place that built the tank also used a peice of glass with a huge shell on the bottom which they shouldnt have which is were it cracked... So if the bottom wasnt a bad peice it may not have happened, but I take no chances.
I first level with a stanley fat max level to get it close, they claim there accurate to .5mm but I dont trust them that much

This is the first time I've ever leveled it a tank. It wasn't hard to get it to where it is now, but I would have needed hubby to produce different shims for me to get it more level. I don't know what kind of aggravation that would have involved.

I just used a Stanley Fat Max level.

As an aside . . . What is a "shell" as it relates to glass? That is a totally new term to me.

http://i79.photobucket.com/albums/j1...BLE-OYSTER.png
That is a "shell" in glass from some improper SSG

oh! That's ugly. :( is that your tank? My Google images search turned up nothing.

No thats not my tank, I have since fixed and sold that tank.
Thats just a pic to show what most shells look like and possible crack points on glass. It was from a SSG warranty job.

That's just bad tank building, being level wouldn't have helped.