Has your tank survived an earthquake

Has your tank survived an earthquake of 5.0 or greater?

  • Yes, my glass tank survived. :)

    Votes: 8 61.5%

  • Yes, my non-glass tank survived. :)

    Votes: 3 23.1%

  • No, my glass tank is long gone. :(

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • No, my non-glass tank is long gone. :(

    Votes: 2 15.4%
  • Total voters
    13
acocacolagirl

acocacolagirl

AC Members
Dec 2, 2004
213
0
0
I'm sorry, I know we already had a big earthquake discussion, but now that I have an idea about how to secure my tank to the wall, and I understand that glass is more likely to break than plexiglass or acrylic I have just one more question:

Has your tank survived an earthquake - say above 5 on the rictor<sp scale? If so, is it a glass tank?

Does anybody out there have a glass tank that survived something big like a 7.5 or 8?

I know I am probably worrying too much about it. I was trying just to look at tanks that weren't glass...but there is a nice 37gl. with a stand that would compliment the furnature in my house for $150 - everything included!

Thanks for visiting this tired topic.
 
My tank has survived every earthquake that Nebraska has had. :D but i really dont remember ever being through an earthquake.
 
My 10 gal had no problems the last time I actually felt one. The 55 had a good slosh of water come out and a peice of decor fall and break in 2, but no damage to the tank/stand themselves. Of course this was just a little roller, I don't recall a good quake since the 10-'89 one.
 
You must remember that every earthquake is different. There are earthquakes that the plates slide side to side and there are earthquakes where the plates compress, just to name two, we get both here. There is also the distance from the epicenter that will determine the length of the waves the earth is moving, each one will create different effect on the tank. Now that said I think the biggest thing that an earthquake will do is cause stress on the seams and that would be your main issue. A 37 gallon tank is not that big and you will not have vastly different forces on the glass that a pane would break (shouldn't break that is). I would think that the glass breaking would be more of a concern if something were to fall on it or if it were to fall off the stand or the stand breaks. I had a ten go through the 89 quake and water spilled but it held up.
 
The whole aquarium will move at one time, so there should not be any substantial breaking pressure. But it was definitely a big cleanup for me when i realized we'd had an earthquake that night and my whole floor was wet. :D
 
But here is a thought... If you anchor your tank you may have a break... The reason why is your wall will move at a different rate then your tank and it will put stress on the tank, if you anchor just the base then that is a different story...
 
Well, this has all been very interesting input. It did occure to me that while a rolling earthquake may just slosh the water, a strong jolt could tip the tank. And a very good point about the wall and tank moving at different rates. I think I am gonna go for it. We seem to be in a pretty earthquake tolorant spot. I think the only quakes I've felt (while at home) were the after shocks from '89. And the only damage we had was a large mirror detached from the vainity and fell. Everything else stayed put. Ya know, my biggest fear is 37 gallons of water on the carpet...but I suppose that could happen even without a quake...but I hope it never does. Thanks all for the help! :)
 
I have a few glass 50g and they survived a pretty big earthquake, actually we get earthquakes here in Japan all the time and the biggest problem is not the tank breaking but wheather the electricity and water will come back on in time before all the fish die. Usually with big quakes we can go without electricity or water for a week which would mean that you fish will be dead for sure. Plus in a big quake things falling over can smash into the tank and break it, there is so many things to consider here.
 
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