Cali Kid Corals

Large tanks and earthquakes

porksmash

porksmash

Guest
BARcard
Ever since I moved here and experienced my first earthquake (a paltry 3.2), I've been wondering what precautions people have taken on securing large tanks. A 100 gallon tank weighs at least 1000lbs, enough to instantly kill anything it falls on. On the usual stand 30-36" high, that is a lot of potential energy wanting to obey gravity. Now, I don't have any small children or pets to worry about, but I can imagine that the last thing someone wants is to have their tank knocked over by a quake and seriously harming someone or something. Not to mention the damage to the tank and property from all that water! Do any of you install some sort of structure to make sure something like this doesn't happen?
 
Nah, nothing special, as mentioned if there's a tank larger enough to topple your tank probably the least of your worries is the tank. Taller thinner stands will naturally be an issue, so bolting them to the wall could help a bit. As for the death and the calamity just don't have your tank right next to your bed where it can fall on you, and if you feel a tumble don't go near the tank (although my first instinct would be to rush there to make sure it doesn't fall :D)
 
Don't have any ballasts, cables, extension cords, other electrical things where the water will splash. In case of 4+ there will be splashing especially for rimless tanks.

I just setup 50g rimless glass cube and I'm trying to make sure I have minimum downtime during the quake. I have an old UPS I plan to use for pumps. Maybe battery powered air bubbles too.
 
I remember in 89 most the water got splashed out of our toilets and my covered 29 gallon african cichlid tank lost 1/4 of the water.
It's going to be interesting with the 215 gallon if we get another one of those quakes!
Since it is built in to the wall I don't expect it to fall.
 
i'd cry if my 240 toppled over. But I have not done anything special to brace it. I made my stand by first using 4 by 4's and making a box frame, then i used 3/4 inch maple plywood to wrap the tank. my pops threw on some molding around the tank and doors for a finishing touch then he stained it. that is what i felt was going to be strong enough to hold the tank and hopefully not break during a quake. we will see if and when the next big quake happens. i don't even like thinking about the damage 240 gallons could do to the house. I had a 25 gallons of freshwater that I was mixing for my african cichlid tank several years ago and the whole entire downstairs of my house was flooded. 5 rooms total were under water. luckily we have ceramic tile floors. carpet would have been a disaster. Good luck and any ideas would be great.
 
Bolting to the wall isn't what you want to do IME. You want the stand top be able to "dance" around. My buddies 29g on a super tall stand just lost a little water in the 89, but the stand moved many feet around the room.
 
thats good to know but still would suck cause there is a door 2 inches away from the tank. if it moved it would block the door. no chance of moving that bad boy back if that happened. what about acrylic tanks? anybody have any issues with them cracking at the joints?
 
I'm placing a wood plank and will screw it to the floor then the tank on top of it again screwing the base to the wood plank; an L bracket at the middle of the stand height secure to the wall and stand.
That's if the wife accepts the new tank placement.

...or maybe just let it dance.
 
well i afraid if you do bolt it down the shaking itself might destroy the tank just from the pressure, where as the dancing would produce less pressure on the joints of the tank because it is allowed to do whatever it wants. no matter what its a lose, lose situation. i'm not sure if that is the best way to describe it or if thats correct at all. just assuming.
 
I'm getting my stand a little wider than the tank, so that should help prevent a tip-over scenario. I was more worried about it falling on someone rather than losing aquarium inhabitants, but if you can save both that is the best situation. I think most of you were right in that if a quake is bad enough to damage the tank, I probably have other things to worry about. Good thing we all have insurance! ...Right?
 
My main concerns are 3 people, two of them are eight and three years old so I need to make sure something that heavy is held in place, if it breaks (the glass) or just the glass comes apart at the joints I can deal with that issue. If I'm not home to get them to safety and my wife panics (she will) I don't want to be thinking of the glass box and hundreds of pounds...
The tank is enclosed in the stand so little advantage, can we call it that?
Where the current tank sits is not a load bearing wall, the driveway of the building is right bellow.
The new spot for the tank is a load bearing wall plus there's the window framing and the door to the kitchen framing so i think this is a more structurally sound place.
Let's just hope for no disastrous situations or better yet be prepared for the big one.
We have 200+ gallons of pure Emergency Drinking Water Supply that rotates every time we use 5 gallon jugs for top off, batteries always charged, sleeping bags and couple tents, small First Aid kits, canned food, what we don't have is an emergency radio.
Important thing old school but works if no power, a corded land-line telephone.
 
I have never heard of a tank falling in an earthquake. Not in Northridge, not in Loma Prieta, etc. My ex bosses entire wholesale facility, and most of LA a the time, was built on cinder blocks. No tanks toppled and if it can;t knock down loose cinder blocks with tanks on them, it's not going to topple your stand. A wise thing to do in an earthquake is not seek out the tank to hide in or around ;) Stay away from it, windows and anything else you feel can fall.

They've rescinded the morse code test for HAM radio licenses so it's much easier to get them now. Radios are pretty cheap and you'd be the man of the hour in an emergency.
 
My mum's the one who's answering the HAM radio when you call to cry about your tank falling over (she's in charge of my hometown CERT group). She'll talk your ear off, probably tell you about our tanks when I was a kid...
 
Since they dropped the morse code test, HAM radio licenses jumped up 60%. I had a license in HS. I'm thinking about getting one again and a cheaper radio.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top