Tank question! Help!

Hello!

My dad says that the bottom of my tank will collapse any day,
I wanted to get your opinion of this too.







It's on 140 litres and as you can see it's only the frames and one tie that's holding it. Is the glass inbetween strong enough, you think? Or should I put a board on there to divide the pressure out?

I've actually heard creaks, don't know from where. There's no cracks or anything.


Help!

From what I know it's best to put them on a solid surface with something soft like polystyrene underneath. My mum told me that without any support it creates a lot of pressure points that leave the glass free to crack under the water pressure. If it is a newer tank though they are supposedly designed to withstand the pressure and not require and padding or support. I don't know how true this is though. I just always have something soft underneath mine 'just in case'. You can also buy tank pads I think they are called from fish stores and online that are a bit more aesthetically pleasing than polystyrene From looking at it I wouldn't know though so hopefully one of the more experienced members on here will jump in soon

I would deffinately go for the polystyrene underneath the glass, and if you notice that tank looks like its not really supported in the middle, I suppose another 2 upright legs in the middle cant do any harm, If you feel like it might not be safe then transfer it to something a little more substantial, is your tank a 4ft x 2 x 2 by anychance?

I suppose its always better to be safe than sorry. I wonder if that stand is the one it came with from the shop?

It's hard to tell just how your tank is constructed but that is a pretty standard structure for tank stands. As long as the tank is supported around the edges by the stand frame to the thickness of twice that of the glass and everything is sitting flush all round then barring very old silicon, poor construction (it's hard to tell what's going on exactly from the pics my hubby doesn't trust tanks with metal around them that extends underneath but I don't mind them ) and the stand is strong enough to support the weight then the glass in between, in the holes as it were, is perfectly strong enough to support the weight.
It looks from the pics that the middle bar is in full contact with the glass base to the same degree as the edges if it's not you may have problems.
It's always a good idea to place a polystyrene foam board under the base as a precaution as it evens out any tiny lumps and bumps and can even fill out small gaps between the glass and the surface it's sitting on that may be present and reduces the risk of cracking when the tank is full. This is particularly important if the glass of the base is in direct contact with the surface it's sitting on.

Assuming the tank is solid and the base is made of one single sheet of glass the edges and across the middle are well supported and there are no lumps under the glass it should be just fine for quite some time. The base will not just fall out of it. Glass is like an eggs shell treat it the right way and it's super strong (have you ever tried to break an egg with your hands by squeezing it from the top and bottom?) but treat it the wrong way it will crack and fall apart very easily just like an eggs shell does if you squeeze it from the sides.

I can understand where your dad is coming from though. I was freaked right out when I first saw under my husbands tanks and saw how little was holding them up with all that water (same rectangle with cross that you have) and was SURE the bottom would fall out and that would be that but no as it turns out it won't.

There are stores I've been into that have their fish in smaller 1.5-2ft by 10-12 inch tanks in rows on stands 3 and four high made of metal tube that only support the tanks by 3/4 of an inch along the front and back edges but they are perfectly fine like that apparently. Not sure you'd want to do a larger tank like that though

Oh, my! Thanks for all of the quick answers!

Seems like I should get one of them boards underneath, then.
My dad will get home by tuesday, should I lower the water levels until then, just in case?

What bothers me tho is that I'll have to remove all of the water in order to move the tank. If I keep the water in buckets, and then pour it back the cycle wouldn't get hurt, eh?
(Not sure if it has cycled propely yet, tho. But anyways, I'm doing water changes twice a week just in case.)

the construction of the stand looks sound, but I would defiantly add a styrofoam panel to cushion against imperfections that could exist in the parts of the stand that come into contact with the glass. a tiny bump with over 100KG of water and glass sitting on it can cause the tank to crack under the weight of it all. the styrofoam acts as a cushion.

Zalth said:

Oh, my! Thanks for all of the quick answers!

Seems like I should get one of them boards underneath, then.
My dad will get home by tuesday, should I lower the water levels until then, just in case?

What bothers me tho is that I'll have to remove all of the water in order to move the tank. If I keep the water in buckets, and then pour it back the cycle wouldn't get hurt, eh?
(Not sure if it has cycled propely yet, tho. But anyways, I'm doing water changes twice a week just in case.)

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I wouldn't be too worried about it. The water actually has very little bacteria in it and is little more than well aged water. By all means keep the water and add it back it will save you some water and conditioner which has to be a bonus. Keep your substrate as wet as you possibly can, leave it with just enough water in the base to barely cover it if you can or if you plan to remove it top the bucket it's in up with tank water to keep it soaked. Put your filter in one of the buckets and keep it running while you're busy changing things around. If you lose the bacteria in your filter your cycle WILL crash and there will be heaps of bacteria in the sand by now as well that you will need to keep alive if you can, keeping it all wet and the filter running will reduce the risk of them dieing and your cycle crashing.
That said you can sometimes take all the precautions in the world and still end up with a new cycle

Get yourself a test kit for ammonia and nitrite if nothing else. You can live without the nitrate one but it would be extremely helpful and highly recommended to have the 3 particularly if you're not sure if it's cycled. Test your water each day for a week and if the ammonia and nitrite stay down and the nitrate is rising then you can be fairly sure it's cycled. You shouldn't need to be doing twice weekly water changes unless your ammonia or nitrite indicate it's required. 20-25% once a week is usually sufficient in a tank that size and more than ample in a cycled tank.

How long has the tank been running as it is now?

@mereB:
I've got 20 kg of sand in there at the moment, but I'm sure my dad can handle it staying in there!

And yes, I propably should get myself those tests. I've been close to buying the paper ones a few times, but wanted to save the money for the liquid ones! Think I'm about rich enough to get them now, tho. My local pet shop has some from the brand Sera, are they any good? Going to town for some buckets tomorrow anyways!

The tank has not been running for a long period of time, although the sand and the filter is from my old tank. I did not clean the sand when I put it in there which I almost got to regret at first (lol). Got an idea of this speeding up the process.. Is this true?
The water is all clear now tho!

Glad you've got a good strong dad :happy: I prefer to leave the substrate in when I can it's soooo much easier when it comes to setting it back up. Just be very careful where you put the tank down while you put the foam on the stand you don't want it cracking on you on the floor Maybe get a 2nd bit of foam to place it on while it's on the floor or wherever and one to put on the stand under the tank. Maybe you can get someone else even to slide it under while 2 of you lift it up a little and then place it back down again.

Adding the sand from your old tank will certainly have helped kick start the process and as long as the bacteria in the filter survived the transition that would have put it way in front as well, well done
Most of the bacteria in your tank are on all the surfaces the water touches and filters are designed to have absolutely massive amounts of surface area within them which is why they are so important to look after and why they house most of the little guys.

The tests are expensive but you did the right thing saving up for the liquid ones over the strips they are much more accurate which is what you need. Sera is an age old brand that's been around for absolutely ages so I'd trust them but I've not ever used them.

I like the idea of sliding the foam under the tank, quick and simple! My friend will probably be there with me. She wants to keep axolotls too one day and takes every chance she got to help me out and learn, soooo cute! Also I guess my mum will be home, loads of people to lift, and slide! (sounds like a commercial lolol)

Turned out the pet shop is closed tomorrow, but I'll go there right after school on monday.

Thanks for the help! You've helped lots and lots, MereB. You're very pedagogic.

Must say my axolotls are so happy in their new tank, worth every swedish crown of it, hehe! They absolutely love the space, although not the depth that much. They're having trouble catching their fish nowadays haha. Lucky they're still being served earth worms!
Grus is in love with her new moss boll too, she's a football player. Or well, headball. :wacko:

You could have a look on ebay, see if you can find any tests cheaper on there, could save you a bit of money that you can spend on treating the axies more That's what I did, saved about £10 I think and I know someone on here saved £30 as there was a typo!

:rofl: sounds about right, closed when you really want them to be open

oooh that's one I've never been called before, pedagogic, thank you runs in the family I'm afraid, my mum is a teacher, guess it's rubbed off a bit :happy: I'm glad I could be of some help though.

Yeah the sliding under is probably easiest and with lots of able bodies it should be nice and quick too. LOL the time consuming bit will be catching the axies and draining the tank :rofl:

Awwww that's so sweet that she is really into axies :happy: Your axie certainly look happy and I'm sure they will have a ball exploring every inch of their new home.

ok it's bed time in my part of the world :happy:
Have fun planning the next few days and feel free to ask more questions if you have any I'm sure me or someone will be able to give you an answer, or several

Meredyth.

@Star:
Oh, yes, I'll have a look! Bought my first items from ebay just a month ago haha! Two double aquarium fans + shipping $38. Good deal, eh!

@MereB:
Good night and thanks again! The people om caudata.org truly are awesome! :happy:

Zalth said:

@MereB:
The people on caudata.org truly are awesome! :happy:

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Yes, yes they are :happy: