3D Background Advice?

[Deraulle]

Hi everyone, I have recently purchased an amazing 3D background for my Juwel Rio 180L and after reading the sticky on installing backgrounds I was pretty excited to finally have my cave themed tank come together. I have already got my tank fully cycled as it has been running for over a year now and I do have a few fish in there too so I have purchased a large plastic bucket to house them in while I do the renovations.

The background itself fits the tank perfectly however I, having a complete blonde moment when measuring the tank, forgot to take into account the brace bar So I am in a bit of a pickle as to how to install it. The background itself is made from a very thick polyresin and is very weighty so will be difficult to cut to size without the use of any power tools so my question is this - Is there anyway I can remove/cut through the base bar and then replace once I have placed the background in??

Tank measurements: 101cm x 50cm x 41cm
Background measurements: 97cm x 47cm x 10cm

Brace bar is in the middle of the tank and is approximately 7cm wide

Any help & advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[Deraulle]

Heres a picture of the background to give you an idea

 

[Ian21777]

Theoretically the whole plastic top brace should come off of the juwel tanks. I have the lido 120 which has no centre bar, but I used to have the rio 240 that did. Whether it will come off easily or in one piece is a different matter. You could cut a section out of the bar and then, once the background is in, bolt/glue/screw a piece of acrylic/perspex/plastic top and bottom to bridge the gap. You could lose some strength which could increase the risk of the tank bowing. But if you do it well it shouldnt matter. There is always a risk though.

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[JimA]

If it were me I would cut it down the middle at an angle, should be easy with a hacksaw blade. Then butt the psc back up, the cut will disappear in time. I don't like messing around with braces..

 

[wrslrcichlid]

I would agree with JimA. I would try to figure out a way to cut the background in half and then butt the pieces together. With algae growth and things the cut will disappear, and if you ever need to remove it you can without messing the brace again.

 

[PDRed302]

I would agree with JimA. I would try to figure out a way to cut the background in half and then butt the pieces together. With algae growth and things the cut will disappear, and if you ever need to remove it you can without messing the brace again.

X2

Cutting and reparing the background will be cake in comparison to doing anything with the tank trim; not to mention no worries of tank failure.

A little silicone and a well placed cut seem like the answer to this problem.

 

[Pole]

nice background.

 

[Deraulle]

Thanks for all your advice guys! I was very wary of cutting the brace incase the tank bowed and the fact that I live in a city that has recently had a number of large earthquakes it probably wouldn't have been a great idea! I'd actually never thought of cutting the background on an angle so that is an awesome tip. Again, thanks for all the advice and I'll be sure to pop a photo up of the finished product