tank water moves when anyone walks near the tank

amillion
amillion Member Posts: 7
edited August 2018 in Beginner's Forum
Hi all,

We have a four foot 200 litre tank on a stand that is built for it and wooden floorboards. Any time anyone, even our five year old, walks near the tank the surface of the water visibly moves. Any suggestions on how we can solve this would be greatly appreciated, as we have had one setback after another setting this thing up and are on the verge of abandoning the whole idea.
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  • amillion
    amillion Member Posts: 7
    here is what the tank and stand look like if it helps we do notice the stand is just exactly the right size for the tank which we suspect might have something to do with it. also we had a builder friend help us to level the tank and he might have levelled it slightly tilting backwards as he had an idea that it is safer for it to lean towards the wall so it would be less likely to fall forwards for safety reasons.
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  • Frayk
    Frayk Member Posts: 1,009
    Howdy m8, the tank should be squared level, that is completely square north, south, east & west!!! A tank that size filled with water, gravel,rocks and wood etc weighs a hell of a lot. Ensure the wood stand is solid in structure and make sure tank is absolutely plumb before going any further. Cheers.
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  • Bob
    Bob Member, Classifieds Posts: 708
    Looks to me as if the weight of the tank is supported on “legs” at the edge of the tank stand and that that “line” and the planks run in the same direction. Would it be possible to have the stand on planks to distribute the weight over a greater floor area? Having said that, I have an Aunt that had a similar sized tank, on floorboards, with adults of 100kg + walking past the tank all the time, made me jumpy as but was never an issue for them. The tank, and floor survived for many many years. My nerves were not so good though.

    Cheers,

    Bob
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  • amillion
    amillion Member Posts: 7
    Frayk said:

    Howdy m8, the tank should be squared level, that is completely square north, south, east & west!!! A tank that size filled with water, gravel,rocks and wood etc weighs a hell of a lot. Ensure the wood stand is solid in structure and make sure tank is absolutely plumb before going any further. Cheers.

    thanks very much for your reply!

    it seems much better if we only fill it about half way, and we only want small fish at the moment - some cory catfish that would mostly spend their time at the bottom of the tank anyway. do you think this would improve the safety?

    our floor boards are old and probably have some bend to them. we are thinking of getting someone to put some better support underneath the floor. what do you think about that?
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  • amillion
    amillion Member Posts: 7
    Bob said:

    Looks to me as if the weight of the tank is supported on “legs” at the edge of the tank stand and that that “line” and the planks run in the same direction. Would it be possible to have the stand on planks to distribute the weight over a greater floor area? Having said that, I have an Aunt that had a similar sized tank, on floorboards, with adults of 100kg + walking past the tank all the time, made me jumpy as but was never an issue for them. The tank, and floor survived for many many years. My nerves were not so good though.

    thanks Bob. we just don't want to take chances with two little ones around! you are right, it stands using very small feet at the corners and the middle.. might be more stable if that was not the case.

    with the planks are you suggesting to add some of our own wood under the tanks something like this (forgive the dodgy diagram)?



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  • amillion
    amillion Member Posts: 7
    CORRECTION: four foot tank, not five. edited the post. sorry!
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  • Frayk
    Frayk Member Posts: 1,009
    A sheet of 20 ml ply would spread the weight evenly, just remember theres no substitute for a properly levelled, strong and sturdy tank, piece of mind. :)
    Im currently getting a 6ft metal stand custom made for a 800 lt tank for my Saratoga.
    The guy whos making the frame [stand] claims it will be strong enough to take 1800 kgs, better to overkill it than to worry about a disaster. Cheers.
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  • Bob
    Bob Member, Classifieds Posts: 708
    I built my stands, I will see if I can find some old pics of the construction phase. Not a cheap project but I know they are not going to callapse.

    As Frayk says, a sheet of ply will ensure the weight is evenly distributed, I am not sure that you can overkill but anyone that has seen mine think that I have!

    Cheers,

    Bob
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