thanks for he help but i managed to remove the glass without damaging the brace. since i don't want to make a new thread , let me ask here. can i flip over the bottom glass panel?, it is chipped on the side that holds water(little chips, no big deal) but i rather avoid a potential leak.
leaving a 110 gallon without bottom trim?
- Thread starter Miguel4u2
- Start date
Did you completely disassemble this whole tank?Miguel4u2;3756424; said:
Because if you did,why stop there?Flip it all over.The bottom and the sides and clean with alcohol,then seal it.You will have a fresh bond all the way around.Then let it sit empty for at least a week somewhere warm and it will be fine.But if you have no top braces as I said,you are asking for trouble. You may want to see if a local glass shop has some thick glass laying around that they could give you for top braces.Or for that matter,ask them to make a few perfect pieces and you have no more issues as long as you get good tight seals with no gaps or air bubbles in them.
TheFishJunky;3756510; said:
sorry for the mistake, i meant the tank has no crossbar or aka the middle support bar that keeps the tank from bowing. and i did not disassemble the whole tank because in order to do that i would need to brake the bracing because it is glued in there pretty good. i only managed to take the bottom glass panel out completely to remove all the old silicone which caused me a leak even after the re-sealed it. thanks for the help
ok i thought if you took one glass panel out you needed to completly disasemble. cause the silicone would not adhere to the old silicone correct me if im wrong cause i know where i can get a 125 gallon tank for 75 dollars but one end has a crack in it
RyanP;3752332; said:
If you think a piece of plastic is going to keep a 1000 lb. (full) tank from failing, I've got news for you!
In doing research before building my tank, I've found numerous threads about people building their own glass tanks without using a plastic trim peice around the bottom of the tank. I don't know what the long term effects would be...
My personal opinion, if you build a stand to fit tight around the base of a tank, I think you can do without a plastic trim. Obviously, good building practice needs to be followed in order to keep your wood trim from giving way from the pressure. I also think that some type of pad should be used under the glass. A foam of some type should be used as a safety measure. You don't want the weight of your tank sitting on something that would create a pressure point on the glass. Sand grains or similar materials could put stress on the glass.
I could be way off, but that is what I think. Anyone have thoughts?
My personal opinion, if you build a stand to fit tight around the base of a tank, I think you can do without a plastic trim. Obviously, good building practice needs to be followed in order to keep your wood trim from giving way from the pressure. I also think that some type of pad should be used under the glass. A foam of some type should be used as a safety measure. You don't want the weight of your tank sitting on something that would create a pressure point on the glass. Sand grains or similar materials could put stress on the glass.
I could be way off, but that is what I think. Anyone have thoughts?
well that could very well be the problem. If you cannot remove ALL of the old silicone down to the glass ~ you cannot leave even the littlest amount of silicone since new will never stick to old.Make sure you have a good razor knife/scraper with plenty of new blades.Unfortunately,you are now gonna have to start all over. Do NOT try to just keep on adding more and more silicone ~ you'll just turn your project into a giant nightmare.Also make sure you have the right tools to push your silicone with after you apply continuous beads all around.You wont have much time so you will need to work fast.Tape everything with painters tape and peel it off immiediatley after you smooth your beads.dont forget extra gloves and some kind of mask also.Miguel4u2;3756596; said:
Knowdafish;3758542; said:
If you think a piece of plastic is going to keep a 1000 lb. (full) tank from failing, I've got news for you!
but it does.
its not the trim, but rather, the braces.
if you don't believe me, take a modern glass tank from Aqueon or Marineland and cut the plastic braces out.
my LFS has done this on a perfecto 120 and the glass is bowing considerably.
hasn't broken yet, but it likely will one day..
granted, this is the top frame trim/braces, not the bottom.
but it does illustrate that when the manufacturers put the trim/braces on, they do so for a reason. its so that they can use thinner glass (than the same size tanks of old) that didn't have such trim/bracing..
12 Volt Man;3760940; said:
I agree 100% with 12V, however the trim thats broke on my 225 is so thin that it looks to be there just for looks and cover up the seams. If my tank had a center brace on the bottom trim with a double 1/2 glass bottom, that makes me think that the builder either didnt trust the design or did it for insurance. I have two 55s one All-Glass and one Marineland, the All-glass has 1/4 glass while the marineland has 3/8s. They both have a center brace on the top and bottom trim.
