im so gutted :(

[THE SNAKE PIT]

i recently bought a 2nd hand 6'x2'x15" fish tank on a cabinet,the girl i got it off wanted it gone that night,to cut a long story short it took till 12.30 am to empty and arrive at mine,4 lge plecs a midas a convict and 2 cichlids in my bath i needed to get water init,3 am tank was half filled and everything plugged in.2mnths later got it how i wanted as i didnt want big fish i swapped them for tetras,extra 200 -300 quid later it was looking good well over a hundred little fish my mate popped in and said oooooooohhhhh thas dodgy (baring in mind my first time fish keeping) my floor was not level and the water was higher at one end and higher at the front,bout an inch (could hardly see any silicone in that corner either) after seeking advice they all said its likely to bust due to pressure in 1 corner (the tank hold 500ltrs) so ive had to empty my tank put my fish in my nxt drs tank (it has taken all day as wen there was 10"left the syphen didnt work an all i had was a saucepan not to mention catchin tatras in a big tank) ive got to try get the sand out 2moz (i can hardly reach the bottom im not a tall girl only 5'4) wait for the tank to dry reseal it try to level it (Dont know the best way mind) fill it with water and hope it stays level,couldnt keep the water so will have to wait for it to mature, i feel like crying

[Lego]

That's absolutely gutting

I know it's little consolation but it's better that you did it now rather than have the tank explode at a later date. I can't advise on how to get it level but good luck getting it up and running again. At least this time you'll know it's gonna be right x

[Stan193]

Domyou have a solid or a wooden floor? The tank will be about 400kg off the top of my head so you need a solid floor otherwise you will need some extra support under the floorboards.

It should be easy to syphon. I got some 2inch tubing from B&Q and was able to syphon the gravel out into buckets using that. had to buy a huge roll of pipe though, it was about £20, I saw some short lengths in the pet shop though should have got from there.

[_simon_]

I've used some kind of large kitchen spoon thing taped to a metal pole to get sand out of a tank before. Can be a little time consuming but works well enough.

How you level the tank depends on what is actually unlevel. Putting a thick sheet of polystyrene between the tank and whatever it's sitting on will help, you can buy it from most DIY stores it'll be in the insulation section. Buy a spirit level at the same time!

If it's not too late then keep your filter(s) running in a bucket or something. That'll keep the bacteria alive so you won't have to cycle your tank again.

[THE SNAKE PIT]

its my floor thats not level its that bad when the guy laid the wood floor (cowboy i think,he used carpet underlay an sand to try an level!) so my flooring is bouncy not solid, to top it off when i got the sand out theres a 6" glass plate on the floor in the corner,i think it may have origionally had a sump,they didnt put polystyrene under that corner! im so glad i emptied it,ticking time bomb if u ask me, i couldnt save the water so will start from scratch,my neighbour enjoying my fish anyway