Do I need to relevel?

[jacoste]

When I set up my tank earlier this year (42 Gallons/160L, 36"x15"x18") it was pretty much level, not perfect but as close as I could get it. Over the last couple of months though either the house has shifted or the weight of the tank has made the stand sink into the carpet more or something because the water line is now noticeably higher on one side. I've measured and it's about 5mm (about 0.2 of an inch) difference. I'm a little worried about this putting extra strain on the glass; I have nightmarish visions of one of the panels popping out and water and fish going everywhere.

So do I need to relevel the tank and if so how do I go about it???

[Owlbehere]

If you can I would. My tank was ever so slightly unlevel and I started noticing the silicone was getting weak. Better safe than sorry.

[Cameron]

a 42 gallon tank is fairly large, so there's more strain, so it might be a slightly bigger problem than a smaller tank, if it bothers you enough that you think about it enough, fix it.

btw someone on here uses shims to level out their tanks, they have some guys help lift the cabinet, or stand a bit and slide them in there one way or another, i forget who it is though..

[cocoa_pleco]

IMO 0.2 inches isnt anything to worry about, ist 0.5 inches+ that you need to worry

[jacoste]

Thanks for the replies guys. I decided to go ahead and relevel, to stop my worrying and save my sanity if nothing else. So I netted out the fish (damn those guys are hard to catch) and siphoned off most of the water. I kept as much as I could but I've only got so many buckets. I though I'd take the opportunity to redecorate a little as I'd got some new rocks today to replace the lava stone I had in there before. Releveled the tank with the help of one of my kind and thankfully strong housemates (advantages of living with a bunch of guys), added the decor back in and filled it back up with the saved tank water and dechlorinated tap water.

It's now only about 1mm out and I don't think I'm going to get it much better than that; at least not any time soon, that was hard work.

The fishies are now in a bucket with an airstone being reacclimatised (our tap water has some ammonia in it and this was basically a 75%+ water change so I thought I'd reintroduce them slowly).

Now I need a nap. Tanks looking good though. :)

[Owlbehere]

After my 60 gallon got messed up I made sure I got the tank set up level. I was banging my head trying to get it level. The place my tanks go it higher on one side and tilted to the front in one corner. I don't know if that made sense. Basically the tank was higher on the right side, lower on the left side, and even lower on the left front corner of the tank. It has shims all over the place. But it is pretty much level. The water line is off by about 1 mm.
It does give a piece of mind knowing its level. Glad you had those guys, when I drained the big tank the only person to help me (5'5' 125lb girl 21yr) was my dad (5'9 139lb guy 71yr). My dad is 71 but looks and acts about 50.