Alright Boys and Girls, Sep has a tank question...

sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
I took the top off of my tank tonight, to move some rock, and noticed that my middle brace broke on my 55. No idea how, but it was pretty beat up to begin with. I bought the tank used years ago and the person that had it had set the lights right on the top. It was a bit melted. It is now snapped in two. I have read threads about tanks bowing because of this. I looked at the tank and it is still completely straight. Sooo ...any ideas on how I can not have it bow? It is a 55. Should I even be worried?
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
What is the glass thickness?
For 3.5 years my 125gal has lived w/o a center brace, however the glass is 5/8th". If the 55gal is the typically 1/4" thick glass, right at the size limit for 1/4" glass, I would consider repairing the brace. It may appear straight to the eye, but it definitely isn't.
Funny enough, moving my 55gal about a week ago, I broke the bottom brace on mine...
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by AquaKnight
http:///forum/post/3081818
What is the glass thickness?
For 3.5 years my 125gal has lived w/o a center brace, however the glass is 5/8th". If the 55gal is the typically 1/4" thick glass, right at the size limit for 1/4" glass, I would consider repairing the brace. It may appear straight to the eye, but it definitely isn't.
Funny enough, moving my 55gal about a week ago, I broke the bottom brace on mine...
It is a standard 55. How would I fix it? Thanks for responding!!
 
flower

flower

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/3081823
It is a standard 55. How would I fix it? Thanks for responding!!

Sorry to hear your having trouble.
You could order the piece...but it is a real pain the you know what to remove the old one enough to put the new one on.
You can't trust a tank that has that piece broken...it isn't worth the risk to just leave it IMO...If you can afford it...buy another tank, you are going to have to empty out and clean it even to replace the part.
 
alabama reefer

alabama reefer

Member
Get it back in place and put some JB Weld on it. You can get it at Walmart or any local hardware store. Cures in just a few minutes and it is thick so it won't drip in your tank.
 
spanko

spanko

Active Member
1/4" plexiglass or acrylic pc. Vinyl scre.w.s and nuts. I would also measure the width of your tank at both ends and then in the middle. You will see from there how much if any it has bowed. You might want to have someone else help you when you put the new pc. on, they can VERY GENTLY help to take some of the bow out of the center while you drill the holes to put the new brace on. Problem here is the added stress this will put on the vertical corner seams and possibly compromise the silicone.
 
fishkid13

fishkid13

Active Member

If you get replace the brace you might want to replace it with two evenly spaced apart so the one brace doesn't have all of the stress. Got a 50 gal (a little deeper than a 55 and almost as tall as the regular 55) with no brace and is doing fine. (Freshwater)
kid...
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Isn't there something that I could just clip on there to hold the middle together? If I have to drill to fix this then I will probably just tear the tank down and get a new one. I really don't want to have to do that though, although I hate the stand that it is on and have been wanting to get a new one of those anyway... Hm, I will have to think about this one.
I just looked down the length of it and can see that it is very slightly bowed...
 
windlasher

windlasher

Member

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/3081812
I took the top off of my tank tonight, to move some rock, and noticed that my middle brace broke on my 55. No idea how, but it was pretty beat up to begin with. I bought the tank used years ago and the person that had it had set the lights right on the top. It was a bit melted. It is now snapped in two. I have read threads about tanks bowing because of this. I looked at the tank and it is still completely straight. Sooo ...any ideas on how I can not have it bow? It is a 55. Should I even be worried?
Well, if it is the standard brace that humps in the middle, I would:
1: Clean all of the salt from the broken brace.
2: Get a strip of plexiglass from home depot and cut it so that it fits the entire width x length of the center brace on the bottom.
3: Put 2 beads marine epoxy from home depot on the top of it down each side so that the piece fits under the center brace.
4: Use 4 Mini Clamps to secure the plexi to the bottom of the broken brace, making sure that the brace lines up tightly across the break. you might need to compress the glass a LITTLE while you are tightening up the brace.
5: let dry for about 24 hours.
6: Remove clamps.
 
t316

t316

Active Member

Originally Posted by sepulatian
http:///forum/post/3081931
I just looked down the length of it and can see that it is very slightly bowed...
It will only get worse. It's not worth coming home one day to find all that water on the floor and everything dead inside.
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
Originally Posted by T316
http:///forum/post/3081938
It will only get worse. It's not worth coming home one day to find all that water on the floor and everything dead inside.
Sorry Sep, I have to agree with T316....When my 55g center brace broke, my husband immediately reinforced it with wire...it still started bowing..so I just went out and got another tank....
I don't think it's worth the constant worry.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Instead of tearing everything down, why not just look into another trim piece? Keep the tank going, but work on getting the old trim off, while you get a new top trim piece? My 55gal top trim is loose and just slides on and off. When you get the new piece, just drain the tank of most of the water, leave just enough for the fish, and then slide on the new top trim and refill?
The has to be a way to get another trim piece. Call all the LFS's, and see if they have a new piece. Or even look for a used 55gal, and just mug the trim from it. There has to be a 55gal on Craigslist somewhere near you in NY.
 
coral keeper

coral keeper

Active Member
You can do it like in the drawing? Put the brace together then glue a acrylic strip on the bottom and top with weldon.
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by Coral Keeper
http:///forum/post/3081954
You can do it like in the drawing? Put the brace together then glue a acrylic strip on the bottom and top with weldon.

Hm, I like that idea. The brace is not smooth though, it is bubbled up from where the last owner melted it. I might be able to cut the bubbled part off though and then glue it.
I really don't want to tear the tank down but I don't want to come home to a flooded floor and all of my stock dead either...
I just looked at it and the brace is seperated by about half an inch. That is a big gap. I just took the skimmer off to lessen the weight on the glass. I may drain the tank down some until I figure out what I am going to do here.
 
T

tfolke1

Guest
For the short term you can probably cut some half inch slots in a piece of 2 by 4 and set it across the top to hold the sides the right distance apart. It won't be pretty but it will prevent it from spreading any farther and buy you some time to either find a permanent fix or get a new tank.
If you don't have the skills and or tools to cut wood, You can probably buy a carpenters wood clamp that will expand that far.
These are under 12 bucks and should be wide enough to span your 55. I'd get some sort of padding for the clamps though. Hopefully they will allow the link.
http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/...3+90075+501411
 
sepulatian

sepulatian

Moderator
Originally Posted by crimzy
http:///forum/post/3082033
I think the main problem is that you engage in that barbaric "QT" ritual...

Thanks buddy
The funny thing is that I just moved a fish into the DT after a month of QT last night... I was moving the rocks around because my angel would not leave the new guy alone. It is a good thing that I did though because I would not have noticed the brace if I didn't pull the top off.
 
mantisman51

mantisman51

Active Member
I bought new top trim for my 55g, with the center support, from the LFS for $25. They even had a special rubberized caulk to reapply it with.
 
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