Is my tank in danger of breaking due to vibrations??

ReeferHolland

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Hi, My tank just heated up after filling with only RODI water. But now Im starting to get a little scared because the tank gets a lot of vibrations from the floor. The tank is very wobbly.

My house is on the first floor. The tank is next to a wall that is faced to outdoors
16644808613207838953171471766336.jpg
So its a brick wall on the other side. The house is older than 1960 but im not exactly sure. I DONT know anything about the structure of the building unfortunately. Is a 200L (53G) fine in any house? Because I can't imagine a whole floor collapsing from a thing next to a wall that weighs around 350kg and than include some persons around it totally up to max 650kg in that 9 squared meters

When people walk around the house you can feel it on the other side of the room. The whole house is very vibrating anyways.

The floor isn't leveled at all but the aquarium is leveled. The front of the aquarium needs to be much higher than the back. I think almost 1cm higher. Btw, its a red sea reefer 200 G2. Does anyone knows about bad experiences with this type of aquarium?
I also added a 12mm plate under the aquarium that has the same dimensions of the tank

So my question is what should I do? Am I in danger? Should I empty my tank and make changes? Are the vibrations dangerous long term? Why is the tank wobbly when I leveled it perfectly. I made sure all the 8 supporting legs carry the same amount of weight.

I tried to upload a video in many ways but it doesnt upload. any advice? I have a samsung s20 ultra. I tried uploading it directly through the app, through browser, via laptop, download from snapchat and then upload. Just nothing works with uploading videos on my devices lol.
 

Tamberav

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wobbly sounds terrifying but not sure what you mean by that really. Like the water shakes when you walk?

A 53g should be fine in any house except a house that has been damaged in some way like water or termites.
 
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ReeferHolland

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wobbly sounds terrifying but not sure what you mean by that really. Like the water shakes when you walk?

A 53g should be fine in any house except a house that has been damaged in some way like water or termites.
Yes the water shakes when I walk by. Im only 65kg so thats how wobbly the floor is. And when I stand next to the tank and lift my heels, so standing on my toes, and then drop my heels to the ground the tank almost looks like there is an earthquake.
Maybe the legs on the front are too far screwed out. They are 1cm higher than the back.

This are the front legs
Screenshot_20220929-230926_Gallery.jpg


And this is on the backside:
Screenshot_20220929-231006_Gallery.jpg
 

Tamberav

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Yes the water shakes when I walk by. Im only 65kg so thats how wobbly the floor is. And when I stand next to the tank and lift my heels, so standing on my toes, and then drop my heels to the ground the tank almost looks like there is an earthquake.
Maybe the legs on the front are too far screwed out. They are 1cm higher than the back.

This are the front legs
Screenshot_20220929-230926_Gallery.jpg


And this is on the backside:
Screenshot_20220929-231006_Gallery.jpg

I am not familiar with the feet on these but also wonder if the boards are flexing under the individual feet. Maybe it would have been less of an issue if it wasn’t on feet. I have no idea how long those screws are that you adjust on the feet. I suppose you want to make sure you are not near the end of the screw. Seems silly it would be that short though.

You could try shimming it so it has more contract points just to see if that makes any difference.

The boards flex and creak in my house as well but I was able to put my tank right over the steel beam so that solved that. It also isn’t on feet so it’s making full contact across a 4 foot span.
 
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thatmanMIKEson

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It sounds like my house, I have a sub floor not a concrete slab, my tanks are on uneven wood floors. in my case I supported the floor from underneath and it takes most of the wobble away, something similar but not as pretty as this picture
 

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Derrick0580

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If you have a crawlspace I would definitely get supports of some kind below the tank and possibly the entire room just for safety sake!
 
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ReeferHolland

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If
I am not familiar with the feet on these but also wonder if the boards are flexing under the individual feet. Maybe it would have been less of an issue if it wasn’t on feet. I have no idea how long those screws are that you adjust on the feet. I suppose you want to make sure you are not near the end of the screw. Seems silly it would be that short though.

You could try shimming it so it has more contract points just to see if that makes any difference.

The boards flex and creak in my house as well but I was able to put my tank right over the steal beam so that solved that. It also isn’t on feet so it’s making full contact across a 4 foot span.
When I don't use legs, I have to raise the front of the plate with at least 1cm compared to the rear. So this will look ugly too. But thanks for tis tip because I am looking into installing the tank without feet now
 
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ReeferHolland

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It sounds like my house, I have a sub floor not a concrete slab, my tanks are on uneven wood floors. in my case I supported the floor from underneath and it takes most of the wobble away, something similar but not as pretty as this picture
This looks exactly like my floor! I know this because the ceiling has the same structure.

But the problem is I can't reach that part of the floor because I have neighbours under me. (And at the same time she is also my mad bossy homeowner so I can't ask her anything related to this.
Is support really necessary for a tank that small near to a wall?
 

reefbandit

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Since you have no access to brace the floor you will either have to deal with it or take it down. Your floor probably won’t collapse but if you don’t know the condition of support underneath who knows. Only other option you may have is to run the tank along an opposite wall. Or move it left and right a couple feet at a time to see if you can get it over the most joists as possible to provide extra support. Since you don’t know which direction the joists run you will have to die some experimenting.
 
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ReeferHolland

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Since you have no access to brace the floor you will either have to deal with it or take it down. Your floor probably won’t collapse but if you don’t know the condition of support underneath who knows. Only other option you may have is to run the tank along an opposite wall. Or move it left and right a couple feet at a time to see if you can get it over the most joists as possible to provide extra support. Since you don’t know which direction the joists run you will have to die some experimenting.

The joints should be in the right direction. So perpendicular to the wall. Are the joints often more apart than 60cm?
 

reefbandit

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Not familiar with how thing are built in Europe but here your joists would be most commonly be 24”, 16”, or 12” apart. Also here you never know without looking. I’ve had homes with joists that run either direction.
Your tank will probably be fine for sometime, however, you are dealing with silicone seams. Enough vibration along with the water pressure on the glass overtime is going to eventually cause failure. How long you’ll probably be fine for 5-10 years. Might as well just get it setup and not worry about it. Worst case thats what they make shopvacs for.
 
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ReeferHolland

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Not familiar with how thing are built in Europe but here your joists would be most commonly be 24”, 16”, or 12” apart. Also here you never know without looking. I’ve had homes with joists that run either direction.
Your tank will probably be fine for sometime, however, you are dealing with silicone seams. Enough vibration along with the water pressure on the glass overtime is going to eventually cause failure. How long you’ll probably be fine for 5-10 years. Might as well just get it setup and not worry about it. Worst case thats what they make shopvacs for.
Im already happy if it lasts 2-3 years without breaking.... after that I will probably move to another house with better floors.
So another thing you might know or anyone else, the red sea 200 G2 has 2 extra protection strips along the silicone at the front of the tank. So 2 strips total But they didn't apply it to the back. So what is exactly the purpose of these protection strips if they are only on the two front seams?

Front:
16645429371484021289577470838319.jpg

Back:
16645430068404882802332078916625.jpg
 

reefbandit

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They are there to protect theseams from cleaning the glass with a razor blade or other scraping tool.
 
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ReeferHolland

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A thick rubber base between the floor and stand may help absorb some vibration.
That sounds like a great idea. I also use a white plate under the stand with same dimensions as tank. Should I put the rubber under the plate? Or should I skip the whole plate?
 

tehmadreefer

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That’s a disaster waiting to happen. I’d skip a tank til you can move
 

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It doesn't sound like the most stable floor construction. I doubt the manufacturer will commit to anything due to unstable floor so probably not worth asking. I don't see how it doesn't degrade over time, but if a tank is designed to last 10 years, does that mean you're good for 8 or 2? Really no way for us to comment responsibly.

This is all risk assessment. Basically, "Are you going to sleep at night?" No hobby is worth sleepless nights.

Things to consider for deciding and if they are manageable or deal breakers:
- It also doesn't sound like the rental/homeowner situation is optimal so that's more risk.
- There's a basic safety issue (saltwater doesn't do well when pouring over electrics). - - - Neighbors also aren't found of water coming into their homes as well (what kind of renters/homeowners insurance do you have?). People like to sue here.
- It's an expensive hobby and a lot of money in livestock equipment. Not to mention dead fish is a bummer
- what's most likely - slow leak with degraded seal or catastrophic blow out (I really don't know).

Some might be fine with the above and just monitor the tank for any signs of seal separation and take action then. We all take risks putting glass boxes of water in our homes. I would definitely invest in leak detection.

If you're moving in 2-3 years...There's an option to leave it empty and use it as a decoration or put it in storage until I move. Maybe only fill it half full. Remember, if the seals are weakened they're always weakened.

Good luck however you decide!
 
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ReeferHolland

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I have a pole jack under my 180g but the water still moves when my heavy footed dog runs by. Been that way for years. Maybe you can place a piece of 3/4 plywood (US inch measuring guy here) under it to help support and distribute the weight?
Yes I did that already but it doesnt solve anything. Here have a look is this what you mean?
 

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