Aquarium restoration help.

[Never8forgotten]

So I bought a used (I think homemade) 125 gallon from someone and all the black trim was broken and just glued on. It wasn't a bracing frame. I'm just wondering if I need to worry about putting frames on the top and bottom. It has two glass braces siliconed inside at the top but is that strong enough to keep the tank from bowing springing a leak?

 

[..puSkar..]

I didn't quite get you, but if you're asking abouth the 2 braces being adequate, then yes they'll do the work to prevent glass bowing and prevent leak provided the glass panels used in construction of the tank are 12mm or more

 

[Never8forgotten]

I didn't quite get you, but if you're asking abouth the 2 braces being adequate, then yes they'll do the work to prevent glass bowing and prevent leak provided the glass panels used in construction of the tank are 12mm or more

The glass is just a hair under 3/8". Sorry the post was confusing.

 

[tlindsey]

So I bought a used (I think homemade) 125 gallon from someone and all the black trim was broken and just glued on. It wasn't a bracing frame. I'm just wondering if I need to worry about putting frames on the top and bottom. It has two glass braces siliconed inside at the top but is that strong enough to keep the tank from bowing springing a leak?



View attachment 1469794

Welcome aboard
I see drilled holes for bulkheads so I'm thinking it was holding water at a point.
Tbh I personally wouldn't trust it. I would fill the aquarium up with water for leak testing.

 

[Never8forgotten]

Welcome aboard
I see drilled holes for bulkheads so I'm thinking it was holding water at a point.
Tbh I personally wouldn't trust it. I would fill the aquarium up with water for leak testing.

I did water test if for 3 days and no leaks that I noticed but I decided I'd redo the silicone since it looked like they just slapped it and called it good.

 

[tlindsey]

I did water test if for 3 days and no leaks that I noticed but I decided I'd redo the silicone since it looked like they just slapped it and called it good.

Great to hear that.

 

[Backfromthedead]

So I bought a used (I think homemade) 125 gallon from someone and all the black trim was broken and just glued on. It wasn't a bracing frame. I'm just wondering if I need to worry about putting frames on the top and bottom. It has two glass braces siliconed inside at the top but is that strong enough to keep the tank from bowing springing a leak?



View attachment 1469794

That top bracing will work fine to support the long panels. The only thing I see is that the corner seams are unsupported and are the weakest part of this tank. I'm assuming your tank is around 20" tall, so your 3/8" glass is skimpy for an unbraced corner, which amounts to a rimless design. If you're going to have issues, it will be at the vertical seams.

It would be fairly easy and cheap to acquire a couple strips of 3/8" glass to "cap" the ends of the tank and reinforce the corner seams if you so desired. Just make sure to use an aquarium safe silicone and allow to cure completely before filling the tank.

For the bottom, I would just cut a piece of foam insulation to fit and place it between the tank and the stand. This will protect the glass from contacting any hard parts of the stand and help to eliminate any pressure points when the tank is full of water.

None of these solutions are particularly elegant or pretty but will amount to a more reliable tank. If you want to add your own trim, look into outwater plastics on amazon, they sell corner trim that I've used on my tanks before, but they are relatively expensive imo.

 

[Never8forgotten]

That top bracing will work fine to support the long panels. The only thing I see is that the corner seams are unsupported and are the weakest part of this tank. I'm assuming your tank is around 20" tall, so your 3/8" glass is skimpy for an unbraced corner, which amounts to a rimless design. If you're going to have issues, it will be at the vertical seams.

It would be fairly easy and cheap to acquire a couple strips of 3/8" glass to "cap" the ends of the tank and reinforce the corner seams if you so desired. Just make sure to use an aquarium safe silicone and allow to cure completely before filling the tank.

For the bottom, I would just cut a piece of foam insulation to fit and place it between the tank and the stand. This will protect the glass from contacting any hard parts of the stand and help to eliminate any pressure points when the tank is full of water.

None of these solutions are particularly elegant or pretty but will amount to a more reliable tank. If you want to add your own trim, look into outwater plastics on amazon, they sell corner trim that I've used on my tanks before, but they are relatively expensive imo.

I was thinking about having an aluminum frame made for the top and bottom of the tank similar to one that I saw on this forum. My only issue is how much the material will cost.

How would you "cap the corners? Do you mean at the top of the verticals or on the inside along the whole length of the corner?

 

[Backfromthedead]

I was thinking about having an aluminum frame made for the top and bottom of the tank similar to one that I saw on this forum. My only issue is how much the material will cost.

How would you "cap the corners? Do you mean at the top of the verticals or on the inside along the whole length of the corner?

Well if your tank is 18" wide (Idk what it really is), I would order or cut a piece of glass 18"x4" and just silicone it to the top of the end of the tank, so it braces both corners and the short side completely. It would amount to what I would call a partial eurobrace. If you'd like, you can eurobrace the entire perimeter if you feel up to the challenge and you want it to look pretty. In truth, a full perimeter eurobrace is the strongest and best looking method to brace the top of a glass tank.

Idk about aluminum prices, I personally dont use it with my builds but I'm sure it could work great if done properly.