55g broken cross brace

[beex215]

i found this tank like 2 years back.and it was pretty bad condition.1 large crack,1 semi circle crack on the corner and a missing cross brace.

it was 2 blocks away from where i lived.man it was so painful to bring it to my house.my forearms were going to explode at the time.

currently it is housing my snapper turtle right now.water level is less then half full.

i would like to remove the snapper and add fish.

what did or would you guys do to fix the top frame.dont wanna fill the tank fully cuz im too scared of a big accident

dont wanna buy a whole new top frame.unless only option

 

[joel]

honestly i would just buy a new tank. a you could get a 55g for next to nothing. i wouldn't reccomend filling it either. look in the buy and sell section. check your local lfs, people are always trying to get rid of stuff, thats how i got most of my tanks. i once paid $40 for a 75g.

 

[Lil_Stinker]

I would agree; if you are looking at a 55g you can certainly find one second hand for anywhere from free to like 75 bucks with 'stuff'

 

[cichlid savage]

I am jumping on the bandwagon just buy another tank. You can get a new one cheap and a used on even cheaper if you look. I would ask the seller to fill it up with water to ensure that there are no leaks. There is a reason you found the other tank in the condition it was in.

 

[andy123]

I would a gree with the other guys, but if you really want to fill the tank up with water, what you need to do is; remove the center brace completely, then measure from the inside of the glass, to the other side of the glass, and make sure you are dead on in you measurements. then go to a local hardware store, and order a piece of glass in that legth, about 3 inches wide, and at least 1/4 inch thick, I would go 3/8 inch thick. then use aquarium sealant and seal it in.. let it dry for 24 hours, and check it to make sure the glue is dry, and the piece of glass is holding. this will work, I had a 125, that was old, they used 5/8 think glass on this thing, and all the old plastic was cracked and broken off, so I took a piece of glass 1/2 thick, and it was 8 inches wide, and glued that in. and it held water for 2 years before I sold it....
andy

 

[beex215]

I would a gree with the other guys, but if you really want to fill the tank up with water, what you need to do is; remove the center brace completely, then measure from the inside of the glass, to the other side of the glass, and make sure you are dead on in you measurements. then go to a local hardware store, and order a piece of glass in that legth, about 3 inches wide, and at least 1/4 inch thick, I would go 3/8 inch thick. then use aquarium sealant and seal it in.. let it dry for 24 hours, and check it to make sure the glue is dry, and the piece of glass is holding. this will work, I had a 125, that was old, they used 5/8 think glass on this thing, and all the old plastic was cracked and broken off, so I took a piece of glass 1/2 thick, and it was 8 inches wide, and glued that in. and it held water for 2 years before I sold it....
andy

thanks for your feed back guys.^^but this is wat i was looking for^^^^

also i would have been got another tank.its just that next to my 55g long is a pop out wall.
it is like 3 feet long and 8 inches sticking out wtf i dont even no why its there.so my 55 is in a perfect fit place.dumas$$ pop wall=this would be where i would put another tank.

 

[mat_per]

When I got my 125 it had no cross braces at all, so what I did was take 1/4 inch acrilic cut 3 - 1.5inch strips and used pleximent to glue them to the top frame, It is working great (2 years now). The only problem I had was I was in a rush to get it done so I didn't measure the spacing correctly so the srips are slightly off, which caused a problem in getting my glass tops to fit, so I just re-cut them.
Good luck.

 

[joeytoe]

I had a broken center brace on my old 55gal (warped an broke from a reptile heat lamp), So I basically cut it out an used marine grade Epoxy to "glue" it back in. but as for completely replacing a center brace, Id say you could just Epoxy in a piece of PVC or ABS pipe.

 

[gomezladdams]

I had a tank with the cross brace replaced with a piece of wood screwed in place with a few drywall screws,lasted years like that.I recently replaced top frames on 2 55g tanks it was easy and the frames only cost $13 at a local pet center

I wouldnt expend any effort fixing up a tank with cracks either though

 

[jcashion]

I had a tank with the cross brace replaced with a piece of wood screwed in place with a few drywall screws,lasted years like that.I recently replaced top frames on 2 55g tanks it was easy and the frames only cost $13 at a local pet center

I wouldnt expend any effort fixing up a tank with cracks either though

I agree, or, just buy angle iron and weld a whole new brace. With a 55, you wouldn't even need a center brace if you use iron