My husband built a 98 gallon (370 L) fish tank. Is it normal for it to make a chirping noise?

Question

My husband built his own fish tank via sealing it himself and building the frame. Should it make a chirping noise all of a sudden?

Answer 1

Water is heavy! A tank like this can easily contain hundreds of kgs of water. That is a lot of weight. That means that a fishtank needs to be structurally sound in order to keep all that water inside, out of your living room.

In a project like this, where you have a wooden cabinet around your fishtank, it's important that the pressure of the water isn't put on weak spots, like those long thin wooden supports. To do this, you could have the glass panes of the tank, seal them together so that they act as a standalone tank that can support the water inside it. And then build the wooden cabinet around it.

It's hard to tell, but it looks like that is not the case here. It looks like the glass panes are fitted in between the supports. That way, all the pressure of the water will end up on the supports, pushing it outwards. It's very possible that this pressure is straining the wood, making it make the sounds you describe. This is not a good sign. It means that your structure is not up to the task of keeping those thousands of kgs of water in place.

Answer 2

If the sound is coming from the filter, the problem is may be very minor; there may be some debris caught in the impeller or elsewhere, or some part may need to be replaced. Turn off the filter for a few moments and see if you still hear chirping. If it turn out to be the filter, start with a thorough cleaning and inspection of the filter's parts and look for anything cracked, debris stuck anywhere, or anything else that looks out of place. If that doesn't resolve a noise coming from the filter, you may need to have it professionally serviced or replaced, depending on the costs involved.

Also rule out sounds coming from any other equipment like bubbler, light fixture, heaters, etc.

If the sound is not coming from the filter or equipment, but the tank or stand itself, you may be in much bigger trouble. You may try to trouble shoot by reducing the water in the tank (maybe while doing a partial water change anyway) and see how that affects the chirping.

Answer 3

I think it is very attractive but you should make it terrarium. Filled with water it is about 850 lb (400 kg) ; the frame is strong enough but not stiff enough. I think it is too tall for the size of the wood . The wood will flex more than the glass putting high strain and stress on the sealing compound. A friend built a similar size tank but with different proportions and thicker wood; it was very successful.