Do you earthquake proof your tanks?

[ThRoewer]

I'm in the process of setting up a 100 gallon reef tank plus have a bunch of smaller and QTs all around, so a larger earthquake could do some serious damage, not just to the tanks but due to the amount of water also to the house.

Our house is quite literally sitting on top of the Hayward fault and the likelihood of a 6+ magnitude quake within the next 30 years in the SF Bay Area is pretty much 100% (murphy's law suggests it will be rather sooner than later).

Since we just had a little 4 magnitude reminder I worry a bit about how to secure my tanks for a larger earthquake.

Here is a little video how a tank in a roughly 7 magnitude quake looks like:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HWhI6QaJq2Y?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
7.3 Earthquake vs. 60 gallon aquarium [video]

I'm right now in the process of bolting the somewhat shaky stand of my 42 gallon tank to a load bearing wall.

But the 100 gallon tank will be a harder nut to crack as it is partially free standing...

 

[CuzzA]

I'm in Florida, so quakes aren't an issue for us, but the it was interesting to see the simulation in the video. Perhaps you can bolt the stand to the floor/wall and if you have external plumbing, use sch80 bulkheads and pipe and strap the plumbing to the wall. Also from the video it appeared the problem was tipping, so maybe bolt a canopy to the wall too and it should hold everything in place. Except for a little water.

I've never experienced an earthquake, but I must say they look super sketchy. I'll stick to my hurricanes. :lmao:

 

[davocean]

The last thing you want to do is bolt the tank to wall or floor.
In the event of a serious quake, the floor and wall will flex towards and away from each other, and weight holding tank down while wall pulls away will tear your frame apart.
I rode out a 6.3 here a few years ago, only thing I do is make sure my rockwork is secure on acrylic rods w/ bases, about all you can do really.
Anything bigger and there will be more serious issues than your tank.
Just FYI, there was a prediction posted that your 4.0 in your area was just the precursor to what they think could be a bigger quake, so the experts were saying, not sure how accurate that prediction could be, but I did see warnings posted.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...ault-expected-any-day-now-fremont-earthquake/

 

[ThRoewer]

The last thing you want to do is bolt the tank to wall or floor.
In the event of a serious quake, the floor and wall will flex towards and away from each other, and weight holding tank down while wall pulls away will tear your frame apart.
I rode out a 6.3 here a few years ago, only thing I do is make sure my rockwork is secure on acrylic rods w/ bases, about all you can do really.
Anything bigger and there will be more serious issues than your tank.
Just FYI, there was a prediction posted that your 4.0 in your area was just the precursor to what they think could be a bigger quake, so the experts were saying, not sure how accurate that prediction could be, but I did see warnings posted.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/20...ault-expected-any-day-now-fremont-earthquake/

That kind of goes against every official recommendation I could find. Also to have walls and floor flex enough against each other to damage the tank the quake needs to be way stronger that what it takes to topple a top-heavy fish tank.

Well, my 100 gallon tank will have a 40 x 28 inch footprint and a quite solidly build marine plywood stand (I build it myself) so it might be stable enough not to topple in a 7 magnitude quake like that in the video. Above that I would suspect the house to be gone.

But the 42 gallon tank is on a pretty sketchy CAD Light stand that for sure won't hold up to a 6+ quake. Also the footprint is only 30 x 18 inch so it is quite easy to topple. I will definitely have to secure that one somehow.

As for the big quake - it's coming for sure, though it has been announced for over 20 years now. So the predictions for "tomorrow" or "next week" are not quite bulletproof.

 

[marco.sv]

Nice video, here in Argentina we dont experience earthquakes frequently but its always know how to secure the tank!

 

[davocean]

That kind of goes against every official recommendation I could find. Also to have walls and floor flex enough against each other to damage the tank the quake needs to be way stronger that what it takes to topple a top-heavy fish tank.

Well, I'm not sure where you are getting your official information, but I'm a licensed contractor here in California, and I'm going by my own knowledge as well as that of any structural engineer or architect that I work w/ on this one.

 

[thegrun]

I would anchor tanks 50 gallons or less, but for larger tanks you risk doing more damage than good by anchoring the tank to the wall unless you structurally reinforce the wall; the force of a large earthquake will simply pull a standard wall apart where you braced the larger tank to the wall.

 

[notaz3]

Tall narrow tanks need to be on a very secure stand. I'm with daveocean on this one, do not secure to wall and floor. Rolling quakes will cause seperation and tank failure.

There have been aquariums from 35-200gallons in my houses for 55 years and never once has there been any damage caused by quacks. I have never herd of actual earthquake damage from anyone and have been in California most of my life.

I'm hopping the "big one" hits soon so I can have ocean front property here in central California and maybe get out of this drought.

 

[daveM100]

I'm in the process of setting up a 100 gallon reef tank plus have a bunch of smaller and QTs all around, so a larger earthquake could do some serious damage, not just to the tanks but due to the amount of water also to the house.

Our house is quite literally sitting on top of the Hayward fault and the likelihood of a 6+ magnitude quake within the next 30 years in the SF Bay Area is pretty much 100% (murphy's law suggests it will be rather sooner than later).

Since we just had a little 4 magnitude reminder I worry a bit about how to secure my tanks for a larger earthquake.

Here is a little video how a tank in a roughly 7 magnitude quake looks like:
<iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HWhI6QaJq2Y?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
7.3 Earthquake vs. 60 gallon aquarium [video]

I'm right now in the process of bolting the somewhat shaky stand of my 42 gallon tank to a load bearing wall.

But the 100 gallon tank will be a harder nut to crack as it is partially free standing...

Your on the fault ThRoewer, your house is going to be at the bottom with Frisco when the next big one hits, why worry about earthquake proofing lol. I remember the last one, I'll bet the next is bigger so why bother.

 

[ThRoewer]

Tall narrow tanks need to be on a very secure stand. I'm with daveocean on this one, do not secure to wall and floor. Rolling quakes will cause seperation and tank failure.

There have been aquariums from 35-200gallons in my houses for 55 years and never once has there been any damage caused by quacks. I have never herd of actual earthquake damage from anyone and have been in California most of my life.

The cheap Chinese stand that came with the 42 gallon tank needs for sure some securing or it falls apart just from the shaking. I guess I need to look into a better stand, but right now that's not an immediate option.

With the 100 gallon tank (150 with sump) I'm more concerned if the 2nd story floor holds up under the dynamic stress of a quake.

I'm hopping the "big one" hits soon so I can have ocean front property here in central California and maybe get out of this drought.

One quake won't do that trick, you got to wait for a couple of million years until the front of California has moved north.

Your on the fault ThRoewer, your house is going to be at the bottom with Frisco when the next big one hits, why worry about earthquake proofing lol. I remember the last one, I'll bet the next is bigger so why bother.

On the fault line or not really doesn't matter too much around here - you are screwed anyway here.
I would gladly move back down to San Diego but my wife insists on staying in the Bay Area.

Well, I remember now one of the reasons why I didn't start a fish tank when I came to California :debi:

 

[BuzzPion]

Earthquake? I'm more worried about the damn volcanoes.

I've been in my share of quakes and I can tell you that walls do move in relation to the floor to an astonishing extent. I've been knocked off a couch onto my *** from the wall slamming into me and the couch during a quake. Craziest thing--sitting on end of couch watching TV. My arm was up against the wall and all of a sudden the wall wasn't touching my arm any more. Then it slammed into my arm, then swayed the other way, then slammed into me again, then I hit the floor. The building was not damaged save for a few cracks in the drywall and one broken pane of glass. Had there been a tank against that wall-bolted or otherwise, it would have been bad. The TV (an old heavy tube job on it's own stand--think 60g cube) bounced around a bit (it unplugged itself from the wall) but didn't topple over. If it had been on the wall it would have been knocked onto the floor, bolted it would have torn it up.

Just make sure you have good insurance and a plan for disaster. If the really big one hits, the tank will be the least of your worries.

 

[dkeller_nc]

You've probably identified your biggest issue - an unstable center of gravity and/or under-strength stand. Being an engineer and if I lived in an earthquake prone area, I would never consider a tall and narrow tank (not usually a consideration for reefers), and I would build a stand that was sufficiently wide and rigid that it would require an extreme inclination to topple over with the tank. That means the stand would be considerably wider than the tank itself.

I have one of the CADlights stands, and you're completely correct - your tank will definitely hit the floor in even a moderate earthquake. Heck, I'm concerned from even the side-to-side stress on it from using a cleaning magnet, which is why a furniture-grade replacement is under construction in the wood shop at the moment....

 

[Antipodes]

We went through a large earthquake series nearly 5 years ago.
From a 7.1 approx 25 miles from our location to a 6.3 5 miles from our location.
180 people died in building collapse and damage.
My good friend runs a large retail marine and freshwater sales and import area.
He estimates around 50 5 of the large aquariums (80 to 100 gallons) were destroyed in the quake seqences.
The 6.3 quake was a great deal worse for us and because the epicentre was 6 mile deep and so close to our city it resulted in substantial damage.
While some tanks did topple, most actuall slid right of the stand. With a 100 gal tank being around 1000lbs with rock etc, it is like a large pendulum and when the first shunt occured it just moved the floor and stand and the tank stayed where it was. Then reverse action sees it going the other way and of the stand.
My stand is a steel stand and has large amount of flex in the struts, 1 3/4" by 1 3/4" steel 1/8" wall thickness.
The aquarium it self is around 200 gallons and when the over 6 quakes would hit it would sway around 6". Fortunately the tank was orientated east west and the sideways motion moved in the same direction so effectively along the longitundinal axis. If it had been at 90 degrees I would have no tank.
As it was I lost 50% of my corels and fish due to the reef falling down to the bottom of the tank.
My other Aquarium was a 100 gallon and it was on a standard cupboard stand. The only thing that stopped me losing that tank was again it was longitudinal to the shake movement and the drain fitting stopped it coming completely of the stand. It moved about 8" of the stand at one end and hit the wall, which stopped it coming of completely.
This tank is shutdown due to the water was being empted to halfway with every major shake.

You don't want to experience a major shake. It is soul destroying.

My next aquarium I intend to build the stand similar to my 200 gallon unit and I intend to put shock absorbers diagaonally into the struts to absorb some of the energy in case of another quake. This will be after the house relevel which we are still waiting on from the insurance after nearly 5 years (2 sep 2010).

So from my experience the thing that will best help is to ensure the aquarium is longitudinal to the strike fault, as the major movement will generally be along the fault.
If like us you have major vertical shift also at over 1g, then it is possible that nothing will help the aquarium.

Also keep in mind that the my large aquarum had Euro bracing and it mittigated some of the spillage. (Only about 1/3rd of the tank water lost in the 6.3. But that is still alot of water in the house and becuase of the way it was splashed around many of the plug boxes and components I had to replace due to water damage.
My old Aquadyne computer was flooded and was no longer usable. After installing new plug bars and computer, I put plasitc splash quards around them to help avoid damage in future events. I have 1/2" glass covers over the tank and we still ended up with water on the ceiling over 12 feet away.

Unfortunately, a major earthquake is accompanied by a swarm of smaller and some nearly of equal strength. We had over 5000 shakes in a 12 month period.
So surviving one may not be the end.

Do plan for an event, but plan to mitigate damage, as it is very hard to avoid it completely. Keep resources at hand. Lots of towels, spare heaters, plug boxes and extension cords. Generator as power could be out for days. (Have a 6KW unit as stand by) I have 2,500 litres of water storage if I have to replacement rapidly(Although during the quakes I kept the level well below the overflow as it would just empty the tank on to the floor.

Hope this is of some help in this discussion. Any questions, just ask.

 

[DasCamel]

How's this?

How's this?

Stand framed into the wall on three sides.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2380789&highlight=dascamel+build+thread

 

[ThRoewer]

The critical values are amplitude and acceleration. I might have to do some calculations.
If the stand holds up to the forces it takes for the center of gravity to go over the ground contact point for the stand to topple (don't know how to better word it). For a tank with considerable footprint this isn't too likely to happen.

In those cases I feel it is more likely for the stand to fail or for the plumbing to be sheered off (likely breaking the glass pane with the holes)

As for aligning with the fault line - that's kind of difficult since our house is at an 25° to 40° angle to it.

So it looks like all I can do is to enforce the stands as good as possible and hope for the best. (I really remember now why I didn't set up a tank earlier - California rocks :headwalls

 

[Antipodes]

In those cases I feel it is more likely for the stand to fail or for the plumbing to be sheered off (likely breaking the glass pane with the holes)

So it looks like all I can do is to enforce the stands as good as possible and hope for the best. (I really remember now why I didn't set up a tank earlier - California rocks :headwalls

Yep, I did not break the plumbing in the tank, but the output from the sump (Drilled hole) cracked the back of the sump in 6 different directions. Needless to say this added to the water on the floor.

I think you are correct, setup best you can and design for the worst, but in the end just hope it does not happen in your life time. Lets face it the aquarium is just one problem after a major shift. Power water sewage and in our case home rebuild, are all part of the real world problems.
Ha, for all you know the tank will survive and the house is totaled!

Enjoy the hobby and don't sweat the stuff you can't change.

 

[slief]

I lived through the 1994 Northridge quake with my 240g tank. While the tank made it through unscaved, the wall behind it hit the plumbing lines on the back of the tank and ruptured them causing me to loose all my water. I did manage to save all my inhabitants. When I upgrade to a 480 display and built it into my current house in 1997, there were many learned lessons that went into the construction. I can honestly say that my house will sooner fall and my tank will still be standing even if it does loose all it's water. My tank stand is so overbuilt and packed with 2x4's, 4x4's and 2x6's that it's rediculous. That said, I did plan my plumbing accordingly with plenty of flex PVC to mitigate the risks.

 

[slief]

This is what an extremely overbuilt, "Big One Earthquake" ready, built in stand looks like for a 4'x8'x2' tall 480 gallon display looks like. This stand could laterally support the house if it fell on the stand.

 

[davocean]

^^ Holy cow!
That is what the fear of a serious quake will make some people do.
I started working in Northridge days after that, life changing to say the least.
I should save that pic for the times my stands are called overbuilt!
I'll still take that over most store bought stands, and next quake I know where to run and duck for cover, I'll bring beers!

 

[d-man]

Seriously slief?! I'll hide under your stand in a big quake, lol