Center brace help!

[bl00]

The center brace of my 55 just cracked off one side of the tank (its still secured on the other side). Is this catastrophic in terms of structural weakness?...do i need to go buy an upgrade tomorrow?

 

[chesterthehero]

upgrade no.. repair yes..

if possiable lower the water level as much as you can.. rubbermaid temp tanks come in REAL handy in times like this... coolers also work..


is it a plastic cross piece or glass

 

[bl00]

Plastic cross piece. Also, fish are out, tanks drained, and a 29 and 30 are set up for the fish in the mean time. They just need to acclimate.

 

[Cartel]

Mines been cracked for a couple weeks now. I just said the hell with it and haven't worried about it. I seemed like a flimsy plastic piece from the start.

 

[gt1009]

Mine cracked in the middle, so I put some wood shims underneath it and then put 2 screws on each side of the break going through the wood and the plastic brace. I don't know if you have enough room to do that based on how you described yours though.

 

[bl00]

it was definitely bowing a significant amount since the cracked side of the brace wouldn't reach the side of the frame that its normally connected too.

 

[gt1009]

For a temp fix, you can put one of those long clamps over it and just clamp it back into shape.

 

[bl00]

For a temp fix, you can put one of those long clamps over it and just clamp it back into shape.

Thats a great idea! I might have to go get one tomorrow.

 

[gomezladdams]

I had a few that were repaired with a strip of plexiglass under the brace held in with stainless steel machine screws.I later replaced the broken tops with frames I got at the lfs for about $13 each.

 

[vfc]

Check you stand. If the tank is bowing; that means that the stand has either a high corner or little center support. If a stand is perfectly flat, then a center brace on a 55G is not that critical. However, if the tank is under a twisting force, or sagging in the center, the brace is the safety mechanism that helps keep the tank from splitting a seam or cracking.

Keep in mine that the stand may not be the cause, if your stand is on a wooden floor, the floor may have sagged over time. Plus if you live in a cold part of the world, the heating system lowers the humidity this time of year and that causes wood to shrink and/or twist.