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I really need help! Should I get rid of my tank?

3K views 46 replies 31 participants last post by  scarhbar 
#1 ·
Alright, I've been an aquarist for almost 10 years now, and I've always loved the hobby, but I'm now starting to wonder if I should get rid of the tank for a few reasons. I'll make a list, and maybe you guys could give some input.

Why I shouldn't keep it:
-takes up a good portion of room in our little town home
-I can't put a whole lot of time into the tank with school, work, and life
-and most importantly, my daughters safety. I'll explain below

Why I should keep it:
-I've spend a good amount of money on it, and would definitely not make that money back
-My daughter and wife both like it too. My daughter gets hypnotized by it for some reason ha
-I worked hard to convince my landlord to let me have it in the first place

As I mentioned above, my daughters safety is the main reason I'm thinking of getting rid of it. She's 10 months old now, and often likes to crawl up to tank and hold on to the stand. I'm pretty sure she couldn't push it over at her current weight, but I'm worried when she's able to run and climb. She'll weigh more too. We do a really good job at keeping her off of it, but there's been a few times where she's pulled herself up on it, without us knowing. Part of me doesn't want to sell it, because I could never find the shrimp a new home (or really catch them all for that matter ha) and because I won't make hardly any money back, but most of me wants to get rid of it for my daughters safety.

What do you guys think? Can you think of any other solutions?? Or would it be best just to get rid of it??
 
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#5 ·
29 gallon? Walmart stand?

I had purchased that 29 gallon stand for my 29 gallon tank and took it back. it just seemed a little too flimsy for me. I went on craigslist and bought a pair of matching solid oak end tables. I'm 230 pounds and i can jump up and down on them. They cost me 35.00 and the measurements are perfect for a 29 gallon or a 20 long. and there are 2 of them so I can add a matching 29g to the other side of my bed. It helps that they match my bed fairly well.

The bottom two drawers are modified. They are just the faces held into place by supports. the back panel was removed so I can fit my canister and wiring where the bottom 2 drawers slid into and still have use of the top drawer for food and such. I plan on hinging them and adding magnets when i have time so i have front door access.

Get a new stand if your daughter is a concern. something sturdy. You can also build your own for cheap. Home depot will do all the wood cuts if you don't want to buy extra tools.





 
#11 ·
29 gallon? Walmart stand?

I had purchased that 29 gallon stand for my 29 gallon tank and took it back. it just seemed a little too flimsy for me. I went on craigslist and bought a pair of matching solid oak end tables. I'm 230 pounds and i can jump up and down on them. They cost me 35.00 and the measurements are perfect for a 29 gallon or a 20 long. and there are 2 of them so I can add a matching 29g to the other side of my bed. It helps that they match my bed fairly well.

The bottom two drawers are modified. They are just the faces held into place by supports. the back panel was removed so I can fit my canister and wiring where the bottom 2 drawers slid into and still have use of the top drawer for food and such. I plan on hinging them and adding magnets when i have time so i have front door access.

Get a new stand if your daughter is a concern. something sturdy. You can also build your own for cheap. Home depot will do all the wood cuts if you don't want to buy extra tools.

Ha yep, that one. And it's not so much the weight it can hold, I think height is more of the issue. Even if it were sturdy I'm still scared of her pushing it, since it's top heavy. Building one is a possibility! But we have such limited space, I'm not sure if I could set up another tank to hold all the fish and shrimp. I would love to have built one! Ha
 
#13 ·
Ya, I thought about that too, but even down sizing would be kind of tough, just because I wouldn't have anywhere to store the fish while I set up the smaller tank. Though a 5 gallon tank seems very tempting for my dresser if I were to get rid of the big tank!
 
#7 ·
Even if you raised her to understand not to touch it, like you would the oven or toilet bowl.. there is still the chance for accidents. I'd try to move it to an area where she doesn't play and attempt to barricade it with a baby gate/fence if I had to. If you can't relocate it or make the situation safer somehow, then I'd take it down for now. You can start it back up again when you feel its time.. but that's just my opinion. Move it out of the way. Or maybe a new stand with a larger base is in order?
 
#8 ·
Is that a 29 gal? Well it does seem pretty tall and I had a similar worry with my kids, but my stand has a nice stand with a lip on it to keep the kids from knocking it over. That is something I would recommend. But no one can really tell you what to do for the safety of your young ones, honestly I would get another stand, move it or get rid of it if its too much risk. But it is rather diffcult to knock a tank over that weighs close to 250lbs by 25lb baby unless the stand is shaky or not secure
 
#17 ·
When my Grand daughter was little I had the same fear with my 20 gallon tall. I did as suggested here, and upgraded the stand.

Course now she's 4, and has learned not to lean/knock/etc. on the tank.

The end table idea is great!



Good luck with the little one.

Thank you! And it's looking like getting rid of it will probably be the best idea. Just not enough space here :/
 
#19 ·
It looks like getting rid of it is the best thing to do in my situation. Actually I think putting the tank and parts in our little crawlspace is probably what I'm going to do, but my question is, how do I catch as many shrimp as possible to sell?? The substrate is fluval stratum, so they can hide pretty well, I understand that I can't get all of them, but I want to get the most as possible. I've tried making a little trap from a bottle of soda in the past, that only works so well. Any tips??
 
#20 ·
I don't know anything about shrimp.

I do know that even if it is very stressing on the fish..when I changed my tanks over not long ago, I just drained the water down to a very low level and then tipped the tank on its side a little to pool them up and scoop them out and into a waiting bucket. I also mounded up the substrate on one side and let the water fill in on the other as a pool to scoop from. I suck at netting fish and would spend hours stressing them out even more, so since I was breaking it down, it worked for me.
 
#21 ·
A shrimp trap moved around with the right food should help get most over time.

Fish on the other hand are tricky for me without removing plants. I removed 25 (had 26) fish the other day, but I still have a single Zebra Danio I have yet to catch. I'm trying to starve him out now, but he seems to be a resilient fish. If I look at the tank, he darts to cover.
 
#23 ·
If it's unsafe....I would get rid of it so I could rest easy, and take my gal out for lunch....

But here's another idea...... if you love the hobby, tight on space, your family enjoys it, and you want something safe. Why not downgrade? You could sell your gear and get a slick 5-10 gallon aquarium and do amazing things with it. I have a 5g rimless on my computer desk...and I love the thing.
 
#24 ·
My thinking is if your daughter seems fascinated by it now, then it would be a real treat to have for her to experience as she grows up...assuming it could be made fall-proof, obviously.

The simplest thing to do might be anchor the stand to the wall with some large metal "L" brackets or something.

If the walls are something like sheet rock or paneling, then you'll probably need to first run like a 2x6 horizontally, flat against the wall, being sure to hit a few studs (with screws) so it's nice and secure. The L brackets would then attach to the stand and into the 2x6.

Do it right and you can climb the thing yourself if you want to :)
 
#26 ·
A strap to keep televisions from tipping over, work for this reason. I've caught my son standing on the stand reaching in it with a net and it never moved. Or a larger more stable. Stand will work to. I got my strap from my fire station they give them out for television's and tippable things.

-Chris
 
#28 ·
From a safety standpoint with little guys running around, strapping the tank to the wall behind it is the only real solution. And as ctaylor suggests, it applies to any top-heavy piece of furniture. The youngest of my three is now in his third year of college, so I've was there........for a long time. Honestly, it's the safest route regardless of the home's inhabitants. I don't stop worrying about tipping a free-standing tank until it goes bigger than a 75G.
There's no right or wrong answer to this. You're the only one that can make this call. I've had fish tanks for more decades than I'd care to admit to. When I finally had my own house, I thought that would be the dream solution to all the fish tank dreams I had as a kid. Yup, I had to drain them all for a few years as work became an all-consuming part of my life. Not my kids. 80 hour weeks took a toll; on me and the tanks. Setting priorities is just a 100% individual process none of us has a perfect answer to.
 
#30 ·
There's two options, build a stand with a lip on it like most 120+ gallon aquarium stands,or buy a cheap night stand or table that is sturdy and has a large foot print and screw in some boards to creat your own lip.

The large foot print will prevent the stand from being toppled over and the lip will keep the aquarium from being able to slide off the stand. See how the aquarium sits inside the stand and not on top of icon the photo? You could design something similar to that to fit your needs and wouldn't cost nearly as much as it would to re-buy your entire setup a few years down the road.




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#31 ·
A more sturdy stand is going to take up the same amount of space as area of the tank. A 20L would not be as top heavy, but a stand with a wide base of support would still be safer. Since you have a small place, a stand that also provides some additional storage for your home would be great. World Market, Home Goods, Pottery Barn (especially outlet mall locations), Craigslist, some unfinished furniture stores, and thrift stores might provide some good solutions at an acceptable price. When I lived in smaller places, everything had to do at least double duty. Tanks can provide such great learning experience for children and you can sometimes even find ways that they can "help" when you are doing maintenance or just having them name the fish or feed them. Of course, you can also catch Nano hysteria (self-professing addict) and just break it down into a few smaller, low maintenance, low tech tanks. Nano addicts call them vases and home decor. The fact that you asked the question on this forum, says Daddy needs to find a way to protect his child first, but also needs his hobby.
 
#32 ·
Why not just put mounts on the wall at the top and bottom rims of the stand and run straps around it? That way it couldn't be pushed or tipped? You could keep it a few inches from the wall, and still be fine.
 
#33 · (Edited)
You really shouldn't be asking other people to make this decision for you. Yes there are ways of making it safer for your daughter and remove that as a concern to you but what I noticed was your reasons for keeping the tank really suck. No where do you mention that you are enjoying it and that you like to work with it. You only say that you won't get your money back out of it, and I can't believe you actually ever believed you would. That you took a long time to convince the landlord you should have it, so what? That your wife & daughter like it, do they like it enough to actually keep it?
If you don't have the enjoyment of the hobby anymore then get out of it. You can always just put the tank and stand away tilyou get bitten again.
 
#35 ·
THE safety fix for any 12" wide tank on a store-bought stand. Any 12" wide tank is a tipping hazard and they only differ in degree by the amount of water they hold. The L-brackets will barely set you back $10 and even if you don't have little ones running around, will buy a LOT of peace of mind.
 
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