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Accessories

Spirit level

accessory

Used for: Tank maintenance

Description

A spirit level shows whether a surface is horizontal by the position of an air bubble. FAO's training manual on topography for fish culture, which teaches the height measurements needed to build fish ponds, says nearly all leveling instruments show horizontality this way. The level itself is small and usually made of an elongated or circular glass tube, nearly filled with a liquid (usually spirit) with enough space left to form an air bubble. An elongated tube has a clearly marked zero-point near its middle, sometimes with graduations on either side, and a circular one marks its zero-point with a small circle at the center. When the bubble sits on the zero-point, the level is horizontal. The mason's level, which the manual calls a simple tool often used in building work, is usually a rectangular wooden casing with a small spirit level set into one narrow face, though it can also be made of metal. Accuracy improves with length. The cheapest are about 25 cm long and sold in hardware stores, and the manual warns that glass spirit levels are highly breakable and should be handled carefully. If the bubble moves away from the zero-point, the surface slopes uphill or downhill, and the bubble always moves toward the higher end. Some mason's levels have a second bubble for checking verticality: held against a surface, that bubble sits at the exact center when the surface is vertical. Central Garden & Pet names a level in the assembly instructions for its Designer Aquarium Stand, listing it with a Phillips screwdriver and a hammer, and says to level the unit by placing a leveling tool on top and taking readings front to back and side to side. Glass Cages, which makes aquariums and stands, sets out its own conditions in its setup instructions without naming a tool: each leg of the stand must sit flat on the floor and each corner of the tank flat on the stand, with thin wood shims between stand and floor where needed to get a flat and level stand. It also warns that carpet tends to cover up uneven floors, which can cause stress breakage.

Sources

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