Anyone know how to level a tank

[wkopplin]

Has anyone ever had to level a tank after water is in it? It was level prior to putting water in the tank, but it must have settles some when I filled it. I am off by maybe 1/16 of an inch and the left overflow will not take any water. I really do not want to drain 215 gallons of RO/DI water. This will easily set me back over a week if I cannot find a way to level it without draining it. I tried hammering shims under the right side, but they are not hard enough to stick. Any help is appreciated.

Can I dremel down the castle holes on the left side to take water?

[Gator]

if that is all it is off you shoulkd not have any problems. If you start all your pumps up the returns should raise the water level enoughf so both overflows work, my tank is off more than that and i havent had any problems, not to say i wont in the future though

[wkopplin]

I will try it, I have been running low loads through the tank, so the right overflow is probably taking it all. Thanks Gator! I will let you know if it works out OK. Just a little panic attack after all this work!

[Henry]

Well if you have access to the sides of the stand you could always go the extreme route and use a hi-lift jack to help lift the side a little to slide the shims in. but that would be last resort in my book.

[Tim Marvin]

I've also used a floor jack under the stand and place small shims under the side, bottom of stand. NEVER place the shims under the edge of the tank.

[RobertG]

Well I am not the only one with this problem. Not to say thats good. Mine was the same way it settled about a 1/16 of an inch to one side. Makes you very unsettled. I was able to shim it not perfect but better. My pumps take care of the rest. 1/16 over an 8 ft. span is not bad , however ****es you off when you go through the extra steps to insure levelness. I made sure that all the way around the tank it is seated to the 3/4 inch plywood I laid down as the top of my stand. Man I hate this. It makes me wonder about furture probs. if any. My tank has been runnig two weeks now. I know how you feel about that 1/16 of an inch. It just Sucks!!!!!!!!!!

Kopplin I will say this if I had the opportunity to fix it before anything was in the tank I would have. Its just something to constantly think about. I noticed after the fact. My buddy pointed it out. The water line just slightly lower on one side. :evil: Good luck! My level has the bubble still within the level zone just slightly over to oneside of center. Very minor , well when you are a perfectionist you worry & it seems big.

[wkopplin]

Robert, exactly how mine is. How can I get a floor jack under it? I am trying to shim it, but keep breaking the shims. I do not see anywhere that I could possibly jack it up. I can drain about half to 3/4 of the water pretty easily (there are benefits to a 180 gallon sump!).

Once I got a full load of water running in there, the second overflow started taking in water and draining at a good clip, but I would prefer it to be a little more level.

[matt]

How you get it jacked up I guess depends on your floor. When I had to do it in my old tank, I drained some of the water, wedged a pretty sharp pry bar under the stand, levered it up a little, put a bigger pry bar under, levered it up a little more, put some metal shims under the low spots. It worked fine, but it marks the floor. This was on a 45 gallon; on your size tank you'd need really long pry bars for leverage. If you really want to be kind to the floor, you'll have to drain the whole thing.

[RobertG]

Well i did'nt use a floor jack or anything. I was able to shim it from the underside. I also have a ledge about 6 inches or so on the back side. I pulled the screws that i could & shimed the actual plywood that supports the tank. I used shims from home depot contractor pack real slim on some. I guess I just got lucky enough to get started, then got easier. Painful though do what you can cause this does bite. Like i stated earlier the opportunity is now. Drain it & get it right . I sit & think what I would have to go through to truely fix this. Man I cant start thinking about it again. It will drive me nuts. I feel pretty safe with it though , Just that slight little drop in the water line. I think if I had a better pump I would be able to cover the line with a higher level of water, not much just a little.

Robert