broken aquarium braces

[surfermike915]

so I usually figure that the less I write on hear as the OP; the better because that means less problems haha. Well not this time. Over a year ago, my coach gifted me a solid glass 180. It definitely shows its age lol. I made space in the fish garage, moved a lot of stuff around, and since then, little if any substantial progress has been made. The original aquarium came with 2 braces. The right one was already detached from the front of the rim, which I reattached to the front, and now the second one snapped into 4 pieces. They seem rather brittle, which I place blame on the age of the aquarium. I’ve heard a bunch of opinions from my friends, such as get rid of it, which I would rather not, instead I’d rather go with their other opinion which is to rebrace it. How would one successfully rebrace a tank like this? Any other ideas as to how I can get this guy up and running? Thanks

 

[jjohnwm]

so I usually figure that the less I write on hear as the OP; the better because that means less problems haha. Well not this time. Over a year ago, my coach gifted me a worn down solid glass 180. I made space in the fish garage, moved a lot of stuff around, and since then, little if any substantial progress has been made. The original aquarium came with 2 braces. The right one was already detached from the front of the rim, and now the second one snapped into 4 pieces. They seem rather brittle, which I place blame on the age of the aquarium. I’ve heard a bunch of opinions from my friends, such as get rid of it, rebrace it, or that the glass is thick enough. ( no I wouldn’t ever run an aquarium of such volume with no bracing whatsoever). Any ideas as to how I can get this guy up and running? Thanks

How much bracing it needs...if any...depends on length and depth and also glass thickness. Back in the day, the glass used by manufacturers was much thicker and 6-foot tanks of 100, 120 and 150 gallons were typically made without braces. I recall even a couple of larger tanks my employer built without braces. Today, everything is made to the cheapest standards using much thinner glass, and unbraced tanks that size are never seen.

If you want to keep it simple, I'd just remove all the top plastic frame and Euro-brace the top edge, with a single cross-brace in the middle. This takes more glass than just one or two cross-braces but I find it's a lot easier to do and you are gaining a lot of strength thanks to a greater area of glass/silicone/glass contact. Without the Euro-bracing, I'd probably chicken out and put in two cross-braces, but then you are really starting to make access to the interior a bit of a PITA.

Backfromthedead is the guy to ask.

 

[surfermike915]

Dude,
thank you for this.
How hard is it to rip the plastic frame off? Glass is thick but if i said a number I'd be wrong! So after the frame is ripped off, silicone the glass pieces (if i do 2) onto the tank? any minor details that can be a difference maker on the strength such as width of glass piece, silicone used, where its placed?

 

[Backfromthedead]

Some pics would be very helpful. But yes, you are correct in wanting to fix it and your friends are dinguses for wanting to scrap a perfectly good tank. Is this a 6x2x2 or some other dimension 180?

The full perimeter glass eurobrace with a center crossbrace like mentioned above will be the best bet but probably most expensive. Thats 5 pieces of glass: 2 long pieces spanning the front and back, 2 crossbraces across the ends of the tank, and one across the middle. Like this:


But for a quick and effective fix on an old tank, i would actually consider forgoing the 2 long pieces and just using 3 pieces, say 6"x24", to cap the tank ends and across the middle. If you have a canopy over it you cant see the top anyways and the tank is not extremely tall so i would consider the long pieces to be ornamental for this tank. Ive gone this route with several old tanks that served well. The middle piece is always a good shelf for lights or an air pump.

I would be remiss of me not to mention wood as a very capable and versatile material for a diy brace/canopy. If you have some tools and a bit of carpentry know-how its pretty easy to construct a custom plywood/hardwood brace. You just have to coat it with an appropriate sealant like pondshield, flexseal, etc.

Ive seen some good results with diy thermomolded polyethylene trim and whatnot but i know very little of those reindeer games...

Lastly, more recently ive seen at least a couple examples of people using high test stainless steel cable to connect clamps on opposing rims of the tank. Im unsure of this method for various reasons but it seems to be gaining traction amongst ghetto-diy tank-tinkerers like myself.

 

[jjohnwm]

The full perimeter glass eurobrace with a center crossbrace like mentioned above will be the best bet but probably most expensive. Thats 5 pieces of glass: 2 long pieces spanning the front and back, 2 crossbraces across the ends of the tank, and one across the middle....But for a quick and effective fix on an old tank, i would actually consider forgoing the 2 long pieces and just using 3 pieces, say 6"x24", to cap the tank ends and across the middle. If you have a canopy over it you cant see the top anyways and the tank is not extremely tall so i would consider the long pieces to be ornamental for this tank. eld, flexseal, etc.

I know that can work...and I know you could do that...but I'd recommend someone with maybe less hands-on DIY experience to go the full Euro route for one simple reason: it's much more foregiving of imperfect technique.

With just three braces, the middle one is adhered only by an area at the front and rear of the brace which is the width of the brace X the thickness of the tank glass. That's the critical brace, the one subjected to the most stress, and the joint at each end has to be perfect. surfermike915 , if you are comfortable that you can clean the glass perfectly and apply and use silicone expertly enough, that'll work for sure.

But...If you put the 5-piece Euro brace on, the front and rear strips are each adhered all the way along the length of the tank...and then the centre brace is adhered not only to the tank walls but also to the nice wide top of the long pieces. Many, many times more surface area, much stronger and more foregiving if your glass isn't perfectly clean or if other little inaccuracies crop up.

Yup, takes longer, uses more sillicone and glass, and also interferes with interior access more...but to me at least it is much more confidence-inspiring. There is no such thing as overkill....but underdead can be a real PITA.

 

[Backfromthedead]

I know that can work...and I know you could do that...but I'd recommend someone with maybe less hands-on DIY experience to go the full Euro route for one simple reason: it's much more foregiving of imperfect technique.

With just three braces, the middle one is adhered only by an area at the front and rear of the brace which is the width of the brace X the thickness of the tank glass. That's the critical brace, the one subjected to the most stress, and the joint at each end has to be perfect. surfermike915 , if you are comfortable that you can clean the glass perfectly and apply and use silicone expertly enough, that'll work for sure.

But...If you put the 5-piece Euro brace on, the front and rear strips are each adhered all the way along the length of the tank...and then the centre brace is adhered not only to the tank walls but also to the nice wide top of the long pieces. Many, many times more surface area, much stronger and more foregiving if your glass isn't perfectly clean or if other little inaccuracies crop up.

Yup, takes longer, uses more sillicone and glass, and also interferes with interior access more...but to me at least it is much more confidence-inspiring. There is no such thing as overkill....but underdead can be a real PITA.

This is good sense. In the examples where ive skimped the eurobrace, i always did make the center brace a bit wider, like 12-18". I really only highlighted that as an option if this is a 72x24x24 180g with 1/2"+ glass, if its something like 72x18x30 or otherwise taller tank i would want the long pieces in place.

 

[surfermike915]

Really dumb question but here it goes, how does one take a trim off a tank?

 

[duanes]

I have used large C-Clamps (from the hardware store) and Euro bracing on 6 ft tanks when those wimpy, brittle braces snap off.

As you can see I used 2 on the 180 gal above, but some local tremors separated the tank at the seams. It still holds half its intended gallons, so I use it as a hospital tank (it sits outside) .
These days (for insurance), my current 180 has 3 thick, glass euro-braces siliconed on top, and 3 on the bottom panel., even though the rim brace is unbroken.
And have had a few tremors (a 5.5 shaker) since it been set up that shook apart some plumbing connections, but not the tank


Some of the euro-bracing are double pane.

 

[surfermike915]

Thank you duanes . I am not sure which route to go. To euro brace is it required to take trim off?

 

[BIG-G]

Really dumb question but here it goes, how does one take a trim off a tank?

Razor or a sharpened metal paint scraper works well.
Slide it under the trim and cut the silicone. If the trim is brittle and already broken you don’t have to worry to much but if you are trying to take it off to reuse it can be a pain to get off without breaking it.