# Water level?



## KevinMcG (Aug 11, 2011)

HI all,

Hope I have posted this in the correct place - if not please let me know 

I have just set up a new 160 litre fish tank, I've just half-filled it and leaving it like that overnight to check for any leaks, just in case. 

I have tried to make my tank & stand as level as possible, however when I half-filled the tank, there was a difference of 0.5cm water level at both ends. Would this be within acceptable tolerance for my tank? I've heard horror stories about aquarium tanks cracked/bursted because the water was not properly leveled *J/D*

My fish tank is 100cm long, width is 40 cm and 40cm high if this is helpful info?

Many thanks in advance!


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Put a shim on the end of the stand that has the highest level, use a level while doing this and you should be able to get it level.


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## KevinMcG (Aug 11, 2011)

susankat said:


> Put a shim on the end of the stand that has the highest level, use a level while doing this and you should be able to get it level.


Many thanks for your reply, I will visit a DIY shop tomorrow!


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## pjones (Jun 5, 2011)

I leveled mine with a lego


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## Sweetgreenleaf1369 (Jun 24, 2011)

susankat said:


> Put a shim on the end of the stand that has the highest level, use a level while doing this and you should be able to get it level.


*i/a*


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

pjones said:


> I leveled mine with a lego


LOL,a lego.You sound like me


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## KevinMcG (Aug 11, 2011)

Hi all,

I had to empty my new tank earlier today as the water was too dirty due to new gravel, even though I had spent several hours rinsing them - guess that was not enough! 

So I took the opporunity to shim the stand to make it level as much as possible. 

With the gravel rinsed and tank refilled with fresh water again, the difference in water level has been reduced from 0.5cm to 0.2cm, would that still be within acceptable tolerance for tank stress? 

Cheers



p.s. lol at Lego being used as a shim! *r2


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## harveya (Aug 12, 2011)

i dont claim to be an expert here but you want it to be as close as possible. I think what you have would be ok for the tank stress, but when you fill it to the top you would really notice it is off level. Spend the time from start to get it right. You wont want to fix it once filled and cycled.


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## KevinMcG (Aug 11, 2011)

harveya said:


> i dont claim to be an expert here but you want it to be as close as possible. I think what you have would be ok for the tank stress, but when you fill it to the top you would really notice it is off level. Spend the time from start to get it right. You wont want to fix it once filled and cycled.


Thanks for your reply, to be honest I wouldn't have noticed the water is off level unless I had a ruler and measure how high the water is at both end of the tank.

Cheers


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## harveya (Aug 12, 2011)

20mm, .20cm or just under an inch is in my opinion quite alot. Fill it up and see how it looks It will become more apparent when it is full. If you happy then cool.


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## sion342 (Jul 31, 2011)

Hi: to me is better get the right level do to some times walking around make more water pressure from one side to the other and could be a tragedy that what I did with mine and is only 20gls. But my grandkids are very active so better not take risk. Just in case.


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

That is why its best to use a bubble level


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## KevinMcG (Aug 11, 2011)

harveya said:


> 20mm, .20cm or just under an inch is in my opinion quite alot. Fill it up and see how it looks It will become more apparent when it is full. If you happy then cool.


Ok no problem, that's a good idea as my tank is 3/4 full just now and I've finished for the night - tiredness is starting to creep in! (*yawn*)

I will fill the rest tomorrow and see what the level looks like when the tank is full.

Thanks again


p.s. the level is off by 2mm or 0.2cm (sorry, I should have used both measurement units to avoid any confusion!) *blue sorry


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## harveya (Aug 12, 2011)

sorry that was my bad with metric math! 2mm is nothing to worry about imo. See how it looks full.


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## Sweetgreenleaf1369 (Jun 24, 2011)

with that I would not worry much as long as your surface is flat that your tank sit on..


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## KevinMcG (Aug 11, 2011)

Spent all day yesterday filling up the tank (the level is still 2mm off level so I'm happy with that) and then setting up my Eheim external filter with installation kits 1 & 2. A bit fiddly to set up but eventually got it working OK. 

Many thanks for all your help and advice in this thread


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## harveya (Aug 12, 2011)

Good stuff and good luck with the cycle.


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