Anyone anchor their tanks (stand) to the wall?

beviking

beviking

Senior Member, Sophomoric Attitude
Feb 16, 2002
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My two boys are...well...boys, and in a few years they'll be playing around, possibly bumping into the stand (I'll preach about NOT hitting it but we all know, if you tell 'em not to...) and I was wondering if I should anchor it and if others do. I don't think it's necessary being 48" X 18" (it's a DIY from 2X4's and 3/4 plywood) plus it will be around 1,000lbs and a little difficult to tip from just a bump, but I'm curious as to what everyone else does/thinks.
 
I was sitting in front of my tank last night when I felt a slight tremor. Having been through an earthquake or two it got me wondering if I should get some earthquake straps for the tank/stand.
 
I've thought about anchoring my tank, but haven't. Mine's on a DIY stand, 2x4's, about 30 tall. No kids, but a rambunctious hound dog who doesn't understand that the world is not as tough as he is. He'll whack the sides with his tail, and I swear the tank trembles. Hasn't tipped yet.

I guess I would look at how hard you have to push to move something like that. I know I can lean on my tank without moving it one bit, and I weigh more than the dog. I think you'd need to make a pretty concentrated effort to budge our tanks, not something accidental. Maybe tackling the 40, head on? If that's likely to happen, I don't know if an anchor would really help much, or just result in a big hole in your wall as a bonus to a ruined tank. Anything smaller than a 20, yes, anything bigger should weigh enough to keep itself in place, I think.

Interesting to see what others say!
 
I can't think of anything, short of actually BUILDING the tank into the wall, that would keep a thousand pounds from moving if it wanted to... however, it would take some collossal force to push a tank hard enough to tip it over if it's that size, unless the stand were really tall and light (making the whole unit topheavy). I know that a bungee strap wouldn't hold my car in place if it started rolling, so I would assume a tank of nearly the same weight (yeah, I have a tiny little car...) would plow right through darn near anything it wanted to if it were on the way down....

I would worry more about a kid bumping into the corner and injuring himself or putting a stress crack in the tank, both of which are much more likely scenarios than the whole thing toppling over...
 
I don't have any kids, but I do have earthquakes. So, I use this strap setup from Home Depot:

quake_strap.jpg
 
i nailed mine to the wall using a few connecting pieces of 2x4.
but since my house is particleboard and aluminum, and my stand is redwood 4x4's, i am not sure which is holding which up. still felt better with it nailed down though.
 
Originally posted by Bruddah Chrispy
I was sitting in front of my tank last night when I felt a slight tremor. Having been through an earthquake or two it got me wondering if I should get some earthquake straps for the tank/stand.
Click to expand...

I don't know if anything would be sufficient for an earthquake, given the force they generate and the facts that a tank/stand is top-heavy and seperable. Back in 1994, we experienced the joy of the Northridge earthquake (around 6.4, IIRC). We were miles from the epicenter and her house sat on fairly stable ground. The quake still threw her 60-gallon tank off the stand and onto a glass coffee table. The aquarium shattered and there was water and gravel everywhere. Thankfully, there were only two small fish in there at the time.

--Anthony
 
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