Support for 360 gal

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J

jsc

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Aug 20, 2005
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Bethlehem, PA
When I had my 360 set up before i moved, the top would bow when tank was filled. I'm planning on refilling soon.
So how can I support top to prevent it from bowing?
The tank is acrylic 8' x 3' x 2'. It has 3 access holes on top.
Thanks for suggestions
 
tank.jpg
This is what the tank looked like a couple years ago at old place.

I was thinking of making a frame that wraps around rim of tank to support it, and attaching that into the stand on the corners.

tank.jpg
 
looks like it bows up? mine bowed across the eurobracing but it bowed down and i know it was cuz of the metal halide lights just slowly heated it over time. never seen one bow up. weird
 
yes, bows up. I thought it was because the manufacturer used too thin acrylic on top, with all the cutouts. Don't know for sure.
 
You could fuse and entire new sheet of 1/2" to the top with smaller cutouts while the tank is dry using some clamps and weld on #40. Sometimes even then the top stays bowed, but it should settle back down over time dry. Most mfg. Tanks do this and its pretty odd they dont use thicker material? There are some tanks built right out there lol its crazy to see the difference of two diff. Tank manufactures let alone across the board. The top should actually be the thickest part of any acrylic build but more times than not its overlooked. I have 6 acrylic tanks 55-450gal and there all made totally different. 1 of five of these was made "right" in my eyes and ive been refurbishing the rest to the same quality over the past few years.

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Try some 1/2" thick X 1 to 1.5" tall vertical runners.

A T-beam shape should resist the bowing much better
workpiece-t-beam.png

workpiece-t-beam.png
 
rbarn said:
Try some 1/2" thick X 1 to 1.5" tall vertical runners.

A T-beam shape should resist the bowing much better
View attachment 877096
Click to expand...

Would I run 4 of these from front to back? (both ends, and between cutouts)
or
Around perimeter and front to back?
 
I would run 6 of them total. Run them front to back on either side of the 3 openings. This should stiffen up the structure without having to make the whole top thicker. Your existing top will be the bottom of the T, so all you need are strips of 1/2" thick acyl. to weld on top or maybe the underside of the top for a cleaner look.
 
"T" bars will not solve the issue...if only glued on the ends they will pop off when the tank is full after time because of the upward bowing pressure. The tank bows because its not made of thicker material all around. Need a full new sheet fused to the top with smaller openings.

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