big fish tank + earthquake

[paulz01]

Out of curiosity, anyone had experience with one of their big fish tank breaking due to an earthquake?

Or will the tank even move? I mean i have a pretty heavy tank it's more than a ton in weight. I'm just a little worried because my mom asked me if our tank was safe if an earthquake happened.

feed me with info! =D

 

[Malawi-]

I dont know, but look into flood insurance. hehe

 

[Bluey]

Tank will crack in a big one

 

[Druu]

Forum search, there should be a thread about the cali earthquake earlier this year. I don't remember the specifics, but I know some people had their tanks slosh about.

 

[Footballref50]

I'm in Cali and we had a good sized jolt earlier in the year. My tanks sloshed a LOT but no flexing of glass (thank GOD!) My solution is stabilizing straps criss-crossed over the corners. Dono how good that'll help but its somethin right?

 

[Deepsouth]

From what I have read, acrylic aquariums are best for areas that are prone to earth quakes.

 

[brianp]

I have a 150 and a 330 in the garage, so I don't have to worry about water damage if they rupture, However, I understand that this is a very real concern for many CA residents. I've resided in CA since 1988 and have experienced many earthquakes. IMO, the worst type of earthquake for an aquarium would be the type in which the seismic waves shake the surface violently from side-to side, rather than the rolling type, which tends to bounce things up and down. In the event that I set up a tank inside the house, I had always planned to place the tank stand on an oversize piece of thick acrylic. The strategy was to have the stand and tank slide somewhat on top of the acrylic as the ground moved from side-to-side beneath it. A thin sheet of PTFE between the stand and acrylic would encourage the tank and stand to slide. Anyway, it's just something I was thinking about that could be useful. On the other hand, it could be a dumb idea.

 

[Ang]

i always worry about when the next big one will hit.
But it will take a pretty BIG earthquake to topple a huge fish tank. As long as you have a REALLY solid stand and your setup isnt top heavy.
You want a setup where the center of gravity is as low as possible. So a big solid stand to absorb most of the shaking is what you want.

all these tanks that are on stands where the tank practically hangs over the edges is going to be on the floor.