How to replace my center brace

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civileng68

Guest
I have a 55 gallon column tank with a center brace which gets really hot with my MH pendant over top. I had to wrap it in alluminum foil to keep it from melting.
However, I'd love to replace this if possible but have no clue how.
Can someone tell me how to build a new bracing system so I can remove the middle brace?
I only want to do it if the new bracing is very strong (no accidents wanted here :)
Can someone tell me how do to this?
Thanks,
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
here is what i have been told that you can do, however i have never done this and do not know how well it works. The tank must be empty first off. You cut the original brace out, and make two identical braces out of acrylic or plexi the braces should go the width of the tank and sit on top of the inner lip that the tank has. the main purpose of the brace is to keep it from bowing and breaking a seem. Then you take the two peices of plexi and drill thru them and thru the lip on the frame. you want two small holes on each side. i'll attach a pic in a min. put the braces off center.
 
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civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
here is what i have been told that you can do, however i have never done this and do not know how well it works. The tank must be empty first off. You cut the original brace out, and make two identical braces out of acrylic or plexi the braces should go the width of the tank and sit on top of the inner lip that the tank has. the main purpose of the brace is to keep it from bowing and breaking a seem. Then you take the two peices of plexi and drill thru them and thru the lip on the frame. you want two small holes on each side. i'll attach a pic in a min. put the braces off center.

Sounds great so far...........looking forward to the pics and/or any additional info that can be discussed.
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
anyways, once you have the4 holes drilled you put in a couple of small stainless steel screws in teh 2 new braces and presto you have changed the bracing of your tank. By having two in my opinion you have even less chance of the bowing and breaking than with the one, but i guess it costs the manufacturers just that much less to pnly put one on. basically here is a list of what you need to do this. Drill and bits, 2 peices of plexi cut to appropriate size, 8 stainless steel screws or bolts with nuts. A little bit of time, and there you have it. I would use a miter box saw or one with very small fine teeth so that you are not chunking away at the brace, rather just taking a little off at a time, so as to not break it or the tank. Oh one other thing i forgot, i would also cut a small peice of acrylic to go under the lip so that the screws are holding acrylic to acrylic instead of thru the thin lip on the tank. Do you understand what i mean by that? wish my pic would upload...
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
if you looked at the new brace from the side it would go acrylic, lip, acrylic, with a bolt thru it. Am I making this clear enough? I hope so. Its not nearly as hard as i think it sounds
 
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civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
anyways, once you have the4 holes drilled you put in a couple of small stainless steel screws in teh 2 new braces and presto you have changed the bracing of your tank. By having two in my opinion you have even less chance of the bowing and breaking than with the one, but i guess it costs the manufacturers just that much less to pnly put one on. basically here is a list of what you need to do this. Drill and bits, 2 peices of plexi cut to appropriate size, 8 stainless steel screws or bolts with nuts. A little bit of time, and there you have it. I would use a miter box saw or one with very small fine teeth so that you are not chunking away at the brace, rather just taking a little off at a time, so as to not break it or the tank. Oh one other thing i forgot, i would also cut a small peice of acrylic to go under the lip so that the screws are holding acrylic to acrylic instead of thru the thin lip on the tank. Do you understand what i mean by that? wish my pic would upload...

I completely understand what you are saying and it sounds pretty easy (to an extent). I am going to go forward with this.
Can you find the plexiglass at Home Depot and if so, where do I look? Can I just take measurements in and have them cut it?
Also, how thick would you say I should go with the plexi?
 
fishgeek01

fishgeek01

Active Member
I would go with 1/4 inch plexi, i am sure that home depot would have it, and yes i am sure they will cut it. As for the peice of plexi under the lip, it is basically like a bulkhead if you know what i mean, there is a part on both sides of the glass to take the pressure of the glass itself, same concept except to make it so the bolts dont break the lip on your tank.
 
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civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by Fishgeek01
I would go with 1/4 inch plexi, i am sure that home depot would have it, and yes i am sure they will cut it. As for the peice of plexi under the lip, it is basically like a bulkhead if you know what i mean, there is a part on both sides of the glass to take the pressure of the glass itself, same concept except to make it so the bolts dont break the lip on your tank.
GOT IT! Thanks so much for the help! I'm going for that!
 
kainex

kainex

Member
IMO I would use acrylic. Not Plexi. It wouldn't cost much more. Acrylic Is WAY stronger, and can be drilled alot easier Plexy is very brittel and snaps easy. acrylic won't "shater" when drilled or cut.
 
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civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by kainex
IMO I would use acrylic. Not Plexi. It wouldn't cost much more. Acrylic Is WAY stronger, and can be drilled alot easier Plexy is very brittel and snaps easy. acrylic won't "shater" when drilled or cut.

Okay, great! If this can be found at Home Depot as well then I'll go with that.
 
cowfishrule

cowfishrule

Active Member
i dont know if i would attempt this.
i think if you covered the brace with a mirrored strip would be better.
that brace was put there for a reason... i wouldnt mess with it.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
Plexiglass is a trademarked brand of acrylic BTW like Kleenex is a brand of tissue.
HD stocks acrylic sheets in 1/4 but I don't remember the brand but it shouldn't matter. You can cut it with a table saw or a circular saw - since you are screwing it the edges won't need to be perfect.
 
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civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by COWFISHRULE
i dont know if i would attempt this.
i think if you covered the brace with a mirrored strip would be better.
that brace was put there for a reason... i wouldnt mess with it.

Now you've got me worried. From a "technical" standpoint, it sounds as if this setup would be stronger than the built on brace.
 
fender

fender

Active Member
Never done it myself but if you google around a bit you will find it has been done by others with success.
 
tropills

tropills

Member
they built 55 gallon tanks for years without any center brace

the tanks are so narrow that there is hardly any side load . they just added the brace to hold the tops in place for the 24" lights.
 
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civileng68

Guest
Originally Posted by tropills
they built 55 gallon tanks for years without any center brace

the tanks are so narrow that there is hardly any side load . they just added the brace to hold the tops in place for the 24" lights.

Well my tank isn't narrow at all. It's like a large cube. It's a 55 gallon column. To give you an idea of the dimensions of it. It's a 55 gallon that is only 30" long.
It's a little longer than it's width but, it's still pretty close to a cube looking tank (by the way if anyone ever considers it, it is a gorgeous tank).
 
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