Are Aquariums safe?

[Wyrt]

Wouldn't it just freeze over in your igloo?

[Piglord]

I read that they are extremely prone to exploding.

[kail]

Not unless you are breeding landwalking piranhas.

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As an example of what NOT to do, see the picture below. This guy probably forgot to carry over a decimal somewhere:

I see nothing wrong with that picture...

[Tennis]

also, what kind of fish are you looking to get?

salt water or fresh water?

if you are a beginner id suggest fresh water, in a smaller sized tank. and work your way up from there.

salt water takes a bit more care and specialized equipment (aka money) while fresh water is easier on both you and your wallet.

Freshwater. I'd have to think about fish or fishless cycling of the tank to start off.

[shrewbert]

Go on Youtube, and look up Low Tech Planted aquariums.

[Tennis]

I've had my 60 gallon aquarium for about 3 years now. Never had any problems with leaks but it's a pain the ass to clean. I'm fairly certain that, should you ever have a leak, you'll be given more than enough signs to get it taken care of before it becomes a problem. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Did you buy it brand new? Where from? What type of stand do you have?

I'm thinking I'll start off with a medium sized one to get back in the swing of things before expanding. Plus I plan to move from my current place within a year or 2.

[Rasulis]

This is life. Shit happens. Sometimes aquarium will leak, or even break. There is no guarantee in life.

That did not stop us from installing two salt water aquariums when we built our house. The cats like them. That was good enough.

[-aiko-]

Did you buy it brand new? Where from? What type of stand do you have?

It's a Marineland aquarium, bought it brand new at Petsmart. It came with a generic black stand but it was super bland so I ended up buying a beautiful "TV" stand from wayfair.com.

Probably a good idea to start with something smaller, yeah, I just feel bad confining fish into small spaces. I try not to keep more than a dozen smaller fish breeds in there so they have plenty of open space. They're just fish, but I think they're happy. No suicides yet lol. I've also experimented with automatic feeders during vacations and have yet to kill any fish while being away so that's something.

[Tennis]

We've had salt-water tanks in my house for YEARS. Decades even... Don't remember any leaks!

We now have had a 250~(I think?) gallon tank for around a decade, I think, and it's great. It even has a little mini-tank in the bottom closed off with LED lighting where sea-corals and the like basically make oxygen and clean/filter the water. ^_^

How do you ensure the tanks don't tip over?

[DeltrusDisc]

How do you ensure the tanks don't tip over?

I need to see pictures.

Guessing you both have never seen fish tanks before? O_o

[lockedout]

I'm thinking about getting one but I'm worried about it leaking and ruining my floor.

Wouldn't there also be a concern during my vacation time when I would leave my place for several days. A leak then could surely be catastrophic.

Anyone have any ideas? I used to have an aquarium in the past and it sure was relaxing to watch the fishies swim about.

They don't lean you'll be fine. Didn't you open a thread about this already?

[Hawthorne Wipes]

aquariums have been known to kill about 2 trillion people every year

Aquariums.. the only animal smarter than the men..

[PhantasmagoriaX]

Op, I used to work at a petstore for 3 years, I have never had any complaints about tanks leaking. One thing you need to consider though is the weight of a tank, For example, a 10 gallon tank weighs 100lbs and thats just water! it doesnt include rocks and other decorations.

[unbound]

I'm thinking about getting one but I'm worried about it leaking and ruining my floor.

Wouldn't there also be a concern during my vacation time when I would leave my place for several days. A leak then could surely be catastrophic.

Anyone have any ideas? I used to have an aquarium in the past and it sure was relaxing to watch the fishies swim about.

I've had aquariums for over 25 years now (sometimes multiple aquariums at the same time). I've never had a leak.

I did have my large aquarium (250 gallons) fail with one of the supports (those plastic cross pieces on the top of large aquariums are part of the support structure), but it still never leaked. However, that meant that I did have to drain and get rid of it (I didn't drain it for months) before there was a catastrophic failure.

I've never had a problem with vacations either. I've either had the pet sitter (person comes twice a day to feed cats) feed the fish as part of it, or you can get 3 or 7 day feeding blocks that will work well enough.

Just make sure that you don't put your aquarium somewhere where it can get knocked over or use a really cheap stand (most wooden stands are pretty solid, but I've seen some cutesy metal stands that are way too wobbly).

[DeltrusDisc]

I've never had one leak. My husband has always had one in every home we move to. We currently have 10 piranha in a tank, which needs a pretty powerful filtration because of the live food they eat and mess they make. No issues whatsoever.

10 piranhas?!

Good hell, why? XD

[Skulltaker]

10 piranhas?!

Good hell, why? XD

Everybody knows a school (is it a school? Or a swarm?) of Piranhas can devour a cow in under 7 minutes. If you ever murder a cow, you can get rid of it that way. It is also great for drunken dares. "Aright, aaright, we all dipped fingers and hands in... whas next?" "Wang?" "Sounds perfectly safe."

[GarlicGuy]

Two things.... I had a 150 gallon aquarium at one point.... it caused a sag in my floor. Second, don't buy expansive fish if you aren't prepared for them to just up and die.... my aquarium was saltwater and one day I put in a piece of coral that I bought at a pet store..... next day all the fish had died. And saltwater fish can be really expensive.

Not so much for the OP, but for any others reading this thread.

[Xandrigity]

Aquariums are fine. Just don't swim in them 30 minutes after eating food and keep a life preserver at hand.

[Donald Hellscream]

If it is a proper quality tank then yeah, in any case just make sure it is sealed properly by checking for leaks every so often.

Also feed them every now and then to prevent them from nomming on each other.

[zenkai]

aquariums have been known to kill about 2 trillion people every year

Lies! The only kill a brazillion a year.