leveling problem
 

leveling problem.... i have a 46 gallon bow front and i tried leveling with old magazines but after the first 5 gallon bucket the level is off already are magazines a bad choice

Magazines wouldn't be my first choice, especially in a saltwater application. :lol:

You'd probably be better off picking up some proper wood or plastic shims from Home Depot or such.

yea i agree the time and money you put in ur saltwater tank you dont want to risk it getting all destroyed by something small like that make it secure, home depot wont cost you more then 20 $

leveling
 

plastic shims at home depot, $ 4

so all i could find was composite wood but now im left with a half inch gap is that safe with the shims on one side and no support in the middle? and also im still off about 1/16 of an inch big deal?
and with that gap ill have to watch water running underneath right?

Are you said'in that the surface of your stand is not level. You could add styroform under the tank.

are you shimming underneath the tank or underneath the stand?

from reading, does seem like bows have problems popping seams. I'd be putting a lot of effort in ensuring the tank is fully supported and level.

i shimed underneath the stand
and 1/16 is really that big of a deal... jeezz wishing i had a more level floor

Yeah, welcome to my personal hell - concrete floors are not level, contrary to logical thought since it SHOULD flow, but clearly didn't.

I am interested in the opinion about gaps though - My stand has a couple too after it's been shimmed to level and wonder if I should be jamming stuff in there or not. :)

Styrofoam WILL NOT LEVEL A TANK I can not stress that enough!!!! if the tank is low in a corner, there will me bore water in said corner, and more weigth on the styro, which will compress more, and lead to more water in corner! Styro is fro tanks with no bottom trim. where the bottom pane of glass rests directly on the stand. have a little pebble, or sawdust flake between the stand and the glass, can lead to immense point loading pressures. Styrofoam smothens out the stand irregularities like this. It WILL NOT make a tank sit level on an unlevel stand

concrete doesn't flow like water. How do you think we build stairs? I would keep putting shims under it untill I filled all the gaps.

Yup, I got to the concrete doesn't flow fast enough to self level conclusion after the discovery of a half inch high hump in the middle of where I wanted my tank to live. :)

so i guess another good question is...how does a person raise an existing tank without draining it?? would be good to know if i ever decide to level mine perfect, draining it is almost not an option!

Almost impossible I'd say. Better start draining.

When I set up my 180 on my basement floor there was a difference of 3/8" over 6'. I screwed temporary bracing to the stand and levelled everything up, I then covered the outside gap (making a temporary form) and poured floor levelling compound inside the stand (I made the plywood bottom removeable for this reason). This stuff works great, it will automatically level itself and finds every crack and crevice. Once this dries you will have every inch of floor in contact with the stand and zero stress transferred to the tank. The levelling compound is available pre mixed and as a dry powder which you can mix yourself. I works on any surface, wood, concrete etc. The brand is Stone Mason, I bought mine at Home Depot. It was the first time I had ever used it, I even bought a trowel in case the auto levelling was a crock but I didn't need it. I thought about shims but with the weight of a 180, I wanted more uniform support. I built my stand with 2x6 and it is very heavy duty, but I still wanted it on a solid base for peace of mind.