Earthquakes and Aquariums

[ReeferKimberly]

Just felt my first one where I live. We don't usually get them around here....usually they are further south. Anyways there was a 5.6-5.9 depending on what source you look at. I heard my 65 gal kind of shift on its stand and all the water sloshed from side to side. It was not too bad though...but for sure I noticed.

What kind of risk is there with them? I have a generator so am not worried about power outages, but what kind of risks are there with them just breaking especially if you live somewhere where they happen more often? I have never really thought much about since I have never felt one where I have lived all these 26 years until today.

[Crusinjimbo]

Lived in LA & the Bay Area for years with tanks and my only consideration on earth quakes was tank integrity which demanded the use of acrylic tanks. I did use a thin rubber door-mat under the tank to mitigate shifting on a way overbuilt stand

[ThreeMoneyJ]

I've heard of some people anchoring their stands and aquariums to wall studs in an attempt to avoid it getting knocked over.

I have yet to go through a large earthquake with my current tank (Bay Area here) but I did talk to my insurance agent to see what would be covered in case of a tank failure.

[Mordir]

Usually end up with some water on the floor and if your rocks are not secured they can tumble and hit your glass. We never to concerned with them tipping but if your tank has a stall stand and is a tall display then it would concern me. Especially if you have kids. They would squish a child like your boot does a bug.

[mr_bigl]

In the event of a large earthquake there is not much you can do. A steal stand would be the best bet but it still won't keep the tank from getting thrown off. If you secure your tank to a wall stud it will pull that stud out the wall if the quake is large like the 94 Northridge quake. Nothing stayed upright.

[Adamw327]

Originally Posted by ThreeMoneyJ

I've heard of some people anchoring their stands and aquariums to wall studs in an attempt to avoid it getting knocked over.

I have yet to go through a large earthquake with my current tank (Bay Area here) but I did talk to my insurance agent to see what would be covered in case of a tank failure.

If you don't mind me asking, what did they offer to cover?

[Dingo44]

Originally Posted by mr_bigl

In the event of a large earthquake there is not much you can do. A steal stand would be the best bet but it still won't keep the tank from getting thrown off. If you secure your tank to a wall stud it will pull that stud out the wall if the quake is large like the 94 Northridge quake. Nothing stayed upright.

I grew up in LA and my brother had a tank during the Northridge quake. Water sloshed everywhere, but nothing else happened. It really all depends where in the city you live and what type of geology there is in your particular neighborhood. The neighborhood I grew up in was on top of solid baserock so damage overall in the area was very limited. If, for instance, we were in Marina Del Rey at the time, it would have been a different story since that is all old marshland and the earthquake waves are magnified by the reverberation off of the Santa Monica mountains and fed into the Marina like a funnel. (CalTrans did simulations on this several years after the Northridge quake)

As far as anchoring, it does work, if done properly. I was saved from very large, heavy bookshelves falling on me in my sleep because of proper anchoring. Although all the books went flying and bruised me up pretty bad.

A matt under the tank probably won't do much since the motion of an earthquake is undulating, like a wave in the ocean. A strong quake will literally lift the tank up off the floor and move it. But if you do live in CA, make sure your liverock is anchored, that would be the number one risk IMO.

[dmh41532]

I live on the East Coast, everynow and then one happens. A few years ago, I had my tank stand on rubber. Not sure if that's what helped it, but the tank didn't crack.

[Mouse]

If you must, dont use a stud, use a strap of canvas to anchor the tank to the wall. It really dosent take much to keep it from tippin over and if the quake is large enough for the strap not to work then you have bigger problems.

[dkeller_nc]

Speaking as an engineer, I would put the concern into three categories:

1) Flexing/twisting of the stand during the shockwaves. Small aquariums probably are stiff enough for this to be of no concern, but a big tank could be in real trouble - glass and tank seams will not stand up to twisting forces. One could mitigate this concern somewhat by having a cabinetmaker build a "torsion box" type of stand that won't twist.

2) Moving the tank off of the stand/tipping over. One solution would be to actually glue the tank down to a stand with epoxy. Obviously, that's not too desirable since the tank/stand may not be moveable in the future, nor can the stand be easily replaced if need be. Another option is a "capture" design of the stand so that the aquarium (empty, obviously) must be lowered into the stand from above.

3) Rockslides in the tank breaking a pane of glass. I would think this would be the biggest concern, since #1 and #2 would take a pretty strong quake to occur, but this problem could happen in a very minor event. If I lived in a seismically active area, I would go to quite a bit of trouble to bond my rocks together with epoxy, cyanoacrylate glues and/or fiberglass and acrylic rods.

[MellowReefer]

I was definitely considering this when I upgraded my tank. I chose a lower stand, a longer/wider tank, and went with acrylic.

[ppark]

This is definitely something that concerns me from time to time. I don't have a very large tank (24g), but if it were to tip over it would make quite a big mess. Probably ruin the flooring as well. I'm thinking its a good idea to brace somehow.