New used tank!

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Since it's 3/4" front & back and 1/2" side I'd guess it probably never had a brace to being with. Some of them older tank with thicker glass came without. You can usually find new plastic trim with the brace for that size tank for about $40 online so as OCD as I am about my tanks I think if it were me I'd probably look into just replacing it with a new one. Just make sure it fits over your thicker glass when/if you do get a new one.

Right. I found one including the glass for 104 from FTD but will search around for this $40 unit. The tank is still 18" dead nuts from front to back so i guess the extra half inch or so came out of the inside.

Thanks!
 
Since it's 3/4" front & back and 1/2" side I'd guess it probably never had a brace to being with. Some of them older tank with thicker glass came without. You can usually find new plastic trim with the brace for that size tank for about $40 online so as OCD as I am about my tanks I think if it were me I'd probably look into just replacing it with a new one. Just make sure it fits over your thicker glass when/if you do get a new one.

Right. I found one including the glass for 104 from FTD but will search around for this $40 unit. The tank is still 18" dead nuts from front to back so i guess the extra half inch or so came out of the inside.

Thanks!
 
Picked up a 150 tall (72x18x29) off craigslist today. 3/4" front and back and 1/2" sides. Looked to be in decent shape but there are a couple minor chips in one end. I dont think they amount to much but wanted to run them past you good mfkers.
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The chips do not appear to be more than 1/16" into the glass. Another thing thats bugging me is that theres no brace on this tank. Im gonna do a halfway fill test and fill it up the rest of the way tomorrow if all looks good.

I wouldn't be surprised if there had been a brace at one point. With that height and one side being 1/2" I'd be putting a brace in. Maybe a 12-15 inch by 1/2" brace. It wouldn't cost much for extra security. Back in '82 I worked in an aquarium shop that had a tank of those exact dimensions and I'm pretty sure it had a brace... I dont recall ever seeing one 6 feet long built without a brace.

I'm seeing people mentioning plastic frames, I got it straight from the mouth of a guy who owned a tank manufacturing company back a couple years ago that plastic frames protect the edges and the corners but don't add to the strength of the tank.
 
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I wouldn't be surprised if there had been a brace at one point. With that height and one side being 1/2" I'd be putting a brace in. Maybe a 12-15 inch by 1/2" brace. It wouldn't cost much for extra security. Back in '82 I worked in an aquarium shop that had a tank of those exact dimensions and I'm pretty sure it had a brace... I dont recall ever seeing one 6 feet long built without a brace.

I'm seeing people mentioning plastic frames, I got it straight from the mouth of a guy who owned a tank manufacturing company back a couple years ago that plastic frames protect the edges and the corners but don't add to the strength of the tank.

Ah so what would be a good material for the brace? Wood? I have a ton of scrap acrylic lying around from my last craigslist tank lol. Think i even have some 1/2".
 
Answered my own question with a little bit of research. I would like to just do some glass braces and get rid of the whole top frame. Any reason to believe 3/8" tempered glass would work for the bracing or is that just urinating into the breeze? 1/2" seems to be purely a special order item around here and ridiculously pricy for what im trying to do.
 
I bought my first 150 gallon tank in the mid 80s, same glass thickness, and it came without a brace. It is still running today, and ran 24/7 all that time, except during a couple moves, where it picked up some nicks that have not made a difference in its reliability.
 
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I bought my first 150 gallon tank in the mid 80s, same glass thickness, and it came without a brace. It is still running today, and ran 24/7 all that time, except during a couple moves, where it picked up some nicks that have not made a difference in its reliability.

Well that is good news! And yes it appears as if this tank could be from the 80s or older. I was really excited about the thick glass. And the seals are really neat, much more well done than crap tanks you can buy at petsmart or the like these days. I believe it has sat in a garage empty for some time due to the amount of dust accumulated on it which has me contemplating resealing it though.
 
Finally got that horrid paint off! I ended up having to use paint stripper and the razor blades...it was some kind of invincible enamel paint or something.

Also got the old trim off and my new glass brace in place. Went with an 18" wide piece of 1/2" glass. By far my best work with silicone to date. Gonna trim the old trim to fit around the brace and put it back on, then probably paint it black.20180717_195538.jpg
 
first off edge chips not really an issue, ran in my 145, and my 180, never had a problem, seals did not look bad, as for stripper never tried it, I prefer razor blade and acetone for clean up before taping and resealing.

nice pickup ether way.
 
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