Update to my last post. So it turns out it isn’t my windows.

[Mr.K]

So two weeks ago I started hearing noises from my tanks. It wasn’t water moving or bubbles popping it was sounds like when you crack your finger. Every time I hear it I check the stand that it’s on for cracks or any issues and nothing. I check the tanks for cracks and chips still nothing. How long do I have?  I did get a new chair though. It was an office chair but I leaned too far back on it and the backing snapped. I’m by no means heavy at all. I weigh only 120lbs. Whatever so I got one of those big 5 sport chairs from the garage and put it in my room with the fish. It’s been to the beach a few times and has a bit of sand in the joints. It might be the sand but idk. I’m kinda scared! 

[Scapexghost]

Could it be the furnature settling? 

[Mr.K]

What do you mean by that? 

[PaigeIs]

It may be that the cabinet under your tanks is "adjusting" to the weight. The wood may give way in some spots, creaking, cracking, etc., accounting for the sound.  You may want to check the inside of the cabinet for sagging supports or loose joints.  If the tanks are not leaking, and the cabinet is not sagging or cracking, you can chalk the noise up to "noise" and relax.  Also, is there anything inside the tank that is loose?  Maybe hitting the glass as the water flows around it?

 

 

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 1:46 PM, PaigeIs said:

It may be that the cabinet under your tanks is "adjusting" to the weight. The wood may give way in some spots, creaking, cracking, etc., accounting for the sound.  You may want to check the inside of the cabinet for sagging supports or loose joints.  If the tanks are not leaking, and the cabinet is not sagging or cracking, you can chalk the noise up to "noise" and relax.  Also, is there anything inside the tank that is loose?  Maybe hitting the glass as the water flows around it?

 

 

Nope. I too out all of the drawers and looked for some issues. Could not find anything of issue. I do have a plantation shutter next to the stand/tanks and I asked a sibling on the other side of the house and they said they heard something similar. The throng is the shudders directly face the sun so it would be the shutters instead. 

[Tanked]

It's really hard to say.  If your home has exterior siding the siding could be popping as it expands or contracts with temperature.  It could also be the the furniture, floor, or your joints (kidding).   Your shudders are a possible source.

What changed 2 weeks ago?  How often do you hear the noise? 

[PaigeIs]

On 8/1/2023 at 1:53 PM, Mr.K said:

Nope. I too out all of the drawers and looked for some issues. Could not find anything of issue. I do have a plantation shutter next to the stand/tanks and I asked a sibling on the other side of the house and they said they heard something similar. The throng is the shudders directly face the sun so it would be the shutters instead. 

Sounds like you've eliminated all the possible problematic sources. Houses make noise.  It's normal and rarely results in flooding.  You probably never noticed the sound before the fish tanks were therem(although I once heard a weird dripping that turned out to be a broken pipe under my house. It's good to be aware 😄  of what sounds are normal and what sounds are not)
 

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:00 PM, PaigeIs said:

Sounds like you've eliminated all the possible problematic sources. Houses make noise.  It's normal and rarely results in flooding.  You probably never noticed the sound before the fish tanks were therem(although I once heard a weird dripping that turned out to be a broken pipe under my house. It's good to be aware 😄  of what sounds are normal and what sounds are not)
 

Yeah I guess it sounds like it too. Also since I posted this my chair has been folded up and I have not heard the sound since. 

[PaigeIs]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:03 PM, Mr.K said:

Yeah I guess it sounds like it too. Also since I posted this my chair has been folded up and I have not heard the sound since. 

It's better err on the side of caution.  Your wet-pets and your security deposit are in good hands.  😄

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 2:04 PM, PaigeIs said:

It's better err on the side of caution.  Your wet-pets and your security deposit are in good hands.  😄

I don’t even own my house. It’s my parents and I’m not old enough to move out yet. If the tanks break or my stands break I’d wake up at the orphanage lmao 🤣

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 1:56 PM, Tanked said:

It's really hard to say.  If your home has exterior siding the siding could be popping as it expands or contracts with temperature.  It could also be the the furniture, floor, or your joints (kidding).   Your shudders are a possible source.

What changed 2 weeks ago?  How often do you hear the noise? 

2 weeks ago I got a new chair (kind of). I was leaning back in an office chair and the whole backing snapped off. So I just got one of those old  foldable chairs and then the noises stared to appear. The chair is folded up and I have not heard the noise and it’s been around an hour now. The chair had been to the beach a lot and has some sand in its joints. It is on a load bearing wall though 

[Stef]

Glad the noise may be resolved. I have a pleco in one tank that constantly rearranges the substrate including banging or rasping on a glass thermometer. The thermometer then taps on the wall of the tank and made a clickety clackety sound that took me a while to figure out. 
 

Very nice tanks btw!!

Edited August 1, 2023 by Stef

[nabokovfan87]

There is a few things at play here.

A.  Multiple aquariums across a long distance and not necessarily supported on end (especially not supported in the middle of the tank/cabinet.
B.  You have the load off centered to the left slightly, which means there is a bit of a "middle weight" to the load as well.
C.  This is a cabinet with drawers and those drawers move. That movement affects the load.  Most stands and aquariums are designed to sit in place and not necessarily to have daily use from drawers / cabinets.  This setup is a "high traffic" scenario and that movement of the furniture could affect load balancing and shifting.

The red arc above is how the top of the cabinet is receiving the load.

I would opt for getting some stands as opposed to your current setup.  Most stands for this weight of aquarium are going to have very robust support or have something like 6-8 legs to support the weight across that span. The goal is to keep that arc as straight / flat as you possibly can. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/1/2023 at 4:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

C.  This is a cabinet with drawers and those drawers move. That movement affects the load.  Most stands and aquariums are designed to sit in place and not necessarily to have daily use from drawers / cabinets.  This setup is a "high traffic" scenario and that movement of the furniture could affect load balancing and shifting.

For context...  This is an excerpt from:
Effects of Sound on Fish by Mardi C. Hastings,1 Ph.D. & Arthur N. Popper,1 Ph.D.

[Mr.K]

So I may also have to get out of the hobby until next year. Idk I’m trying to rack my brain and need help! 
 

so for starters here is my tanks on a leveler thing. The first pic with the moss and wood is the leaning in the left. The second pic is the middle of my dresser/stand and my gourami in the e pic lol. The third is the right side of he stand. So as you can see it isn’t 100% level. The fourth pic is what’s in the middle of my stand/ dresser. It is just drawers. I cannot stick a 2x4 through the middle because of other reasons. Would selling one of the tanks delay the inevitable? I can get a new stand by October- Christmas somewhere in between then. 

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 4:41 PM, nabokovfan87 said:

There is a few things at play here.

A.  Multiple aquariums across a long distance and not necessarily supported on end (especially not supported in the middle of the tank/cabinet.
B.  You have the load off centered to the left slightly, which means there is a bit of a "middle weight" to the load as well.
C.  This is a cabinet with drawers and those drawers move. That movement affects the load.  Most stands and aquariums are designed to sit in place and not necessarily to have daily use from drawers / cabinets.  This setup is a "high traffic" scenario and that movement of the furniture could affect load balancing and shifting.

The red arc above is how the top of the cabinet is receiving the load.

I would opt for getting some stands as opposed to your current setup.  Most stands for this weight of aquarium are going to have very robust support or have something like 6-8 legs to support the weight across that span. The goal is to keep that arc as straight / flat as you possibly can. 

I also read the context you provided. My shrimps keep dropping their eggs for no reason and this may be why! Thank you! So I made an update to my post and I see now what you all mean by the stand bowing. I can discuss this with my parents on Sunday and see whats next. Could you see my update post if you can? I may be able to make stands for these tanks. Would removing one of the tanks fix this issue and I instead put the tank I keep in the middle? 

[Guppysnail]

I’ve merged your two posts. Folks will be able to help more seeing the entire issue and all the photos on the same topic. 

Are there interior supports where I drew lines. I had a similar stand at one point. 
 

If there are try moving your tanks to the far ends with more space in between. That way the center where there is no support between the two doors take less weight. 

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 5:59 PM, Guppysnail said:

I’ve merged your two posts. Folks will be able to help more seeing the entire issue and all the photos on the same topic. 

Are there interior supports where I drew lines. I had a similar stand at one point. 
 

If there are try moving your tanks to the far ends with more space in between. That way the center where there is no support between the two doors take less weight. 

Thank you a lot for merging my posts! So here is how my dresser is made. The D represents drawers. Notice how it’s just straight lines. Yeah there is no supports in the middle. There are these triangle things though on the corners. I have space to make my own stand where I can stack the tanks though.  

forgot to include the pic

[Guppysnail]

Even without interior supports you will buy yourself some time possibly by moving each tank to opposite sides as far as they will go.  It takes weight off the center point. 

[Mr.K]

On 8/1/2023 at 6:17 PM, Guppysnail said:

Even without interior supports you will buy yourself some time possibly by moving each tank to opposite sides as far as they will go.  It takes weight off the center point. 

I can try to do that in my next water change day because the water levels will be lower and easier to move. How long do you think I have before the stand gives out? I can figure out my next step on Sunday because that’s when I will have time. 

[Guppysnail]

There is no way for me to guess at that. 

[Mr.K]

Alright. I can make the two stands next week or some time this month. 

[Mr.K]

Now the real question . How do I build a stand that can hold one 20 gallon long on top and one on the bottom? 

[nabokovfan87]

On 8/1/2023 at 6:22 PM, Mr.K said:

How long do you think I have before the stand gives out? I can figure out my next step on Sunday because that’s when I will have time. 

I had my 10G tank on a very cheap dresser. After ~months it was like overnight where the middle of the panel the tank was on dropped about an inch.

It can happen very quickly and there is little to no indication apart from the water hitting the floor if things get that bad.

I would encourage you to check out something like the imagitarium Brooklyn stands which are a metal frame. Perhaps something like a 90-120G stand that will hold both tanks or it makes sense to have two smaller stands.

I will reference this as well....

 

 

There are a tons of options and it's Ultimately up to what your aesthetic preference is as well as long term plan.

On 8/1/2023 at 8:59 PM, Mr.K said:

Now the real question . How do I build a stand that can hold one 20 gallon long on top and one on the bottom? 

Honestly, check out pepere's thread.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2023 by nabokovfan87

[Mr.K]

Thank you for the resource! I am debating selling both tanks to make a 20 gallon long multis tank on a stand. It would be kind of a breed for profit and fun thing. I have time on my hands (kinda. Based on what’s going on rn) and can deal with getting them out of the shells. This seems like my best option as building a double decker tank might be too much of a hassle. Knowing my father I know for sure he’d love to help make the stand but he’s a busy dude and can follow a guide on how to build the stand.