Quell my fears...replacing center brace...

[Nocturnal]

But it's on an empty tank. Seven foot tank (24" high) had the brace removed for some odd reason, so I need to replace it.
I'm assuming this is pretty easy to do and once it's done I should have no fears of bowing? It's an oceanic so it had a large glass brace in the middle. My plan" go to glass store get a pice cut for the size I need, clean surfaces, buy a good silicon lay a seam and then put the glass on. Let cure for a few days and I'm all set.

Any advice?

 

[APISTOBORELLI]

I would think that silicone would flex. You might want to seek another avenue.

 

[Nocturnal]

Really? that's how it was attached in the first place.
Any other ideas? Maybe some type of clamp system? I did a few searches and saw a PVC pipe with notches secured to the top of the tank. Not a big fan of that look, especially if I choose to do an open top tank.

 

[Behrmon]

Some folks use Nylon bolts. Maybe you could have the glass shop drill two holes on each end the drill the plastic trim to match?

 

[Nocturnal]

Good idea. Not sure if there is enough lip on the trim to be able to drill and secure though.
Here's a pic. Hope this helps

 

[SaltCreep]

Wow...not enough lip for the traditional acrylic strip and nylon bolt method.


You may have to use a big glass sheet and silicone........or an acrylic sheet and use weld-on 16 to bond it to the plastic lip.

 

[Nocturnal]

Wow...not enough lip for the traditional acrylic strip and nylon bolt method.


You may have to use a big glass sheet and silicone........or an acrylic sheet and use weld-on 16 to bond it to the plastic lip.

What do you think would be more reliable?

 

[ReeferMedic]

I have a 7' 210 gallon Oceanic that has the same center brace on it. It is siliconed in place. It has been like that for 4+ years with zero bowing. The older Oceanics used thicker glass I believe. You're welcome to come take a look before you make your decision if you'd like.

 

[Nocturnal]

I have a 7' 210 gallon Oceanic that has the same center brace on it. It is siliconed in place. It has been like that for 4+ years with zero bowing. The older Oceanics used thicker glass I believe. You're welcome to come take a look before you make your decision if you'd like.

I may take you up on that. I'd just like to get it back to "factory specs"

I can get the glass without a problem, but is there a special silicon I should use?
I'm assuming all I need to do is clean the areas well, silicon, then maybe clamp?

Thanks!!!

 

[ReeferMedic]

I got the tank from All Things Fishy in Marlboro about 5 years ago. The original centerbrace was cracked when he got it, so he had to replace it. You can try giving him a call to see what he uses in cases like this. I've never done this before, so I'm not much help on how to do it. It looks like regular ole silicone to me though.

 

[nitrofish]

id use a thick glass strip siliconed into place, much like they use on eurobraced tanks. only way to tell is to try it and test it outside

 

[JohnK]

Without a doubt, silicone a thick glass peice in there.

The plastic bolt thing comes from people wanting to put acrylic braces in glass tanks (I don't know why they would?). You don't have much trim to put a screw through, and I seriously doubt how strong that would be anyway.

Glass - silicicone - glass , makes a very strong bond. This is how glass tanks are built in the first place. (silicone on many other materials, such as acrylic, isn't anywhere near as strong).

I can't say exactly how the idea of; acrylic brace - weldon #16 - plastic trim (whatever kind of cheap plastic that is?) would work, but I'd bet good $ that it wouldn't be even close to as solid as simply doing it like they did in the factory (silicone glass brace in).

No offense to anyone else who posted here, but there's only one answer to this question - Without a doubt, silicone a thick glass peice in there.

 

[Nocturnal]

Thanks. That's what I'm going to do. I guess I was really wondering how necessary the brace really was. There's a dude on RC with a large 6 foot long 3 foot wide rimless tank. Wondering what the main difference is in construction of that (no braces) versus a standard tank. I figure there's got to be a big difference somewhere along the line.

My tank gets delivered tonight and I'll be ordering glass at the end of the week. Thanks for all the insight and advice!!!

 

[Behrmon]

What kind of lighting is going on the tank? If you are going 3 x MH, could you do 2 smaller glass braces? Just a thought and I have no clue about the strength pro's and con's going that route or if makes it tough getting in and out of the tank.

 

[Nocturnal]

It's not going to be a reef tank, so I'm not too worried about lighting. I actually just wanted to do two 150w halides and some actinic PCs or T5s.
Something simple

 

[JohnK]

There are a lot of ways to build a tank.

If you want it braceless, it needs a euro-brace or extra thick glass. I'm not an engineer, but I doubt that oceanic (even the older "real" oceanic company) builds tanks with that extra thick glass unless they need to. That would be a lot of extra $ for no reason. I have heard of people removing center braces and just running their tanks that way, but usually those tanks have a noticable bow to them that I sure wouldn't feel safe living with long term.