i got a 90 today well i guess it was yesterday now. it was in a hotel as a salty then in a 4 star resteraunt as a lobster tank then in some guys garage for a couple years. any way some time along there it had a gecko with a heat lamp. the lamp broke the center brace. now how important is this brace? can i get a new one any where? right now there is a small piece of aluminum holding the brace together its just kind of cracked. i only payed $130 for tank and a pretty ugly but really strong stand. so where can i get a whole new plastic top brace thing? would a piece of better aluminum attached with rivets work?
got a 90 today
- Thread starter hayden
- Start date
hayden;976181; said:
its a plastic brace for a plastic frame, yes?,
well its bot that important but its there for a reason, and if you fill the tank you might notice that the tank expands and the two brace parts will get further away...
you can fix it anumber of ways, some will look beter then others. are you useing it for salt of fresh?
#1 that i can recomend is go to a home improvement store of some kind and get some plastic epoxy, its a two part thing that comes in a plastic tube(i'll post a pic in a sec...), sand bolth pieces realy well and V-grove the parts that are broken, mix the epoxt realy well and apply it to the cracked area, spread it around a bit to get it out a bit, then about 2 days later when its fullt cured you can sand it down with 320grip sandpaper and paint it black...
#2, go to a automotive store homeimprovement place or a metal supply store and get a thin sheet of aluminum that is the width of the brace and have them cut it to size, get some aluminum blind rivits and provied that you have a drill and a rivit gun rivet the aluminum panel in a "industrial" kind of look, neatly spaced for astetics running the length of the brace...
#3. and this one is not pretty, you need to find out who made it, contact your lfs, or the compant(if they still exist?) and get them to ship you a ner one... but this is a long and crappy job, the frame is siliconed on and will not come off without a fight, you will actuly have to peal the plastic rim from the glass, then get the new one, silicone it back on...
if i find one how hard could it be to install? i was thinking just go over the old silicone with a heat gun then cut it with a razor blade then fill the rim of the new brace with silicone and put it on
edit: its going to be fw and im thinking im going to do the aluminum brace fix it wont be visible and if i mess up i can epoxy the thing and rivet aluminum to it.
edit: its going to be fw and im thinking im going to do the aluminum brace fix it wont be visible and if i mess up i can epoxy the thing and rivet aluminum to it.
i have a 90(48"long)with no braceing and a 120(60"long) also with no braceing... but my 60tall is made from 1/4"thick glass and does have one...
hayden;976221; said:
this tank is 20 years old right?, well the silicone is old dry and hard, i have never removed a frame so i cant tell you how hard it actuly is but i have read some horror stories and herd it is to be avoided it you are able to.
yes thats the best way, 2 part epoxy is enough but also riviting the aluminum on and testing for LEAKS is a good idea
what are the dimentions?
oscars are friendly(to you) but can be prety mean(to smaller fish). you can teach tham tricks... a couple of Ornate Bicher are a good choice or try a wolf fish...? P-Bass?
oscars are friendly(to you) but can be prety mean(to smaller fish). you can teach tham tricks... a couple of Ornate Bicher are a good choice or try a wolf fish...? P-Bass?