top brace for 150 gallons
- Thread starter andre07
- Start date
my 160 does not have a top brace tank was made Feb. 17 1992.
that said my 55 does. It broke two weeks ago. I didn't think anything of it until last Wed. when I was doing a water change and notice the brace is a 1/4 inch short from reaching the side. in other words the tank has bowed out in the middle.
So I bought the stuff to fix it.
there are a few ways to fix the brace.
lexan/acrylic brace over the broke one and drilled screwed and glued. or a piece of angle iron/aluminum cut to the outside of the tank with and placed on it to hold it together (ugly)
I'm going with the 1st method.
drain tank about 1/2 way, use bar clamps to bring tank back to spec., cut lexan brace to fit.
cut new brace to fit pre drill your holes, glue new brace, glue it, while glue isstill wet, bolt with stainless hardware, wait for glue to dry remove bar clamps. Fill tank.
My only other option is for me to swap tanks. I have a neww 55 with the snake in it. swap tanks and be done the snake has no pressure in it since there is no water volume. it's easier to just fix the brace then spend 1/2 a day swapping tanks.
Rich
that said my 55 does. It broke two weeks ago. I didn't think anything of it until last Wed. when I was doing a water change and notice the brace is a 1/4 inch short from reaching the side. in other words the tank has bowed out in the middle.
So I bought the stuff to fix it.
there are a few ways to fix the brace.
lexan/acrylic brace over the broke one and drilled screwed and glued. or a piece of angle iron/aluminum cut to the outside of the tank with and placed on it to hold it together (ugly)
I'm going with the 1st method.
drain tank about 1/2 way, use bar clamps to bring tank back to spec., cut lexan brace to fit.
cut new brace to fit pre drill your holes, glue new brace, glue it, while glue isstill wet, bolt with stainless hardware, wait for glue to dry remove bar clamps. Fill tank.
My only other option is for me to swap tanks. I have a neww 55 with the snake in it. swap tanks and be done the snake has no pressure in it since there is no water volume. it's easier to just fix the brace then spend 1/2 a day swapping tanks.
Rich
Yes you need the brace, its there for a reason. You can buy a new brace for any tank, just call the manufacturer or the LFS. Their very easy to replace, just cut off the silicone holding to onto the glass, and remove. It doesn't matter if you brake the old one. Add new silicone to the new one and place it on the glass. Will take an hour or so
So I just visited my local lfs they said they can special order the top brace. I will know tomorrow how much is it,probably $80ish.
I'm also open with glass brace. All my 3 tanks 15 years ago a 75, 100 and a 125 gallons ,if i remember right doesn't have plastic braces but a thick glass across on the top.
I'm also open with glass brace. All my 3 tanks 15 years ago a 75, 100 and a 125 gallons ,if i remember right doesn't have plastic braces but a thick glass across on the top.
The easiest way to go is replacing the plastic brace rather than a euro brace. Going the glass option will look better if you know what you are doing, but it will be harder to get right.
Platic brace isn't really an eye sore in my opinion and is the easiest, go with that
Yep,I had a 125 years ago that was made without a cross brace in the frame and it was a nuisance due to the hood and lighting not sitting properly.I lucked up one day at the lfs as someone had ordered a new top frame but never came to get it so it went home with me...It didn't matter to me that the bottom frame was brown and the top was black lol.
