Darn the children! Bolt them tanks down!

[Orion]

I was talking to my Mom the other day and she was asking me what I was going to do with some of my tanks we were keeping once the baby gets here. I told her I was thinking about moving the 65g into the baby's room and get some big fat goldfish for it. She then asked me a very disturbing question. She wanted to know if I was going to strap the tank to the wall to keep it from falling over if the baby tries to scale up the tank in a few years. She was very serious, she said when I was little I could climb up almost anything when she would just turn her head for a second. This is my child we're talking about haha.

I've never been 100% comfortable with the 65g because of the 24" height of the tank. The stand is around 28"-30" I believe. I've never had any actual issues with this tank, but we've never had a 2 year old climbing around on it either. The tank is only 36" long, which does make it a little more prone to tipping IMHO when compared to say my 75 gallon which is 48" long and 18" high.

So, any parents out there do anything to these top heavy tanks to help prevent them from tipping over? I know they make furniture straps to attach to walls to keep stuff from falling over, and this wouldn't be difficult to attach to the pine stand, but would this be enough with a 20lbs kid hanging off the front?

And this is just me thinking of an absolute worst case scenario. I do remember when I was little I did grab onto the top of my parents tank a time or two for what ever reason. Part of the reason I wanted to put a tank in her room was to help teach her about responsibility (and the hobby ) when she's young. Heh, at least that's the idea.

 

[BlueStraggler]

Sorry no solution to offer I just wanted to say BIG congrats on the baby!*BOUNCINGS
I do remember when my little guy was in that climbing stage (somehow I managed to not rip out ALL my hair, lol)
Its hard to picture him pulling down a tank though. Of course I watched him like a hawk in those first few years.
I had a 30 set up in that time and we'd sit in front of it for night feedings. He was so used to it, I had no problems as he got older.

One thing I'd make sure of if I were you...is to not put any furniture nearby like a dresser for example that he/she can climb onto and jump onto the tank.
They are THAT brave.

Your mom is right to worry about her grandbaby but I think if you constantly reinforce a rule of "no touching the glass" like I did....everything will be fine.
You would have to be very firm about it (which is hard for a new parent) but every child needs boundaries. Toddlers are very intelligent (sometimes rebellious) but he/she is capable of learning that some things in the house are not allowed to be touched.

Congrats again...and all the best to your family : D

 

[89must]

well my 75 is a room divider and my 75# bulldog has slammed into it my couch is in front of it along with my kids and that tank has never moved just make sure there is nothing around the new one can climb and jump, fall into the tank and like bluestraggler said make sure from day one to teach him/ her not to touch

 

[simplyfish]

Only a suggestion but a closed tank with a lid would be harder to frab than an open lip. Harder to climb on and less likely to topple it over.

 

[Orion]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I don't think a tank with a glass top would be much less likely to be grabbed than an open tank. I can quite easily grab a hold of the rim with the top on and I would think little fingers would have an easier time getting a grip.

 

[Chris_A]

I gotta say, try hanging 20 lbs off the tank... I think the strength of the glass would be more of a concern than tipping when you're talking about a tank that size. All said and done, your looking at what? 800-850 lbs? a small childs weight on that foot print is going to be like a drop in the bucket so to speak . I guess you could put some weights in the stand if you're really concerned though. Cinder block or paving stones would probably do the trick.

NOW, like I said, I'd be more concerned with the glass strength... if it doesn't have a center brace that would be a really good DIY for when you move it IMO.

Chris

 

[ishar]

I would think the concern would be the top-heavy-ness of the tank + stand. Adding weights to the bottom could prove to be an effective solution. But really, as long as the stand feels good and solid and doesn't seem to want to tip at all when you yourself go to push on it or something, I wouldn't be too worried. The child would be very small if they are too young to know climbing on it is bad, and the weight of your child would be too small to do much against the tank as long as it is on sturdy ground.

Again... I would think. I also think that if it were my child I would be so concerned and would anything to ensure his/her safety soooo... lol.

 

[Whiskers]

you could build a canopy and lagbolt it to the wall studs. no lip to grab and top wouldnt be able to tip. just a thought.

 

[brian1973]

I have anchored a 25G tall tank to the wall using small diameter wire rope, and steel anchors, it was more to keep the top heavy tank from getting toppled from the kids jumping running bouncing thru the house than to keep them from climbing into it.

Here are some other issues that I would personally be more concerned with, a child can drown in very little water and they can find there way onto things at a very young age. Once they start walking, climbing is the next step and finding their way out of a crib comes at varying ages depending on the child, my oldest daughter was out of a crib by 2, my son who is currently 4 stayed in his until about 3 and almost never climbed out even though he would climb out of a travel crib (happy camper) at 2yrs old.

The other thing is kids tend to throw things, everything they can pick up will at some point become a projectile, so that age appropriate toy that seems harmless can cause damage, and they find ways to hide toys in cribs as well.

Personally I would never put an aquarium in any childs room until they are at a decent level of maturity which will vary by child as well.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

What about making a canopy and putting that on the wall. Between the stand and the canopy i'd think that would keep the top and bottom of the tank secure in place and just maybe attach the canopy to the wall. May be a bit more high tech then you're going for but i've seen some realllllly nifty canopies made with linear actuators, both automatic and manual lifting. That way the canopy is attached to the wall, but can still be slid up and down to gain access to the tank.

I don't know, just something that popped into my head.

 

[Orion]

I have anchored a 25G tall tank to the wall using small diameter wire rope, and steel anchors, it was more to keep the top heavy tank from getting toppled from the kids jumping running bouncing thru the house than to keep them from climbing into it.

Ok, this makes a lot of sense. Admittedly it's been several years since I was a little one running around, so I can't really remember just how hard they run and play.

The other thing is kids tend to throw things, everything they can pick up will at some point become a projectile, so that age appropriate toy that seems harmless can cause damage, and they find ways to hide toys in cribs as well.

Pfft. My daughter would never act in such a manner

Excellent points that I just hadn't thought of Brian, thank you. I had this fantasy of having some good moonlights on the tank so during those upcoming long nights sitting up with her we could have something to watch. We could always move the tank out before she got too big to start throwing things at it, but by then I can't say we would have a good place to put it somewhere else.

Now I also like the other ideas, counter weighting the stand and making a canopy and attaching it to the wall studs. I'm not too worried about the glass, it's a newer tank with minimum 1/2" glass and it does have a center brace. Actually the top rim looks more "tough" on the 65g than it does on the 75g.

Still got a few months before she gets here, then quite a few more before such things will start becoming a worry I suppose. Thanks for all the input everyone. We'll talk about this more and figure something out. But if anyone had any other idea's or comments, let 'em fly.

 

[robinanne]

i agree with brian 1973. we had two 55 gallons in the living room when my son was little and he had a hard time leaving them alone. i don't think i could have slept if they had been in his room. we bolted his dresser to the wall as he had a stupid "little bear" tape that had the bear climbing up the dresser drawers.