Upper aquarium trim help ??

[Docstach]

Yesterday for the first time in a couple of months I was able to sit on the sofa and just watch/enjoy my aquarium. Of coarse that couldn't last... Around midnight I getup to go to bed (I have to get up at 6am for work). I go to adjust something on the back of the tank and notice that about 12" of the plastic trim in the center (by where the center brace attaches) is cracked in half so that there is a gap between the inner half connected to the center brace and the outer half. I tried to beef things up with a little epoxy last night as a temp fix. I am trying to decide on the best way to permanently fix this.

Because I like the look I was thinking of using this to make a new trim to go around the entire top.

http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/f6/f6cf5655-fe13-40db-8261-84ff680d7f2b_300.jpg
Crown Bolt 1-1/2 in. x 96 in. Angle 1/16 in. Thick Aluminum

Model # 56770 Internet # 202183515 Store SKU # 797059
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Common types of angles include: flat, flat offset, punched, slotted and slotted offset. Angles are commonly used for bicycle racks, bed frames, motor mounts and drawer slides. Slotted and punched angles are often chosen to be used for racks, shelving, garage door openers and corner braces. Angles are available in a variety of sizes and materials.

For general applications
1-1/2 in. Wide
96 in. Long
1/16 in. Thick
Aluminum angle

Since I cannot really weld the ends together and will have to use liquid weld, I was going to place these on the corners underneath.
http://www.homedepot.com/catalog/productImages/300/78/7818f02f-e22d-432f-9d18-7edd3d2da1b3_300.jpg

Seems like this should be plenty to help against bowing. I will not be removing the original molding, this will just go on top for extra support.

If I did this, do you think I need a center brace? If so, I should be able to find someone to drill a couple of holes in the angled Al (front and back) to attach a new acrylic brace. I think this would be the best way to handle it????

Matt

 

[jarrodsanborn]

yikes! if your tank is a standard size, you can buy new trim pieces. might be a better option?

 

[Docstach]

yikes! if your tank is a standard size, you can buy new trim pieces. might be a better option?

Whoops, should of mentioned that... It is a standard 55 gallon long, but it is an old all glass tank and I am afraid it might be hard to find trim pieces to fit correctly???? Plus, I have heard it can be difficult to remove and insert the new trim, especially because I can not completely drain the tank.

 

[Privateer]

This could work as long as it's very well mated to the current trim. Not sure if it's enough to forgo the center brace though.
A new trim piece would work best of course but then you have to deal with removing the current one.

 

[JohnK]

The center brace is probably the most important part. The weak link in any standard shaped tank is the long front and back panes, as if they deflect too much they will stress the corner seams and tempt the tank to fail. The center brace pretty much cuts that length in half and allows thinner glass to be used. Lose the center brace and there may be some risk of total tank failure.

If you can partially drain the tank for a few days, an ideal solution would be to silicone in a glass center brace.

 

[Docstach]

Thanks,

I did not think of using a glass center brace... Not sure if I could leave the tank drained enough for that long though.

I was just thinking that the metal trim would be a lot stiffer than the standard plastic so it might be ok without, but your right, probably shouldn't risk it.

 

[JohnK]

Does this tank have a sump exct? If not, you'd only have to drain the water down a few inches and very carefully use a clamp on the top to pull in the deflection while the silicone set on the glass center brace. You'd want to keep it that way for a few days, but it would be possible IMO. IIRC Rusty18 did this yrs ago on a 220 and it came out great.

 

[Turbosnail]

Does this tank have a sump exct? If not, you'd only have to drain the water down a few inches and very carefully use a clamp on the top to pull in the deflection while the silicone set on the glass center brace. You'd want to keep it that way for a few days, but it would be possible IMO. IIRC Rusty18 did this yrs ago on a 220 and it came out great.

I did this on my old 90g and it worked great and even took out the shadow from the center brace.

 

[Docstach]

Does this tank have a sump exct? If not, you'd only have to drain the water down a few inches and very carefully use a clamp on the top to pull in the deflection while the silicone set on the glass center brace. You'd want to keep it that way for a few days, but it would be possible IMO. IIRC Rusty18 did this yrs ago on a 220 and it came out great.

No sump so that may work. Thanks for you help.

Turbo, did you worry about breaking it since it was glass?

 

[Spaceman]

I would put a clamp on it now until you fix it... Cant hurt but a 55g saltwater mess can hurt alot!!! i would look in to a upgrade before fixing.. in my eyes a 55 tank is around 150 so its a no brainier to me not worth the risk of a pooping to me... glass and silicone going to cost 20-30 or brace and silicon is 40-80 the little savings is not worth worrying about.... call any lps should be able to help you out.

 

[JohnK]

If you do put a clamp on it now, I would just snug it up and no more. Don't want to stress out the glass trying to save it (by cranking down on the clamp too much).

Also for something like this you will want to use a structural adhesive silicone (RTV 100 series, SCS1200). It's hard to say for sure what's in the re-branded silicones that the aquarium mfgs sell but I've heard a lot of anecdotal reports that it's almost always simple sealant silicone in most cases (they don't want you building tanks).

 

[dz6t]

With Petco's $1 per gallon sale going on right now, I would just buy a new tank to replace it.

 

[Docstach]

I would put a clamp on it now until you fix it... Cant hurt but a 55g saltwater mess can hurt alot!!! i would look in to a upgrade before fixing.. in my eyes a 55 tank is around 150 so its a no brainier to me not worth the risk of a pooping to me... glass and silicone going to cost 20-30 or brace and silicon is 40-80 the little savings is not worth worrying about.... call any lps should be able to help you out.

I thought about replacing it, but there is a little more to it than that. Significant effort was put into this tank (multiple internal dividers, foam rock wall) that probably can not come out super easy or completely intact. Having to do all of that over again (it was only finished last weekend), would be an added expense and major time commitment. Besides emotionally defeating. Also with the location of the tank, moving and transferring tanks is difficult. Unfortunately, the aquarium (and its expense) is already a point of contention with my wife so telling her I now have to go out an buy a new one would not go over well. Of coarse having 55 gal of water spill onto our hardwood floors will probably be grounds for divorce.

Overall the tanks seems in good shape. People replace center braces all of the time and unless I am missing something (maybe I am) the resistance to deflection the plastic trim provides isn't huge and should be able to be duplicated. The crack in the plastic isn't getting any bigger and I will be supporting it tonight. The glass itself isn't noticeable deflected (especially compared to the intact side) so I don't think it is a total loss. If I thought there was an eminent danger of something catastrophic or that I couldn't fix it so it is as secure or more secure than new I would replace it. But unless something changes I think I am going to have to try to fix this one.

 

[mf88]

what did you make the dividers out of. if acrylic did you leave enough space between the glass and acrylic to expand

 

[JohnK]

With Petco's $1 per gallon sale going on right now, I would just buy a new tank to replace it.

The sale only goes up to 40 gal tanks.

 

[stingythingy45]

You can fix the center brace with a strip of acrylic and some plastic screws....like this.
It's been done a few time on different threads on this site.The thickness of the acrylic is not that important as the pressure is pulling on the strip not pushing on it.Most important part is to make sure the tank is at least a 1/3 empty so there's no deflection(bow)in the upper tank frame.
***This is very dangerous ...so........git er done.

 

[stingythingy45]

Here's a thread to read about this situation as well.
Hopefully it helps you out.

http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums.......need-your-opinions.&highlight=nylon+bolts

 

[mf88]

1$ sale goes up to 55 in avon