# How tough is a 75 gallon tank? Can it stand up to a toddler?



## Ravenatnm (Mar 20, 2008)

I will be putting a 75 in my newly finished basement. It will be a large play room/living room for us. I am worried that my 2.5 year old will end up throwing something at it and turning the basement into a pond.

How tough is the glass on the 75 gallon tank? Should I be worried about this? Could I use a sheet of acrylic over the front face of the tank to help protect it? Would that actually help at all?

Thanks,
Raven


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## IrkedCitizen (Apr 26, 2007)

It really all depends on how hard the toy is thrown and how big the toy is. Of course anything can break a tank if it hits it just right. I'm not sure if an acrylic piece would help all that much because if something is thrown hard enough the reverberation will go right through the acrylic and transfer on to the glass.

Have you already got the 75? If you have not bought it yet I would just buy an acrylic tank instead if you are that worried about it.

Hope that helps.


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## trigger (Sep 6, 2002)

And not to mention what the toy is made of... I could image that anything hard and heavy enough to break the tank would be to dangerous for the kid to play with... My son has a tank in his room since he was born. He's 5 years old now and still I don't think there is anything in his room able to break the tank...


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

Once the tank is filled with water the impact resistance of the tank is far stronger than when empty...


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## lotsofish (Feb 28, 2008)

Are you worried about your two year old throwing something and breaking the tv?

It can happen but its pretty rare.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

lotsofish said:


> Are you worried about your two year old throwing something and breaking the tv?
> 
> It can happen but its pretty rare.


Great point... and as a comparison I believe my television would break easier than my 75 gal tank would...


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## TheeMon (May 11, 2004)

wow this made my worrying ease abit  i was worried about similar things myself, and had the same exact idea about covering the glass...


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## aritg3 (Feb 18, 2008)

May be you can try chucking a few toys at the tank and see how it fairs. :lol: just kidding, but seriously if you do try hurling objects at it tell me what it takes to break it. I'm quite curious! :wink:


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## naegling23 (Jan 4, 2008)

good point about the tv and breaking the glass. Makes me a lot less scared.

as a side note, what about tipping the tank over?

*** got a 55gal, and Im absolutely paranoid that my 80lb dog is going to jump up on it and knock it over. I keep a gate around it, but having a big gate in the middle of the livingroom doesnt do all that much for aestetics.


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## Toby_H (Apr 15, 2005)

I have a rack that holds two 75 gal tanks with a ten gal tank mounted to each side of both tanks...

Well I'm in the process of moving and I needed the tank off the bottom rack first... so I drained and removed the bottom 75 and each of it's 10s... I was nervoud about leaving the rack like this and pushed on the stand to test it's sturdiness.

Structurally, the stand shuold hav emore wobble to it than a typical store bought stand (it is raw lumber with nothing holding it square except it's vertical supports). I was pushing on the very top of the top tank (maximum leverage) and I could wobble the tank/stand... but it would have taken most of my strength to knock it over...

I'm not the strongest man in the world but I'd assume I'm stronger than your 2 year old, and I doubt your son nor your dog would be pushing at the very top. Without the leverage (available at the top only) I don't think I could push it over if I wanted to...


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## pugwash (Sep 11, 2006)

naegling23 said:


> as a side note, what about tipping the tank over?


My 2yr old has hung off the side of mine before! Nothing happened. Think he was trying to 'swim with the fishes' whilst I was doing maintainence.


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## BrianNFlint (Apr 1, 2007)

Isnt a 75 gallon tempered? If it is, a sledge hammer shouldnt be able to break it.. I took a $50 bet that I couldnt break a 1/2" piece of tempered glass with a sledge... I lost my $50.. However the "toughness" of the edges are a different story.


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## travis2k (Apr 23, 2008)

> Great point... and as a comparison I believe my television would break easier than my 75 gal tank would...


Have you ever tried to break a TV? I have tried throwing large rocks at an old 27" cathode ray tube TV, I could barely chip them, thrown as hard as I could

TV's are tough... at lease the old CRT


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

8) Providing it's level on a proper stand, I don't think your 2yr. old *riding* your dog would budge that 600 + lb. tank. Unless the little one is tossing 'bricks' in the playroom, you should be fine. 'T'


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## Ravenatnm (Mar 20, 2008)

There's some serious humor going on in this thread. Maybe I'm worrying to much. I almost found a good deal on a 75 acrylic on craigs list, but the footprint was only 42.5x18 rather than 48x18. I don't know why I didn't think of just buying an acrylic to start with.... I guess after all of the comments I'll probably just get a glass one.


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

8) I'll admit I'm a bit partial to these folk even though they're a bit pricey. I'm very satisfied!! http://www.tenecor.com/info_lib_2.html


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## Ravenatnm (Mar 20, 2008)

moneygetter1 said:


> 8) I'll admit I'm a bit partial to these folk even though they're a bit pricey. I'm very satisfied!! http://www.tenecor.com/info_lib_2.html


We'll see, I asked them for a price on a 75 sized tank. They don't advertise their prices (which usually means they are not competitive).


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## IrkedCitizen (Apr 26, 2007)

Ravenatnm said:


> moneygetter1 said:
> 
> 
> > 8) I'll admit I'm a bit partial to these folk even though they're a bit pricey. I'm very satisfied!! http://www.tenecor.com/info_lib_2.html
> ...


If you are limited to the space of a 48" tank you should get a 48"x24" footprint tank if you can afford it. A 120 gallon 48"x24"x24" is a nice tank.


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

8) One of their major distributors has pricing http://www.thepetstop.com/fish_shop/Aqu ... ect75.html & as I said before they are pricey!! 'T'


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