I purchased the Fluval Roma 125 and have already set up my aquarium but have found that a couple of screws on the cabinet were missed. The instructions were a little poor - the screws are lat the back attaching to the shelf of the cabinet. Does this affect the stability and potential to cause cracks in the aquarium in future? Would it be advisable to slowly insert the screws into the cabinet now whilst the aquarium is standing?

[Disclaimer: I haven't had this particular type of fishtank and stand and therefore don't know how feasible it is to insert the screws with the aquarium in situ.]

If you've only recently set it up, and have yet to start or are still going through the fishless cycle, then I wouldn't chance it if it were me - I'd definitely put the screws in for peace of mind and also to avoid any potential problems in the future. The best way to do this would be to empty it / lower the water (NB 1 litre = 1 kg) to reduce the weight firstly.

If it's been set up longer term than that (ie it's already been through the fishless cycle and fish subsequently added), there might be a risk to the fish of potential stress. You could do the above during a water change ie when the water is already lower in the tank, possibly transferring the fish temporarily into a bucket if need be.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for your response. I spoke with the manufacturer - Fluval and they said that these two missing screws could be inserted later whilst the tank is still standing and would not cause any movement or cracks. I have done very slowly and all looks fine. For those facing similar issues in future I suppose it depends on what part of the cabinet you’ve missed. A lesson to learn is to be absolutely super careful when building cabinets for fish tanks. Despite taking my time I got this wrong in the first instance mainly because instructions were not great.

Thanks for the interesting feedback (bet you're relieved, and to have got this info directly from the manufacturer) and for your valuable advice for others. Maybe/hopefully the manufacturer will update their instructions accordingly.