Hello everyone. I'm jumping back into this hobby after a few years of being lost. I used to have a 210 planted tank that I kept native predator fish in but I had some issues back then that I'm trying to fix or avoid with the 225 I'm about to start setting up. First of all, the old tank busted a floor joist under the house. I had a contractor jack up the house, replace the floor joist, dig out a flat spot under where the tank sits, and fill with concrete to make what looked like a little sidewalk. He then stacked cinder blocks all the way across it and not just in the corners, but the entire area that's directly under the aquarium. He then sat the house back down with the new floor joist resting on the cinder blocks. While he was under there I also had him drill a hole in the floor behind the aquarium and run a half inch line from the water line under the house, through the floor, up behind the aquarium, and hooked over the back of it with a little ball valve to make water changes that much easier. I also had a lot of evaporation going on so every couple of days I could just turn the handle and top it back off for a couple of minutes. Before with the old tank I had carpet and issues with the tank sitting level. I used wooden shims between the tank and the stand which is probably a terrible idea but it didn't help much. I just recently pulled all of the carpet up in that part of the house and laid down hardwood so that should be much better for the tank and stand to sit on and hopefully it will sit more level. I've recently read about people using rubber aquarium leveling mats to go between the tank and stand to absorb some of the areas that are a little off. I can't find any 72"x24" mats that are in stock but there are plenty of 36"x24" in stock that I could buy two of for around $20 each, which isn't too terribly bad. What I'm wonder, and what this thread was supposed to be about before I started rambling on, is if these mats available online that are marketed specifically for the purpose of leveling an aquarium are any different than the giant rolls of rubber mats for sale at Lowe's or Home Depot that are marketed mainly for using under flooring in areas like gyms or weight lifting rooms but are also understood to be universally usable for anything else requiring a rubber mat. If these universal rubber mats are 100% just as good for leveling an aquarium, that would be a much better deal. It's much cheaper, there would probably be enough extra left over to use with some of my other tanks I'll be setting up in the future, and Lowe's is 5 miles down the road from my house, which is better than $15 shipping and waiting 2 weeks. I'm wondering if anyone else has had any experience with this and what you think about it. Sorry for the long thread, I appreciate anyone who took the time to read all of this.
Aquarium leveling mats.
- Thread starter Jordan11586
- Start date
I've been in the fishkeeping hobby along time and never heard of a aquarium leveling mat. Hopefully someone will chime in with a answer for you.
A rubber mat is great for evening out little inconsistencies in the tank support like bumps in the wood, screw heads etc.
You still want to get the stand as level as possible, using shims between floor and stand rather than than between stand and tank.
You still want to get the stand as level as possible, using shims between floor and stand rather than than between stand and tank.
I’ve received rubber mats with some of my rimless tanks but they were super thin. Instead, I used rubber mats from the hardware store and they’ve been fine. I only use them for rimless, not tanks that have plastic trim
Sorry, it's glass with plastic trim on the top and bottom.
For acrylics and rimless without the brace on bottom a layer is a must or any slight imperfection or lack of support on stands surface will cause stress crack as they are sitting flush on surface thats why those leveling mats/foams are used. When you have braced tank they sit on plastic brace itself not resting entirely on the surface 100 percent. More forgiving.
It is up to you if you want to go to Lowes and get those rubber mats but keep this info in mind- go smell those rubber mats- powerful chemical smell to it IMO it took me at least 6 months to stop smelling the one i put in front of my doorway. But I am confident bigger tank people can chime in as I dont see leveling mat on their bigger braced tanks but much more care on how their stands are leveled. Go for a rubber mat if you feel the need to do extra layer.
It is up to you if you want to go to Lowes and get those rubber mats but keep this info in mind- go smell those rubber mats- powerful chemical smell to it IMO it took me at least 6 months to stop smelling the one i put in front of my doorway. But I am confident bigger tank people can chime in as I dont see leveling mat on their bigger braced tanks but much more care on how their stands are leveled. Go for a rubber mat if you feel the need to do extra layer.
There is no such thing as a "levelling mat". A "protection mat" would be a better way to describe what you are referring too, but in no way, shape or form is its purpose to level the tank anyway.
It is the trueness of the floor and build quality of the stand which play the biggest part in levelling the tank. If the floor and/or stand are "out", then that is where shims come into play.
And you will only get the full protective benefits of said mat, if ALL your tank is resting on it, as in a rimless tank. A rimmed tank rests on the trim so I don't see a benefit for you in your case.
In your case I'd rest your rimmed tank on the stand, get your spirit level out, and hope your floor and stand are "true". If not, shim underneath the stand until the top edge of your tank is showing to be perfect.
It is the trueness of the floor and build quality of the stand which play the biggest part in levelling the tank. If the floor and/or stand are "out", then that is where shims come into play.
And you will only get the full protective benefits of said mat, if ALL your tank is resting on it, as in a rimless tank. A rimmed tank rests on the trim so I don't see a benefit for you in your case.
In your case I'd rest your rimmed tank on the stand, get your spirit level out, and hope your floor and stand are "true". If not, shim underneath the stand until the top edge of your tank is showing to be perfect.
Years back I began building my own stands and racks using wood. Mostly I used 2x4s but for bigger tanks 2 x6s as well. The since I use only framed tanks, my only worry was the perimeter support. The tanks sit atop a frame of 2x4s on end. The problem with this is this wood is not finished. This means they are not made perfectly smooth, there are dings and depressions.
I came up with the following solution to "self-level" the interface between the bottom frame of the tank and the lengths of the2x4 on which the frame would sit.
I used self adhering weather stripping. This is used to seal things like windows and doors to prevent air exchanges so heat or cold aid cannot come in or out where there is a space. The nice thing about this weather stripping is it compacts to help make a seal and it can be found in a decent variety of thicjnesses and widths.
The variety means one can find an appropriate thickness and width based on the tank size. I peel the tape from the adhesive side and stick the foam to the edge of the 2x4s where the frame will meet the wood. As long as the foam is an adequate thickness, when the tank is put in place atop the foam, the tank weiight compesses the foam where there are bumps and pushes it into depressions. The effect is a pretty good self leveling.
What makes this method effective is the fact that the foam only sits under the tank frame. if there is too much foam in a give spote, it can be compresses so it protrudes from the inside of outside edge of the frame. if one does this with a frameless tank which needs to be completely level all across the entire bottom, the excess foam in places may not be able to expand and compress to get more level.
I am also both lucky and unlucky in that the main house is build on slab. We have no basement or crawl space and thus no floor joists. However, we have hardwood floor tiles which have a layer of styrofoam on their bottom. This helps insulate the floor from the cold concrete directly under it. The problem with this is despite my leveling the frame, I still have to shim the bottom of the stand. My experience is this is not a one and done proposition.
The tank which can be made level when there is no water or decor in the tank may prove to be inadequate as the weight of the ultimate contents are in the tank. Normally, I monitor the level as I begin to add substrate and decor. I also do so as I add the water. I find along the way I may have to do a bit more shimming. In a few cases I have had to remove some water to e able to make the final shimming adjustments.
Here is a pic of the 150 going onto the stand I built. You can see a black line along the frame when the tank is being put down.
I have now had a number of tanks placed atop foam. Some for almost 10 yeras. Nine have cracked to date.
I came up with the following solution to "self-level" the interface between the bottom frame of the tank and the lengths of the2x4 on which the frame would sit.
I used self adhering weather stripping. This is used to seal things like windows and doors to prevent air exchanges so heat or cold aid cannot come in or out where there is a space. The nice thing about this weather stripping is it compacts to help make a seal and it can be found in a decent variety of thicjnesses and widths.
The variety means one can find an appropriate thickness and width based on the tank size. I peel the tape from the adhesive side and stick the foam to the edge of the 2x4s where the frame will meet the wood. As long as the foam is an adequate thickness, when the tank is put in place atop the foam, the tank weiight compesses the foam where there are bumps and pushes it into depressions. The effect is a pretty good self leveling.
What makes this method effective is the fact that the foam only sits under the tank frame. if there is too much foam in a give spote, it can be compresses so it protrudes from the inside of outside edge of the frame. if one does this with a frameless tank which needs to be completely level all across the entire bottom, the excess foam in places may not be able to expand and compress to get more level.
I am also both lucky and unlucky in that the main house is build on slab. We have no basement or crawl space and thus no floor joists. However, we have hardwood floor tiles which have a layer of styrofoam on their bottom. This helps insulate the floor from the cold concrete directly under it. The problem with this is despite my leveling the frame, I still have to shim the bottom of the stand. My experience is this is not a one and done proposition.
The tank which can be made level when there is no water or decor in the tank may prove to be inadequate as the weight of the ultimate contents are in the tank. Normally, I monitor the level as I begin to add substrate and decor. I also do so as I add the water. I find along the way I may have to do a bit more shimming. In a few cases I have had to remove some water to e able to make the final shimming adjustments.
Here is a pic of the 150 going onto the stand I built. You can see a black line along the frame when the tank is being put down.
I have now had a number of tanks placed atop foam. Some for almost 10 yeras. Nine have cracked to date.
I'm continually astounded at the never-ending stream of mat/no-mat discussions on MFK. People spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours buying, setting up and maintaining multiple large aquariums...and then cheap out on buying a $5 piece of rubber or foam to put beneath their tanks...or bellyache about how difficult it is to put one down.
A flat-bottom frameless tank benefits from a thin forgiving layer of rubber beneath the entire tank, protecting it from imperfections in the stand. In a perfect world it is not needed; when I move to that world maybe I'll stop using one...or maybe not.
A framed tank benefits from a strip of similar material all the way around, between the frame and the stand, for the same reason.
It cannot hurt; there is no downside to this. It costs almost nothing. It is a one-time job that adds mere seconds to a tank install. It's worth doing for the peace of mind alone.
I use rubber material cut to proper size and shape. I also like
TwoTankAmin
's idea of weatherstripping; I am assuming that none of his tanks have leaked, rather than nine. 
A flat-bottom frameless tank benefits from a thin forgiving layer of rubber beneath the entire tank, protecting it from imperfections in the stand. In a perfect world it is not needed; when I move to that world maybe I'll stop using one...or maybe not.
A framed tank benefits from a strip of similar material all the way around, between the frame and the stand, for the same reason.
It cannot hurt; there is no downside to this. It costs almost nothing. It is a one-time job that adds mere seconds to a tank install. It's worth doing for the peace of mind alone.
I use rubber material cut to proper size and shape. I also like
TwoTankAmin
's idea of weatherstripping; I am assuming that none of his tanks have leaked, rather than nine.