Cut out the Center Brace on My Tank - Maybe a Mistake- Any Thoughts?

wahoowa

wahoowa

Member
So I'm going for the rock wall build on my aquarium. The middle section was already very weak from the heat that my halide put on it and on top of that, it would make my life a heck of a lot easier when installing my foam rock wall background. So I went ahead and cut a part of the middle section out. So I got to thinking that maybe I shouldn't have done that, as it may hold the front and back glass together. Does anybody have any thoughts on this? It is a 56 gallon reef ready if that helps (more of the cube shaped).
 
wahoowa

wahoowa

Member
Ok. What can I do that this point? I cut about a 3 inch piece out of the center. I was thinking maybe drilling holes in the two pieces that the middle attached to, and then running wire between them. Any thoughts?
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
The wire might work but eventually will fail because of contact with saltwater. You can use a wood working clamp to compress the sides so that they aren't bowing then cut a piece of glass to fit and silicone it in place, and once the silicone has cured remove the clamp.
 
salami trigger

salami trigger

Member
My buddy had a tank ...a 55.. the center brace got warped from lights..later it split and the tank bowed soon after.
Try a plastic piece over the brace and use an epoxoy maybe..
I would definatley do something tho.
 
wahoowa

wahoowa

Member
What about this guys - http://www.rasoc.org/modules.php?nam...threadid=10655
Here they just place acrylic over the existing plastic - mine looks close to these, but I have left even more plastic than they did. It sounds like my tank would have been running a good risk of this happening anyways, as the brace was bowed and starting to crack. At least I can do this while its empty!
 
9supratt4

9supratt4

Active Member
A friend of mine had this happen. The center brace broke and the tank did bow out with the pressure of the water. You definitely need that piece.
She was able to get another entire top piece. The piece of trim and the center brace from the manufacturer. I wouldn't put any water in that tank until you replace the entire top piece.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Originally Posted by Wahoowa
http:///forum/post/3009893
What about this guys - http://www.rasoc.org/modules.php?nam...threadid=10655
Here they just place acrylic over the existing plastic - mine looks close to these, but I have left even more plastic than they did. It sounds like my tank would have been running a good risk of this happening anyways, as the brace was bowed and starting to crack. At least I can do this while its empty!
This looks like it would work too, much better than using wire. You could replace the top trim also its not difficult but it is a fair amount of work.
 
nanomantis

nanomantis

Member
Originally Posted by Wahoowa
http:///forum/post/3009872
Ok. What can I do that this point?
Buy a new tank.
This is why you don't make drastic changes to the equipment or the structural integrity of the tank of all things before considering the consequences.
 
cranberry

cranberry

Active Member
You don't need to buy a new tank, you just need to rebrace it. You can do this with a piece of acrylic if you wanted to, cemented together to form a |

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| shape. Make sure it fits nice and snug.
 
wahoowa

wahoowa

Member
Originally Posted by Cranberry
http:///forum/post/3009996
You don't need to buy a new tank, you just need to rebrace it. You can do this with a piece of acrylic if you wanted to, cemented together to form a |

[hr]
| shape. Make sure it fits nice and snug.
Should I just do it over the original plastic like that link above? Nanomantis - It would have came down to this within two months of running the setup - the brace was brittle enough from the guys halide to break with a flick of the fingers....
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
I'm not a particular fan of using those braces IME they aren't strong enough to keep the tank from bowing and they can be knocked loose which can cause a tank to rupture.
The simplest and strongest solution would be to silicone a glass brace into place plus the heat from the MH's wont' effect it.
 
beckto

beckto

Member
This happened to me just recently when I was setting up. The brace was cracked, and didnt actually break until it was filled with water. Then it bowed out like 4 inches! The center brace was seperated by 4 inches! 4 INCHES!! I was so shaken up by this I just tore it down, and put up my 29gal instead. My moral of this story is this....When you go to bed at night, instead of thinking how much you love your tank, you will think "what was that noise?, is that brace goning to hold".
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Beckto you could use the glass brace to fix your tank also, and I would bet that the glass brace would be stronger than the original plastic brace that shipped with the tank.
 
beckto

beckto

Member
Originally Posted by natclanwy
http:///forum/post/3010167
Beckto you could use the glass brace to fix your tank also, and I would bet that the glass brace would be stronger than the original plastic brace that shipped with the tank.
I would say you are probably right. I think I am pretty handy too, I trust my work. But I would still lie in bed thinking about it. I guess in this situation 200 bucks (more than likely cheaper) for a new 55g is a small price for my peace of mind. Just my opinion though.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Umm... have you look at the corners of your aquarium lately? There is nothing but silicone holding the corners together. The trim around the top and bottom are for astetics and most also provide the center brace, and they are used because its much cheaper for aquarium manufacturers to place the trim on than it is to sand the edges of the tank and hand build a center brace for each tank. Many custom built aquariums have no trim at all and use glass panels to brace the center of the tank.
 
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