The initial spot I wanted to put my Waterbox 180.5 turned out to be too unlevel for the provided leveling feet to compensate for so I decided to wait until we renovated another room to setup the tank. I actually ended up having the same issue with uneven flooring in the next room (the house slopes from front to back on the concrete slab).
A reef2reef user @tenurepro saved the day and suggested longer/sturdier leveling feet that fit the m6 screw slot (here they are if you are in the same boat).
After getting the tank in place and leveled using a 48" level (I was using 2 levels but was getting inconsistent readings), I finally created the aquascape and filled the tank with rock and sand. It took about 2 days to fill the tank.
I noticed the waterline is slightly higher on the right-side of the tank.
I also noticed the waterline near the overflow box was leaning slightly to the right.
Front to Back - Left Side - 24" level:
Front to Back - Right Side - 24" level:
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #1 - I think I leveled off this one and it caused my issue:
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #1 (flipped the level upside-down):
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #2 - I think this is most accurate :
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #2 (flipped the level upside-down):
so it looks like my Stanley level was reading center when in reality it was off.
Here is the right side where the left side has the laser at the bottom. It looks to be 1/16"-3/32" off.
I took some measurements from the waterline with the pumps and everything turned off. I got the following:
Front Left - 2 and 4/16"
Back Left - 2 and 4/16"
Front Right - 2 and 3/16"
Back Right - 2 and 3/16" (maybe 2 and 7/32")
With everything running, I'm seeing a difference of about 1/16" to 1/8" from left to right.
Do you think I should worry about attempting to remedy this? It's driving me nuts since I waited almost a year to set this thing up because the floors were uneven in the other area. I know the tank sits on a foam pad so maybe it'll level more once it settles after a few more days?
If it needs to be fixed then I planned to buy some large Rubbermaid Brutes to store the water and then use some composite shims to try and lift the tank enough to adjust the leveling feet then remove the shims. I don't know if this would be possible because the tank weighs ~400 lbs, the rockwork is like 100 lbs, and the sand is another 80 lbs...the 20+ leveling feet are also the worst. I'm also afraid of doing this and making things worse / being unable to reach & retighten all the leveling feet.
Thanks!
A reef2reef user @tenurepro saved the day and suggested longer/sturdier leveling feet that fit the m6 screw slot (here they are if you are in the same boat).
After getting the tank in place and leveled using a 48" level (I was using 2 levels but was getting inconsistent readings), I finally created the aquascape and filled the tank with rock and sand. It took about 2 days to fill the tank.
I noticed the waterline is slightly higher on the right-side of the tank.
I also noticed the waterline near the overflow box was leaning slightly to the right.
Front to Back - Left Side - 24" level:
Front to Back - Right Side - 24" level:
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #1 - I think I leveled off this one and it caused my issue:
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #1 (flipped the level upside-down):
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #2 - I think this is most accurate :
Front - Left to Right - 48" level #2 (flipped the level upside-down):
so it looks like my Stanley level was reading center when in reality it was off.
Here is the right side where the left side has the laser at the bottom. It looks to be 1/16"-3/32" off.
I took some measurements from the waterline with the pumps and everything turned off. I got the following:
Front Left - 2 and 4/16"
Back Left - 2 and 4/16"
Front Right - 2 and 3/16"
Back Right - 2 and 3/16" (maybe 2 and 7/32")
With everything running, I'm seeing a difference of about 1/16" to 1/8" from left to right.
Do you think I should worry about attempting to remedy this? It's driving me nuts since I waited almost a year to set this thing up because the floors were uneven in the other area. I know the tank sits on a foam pad so maybe it'll level more once it settles after a few more days?
If it needs to be fixed then I planned to buy some large Rubbermaid Brutes to store the water and then use some composite shims to try and lift the tank enough to adjust the leveling feet then remove the shims. I don't know if this would be possible because the tank weighs ~400 lbs, the rockwork is like 100 lbs, and the sand is another 80 lbs...the 20+ leveling feet are also the worst. I'm also afraid of doing this and making things worse / being unable to reach & retighten all the leveling feet.
Thanks!
Last edited: