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View Full Version : 150g Tall Aquarium Brace Just Broke...Now What?

MechEng99
05/12/2011, 08:22 PM
Like the title says...

I have a 2 year old Marineland 150g tall (31") with a center brace that just broke. It's full of SPS/LPS/fish...what in the world do I do now? We're in the middle of selling our house and are actually having an open house this weekend (so not the best time for DIY). I've heard you can trim the brace back and put new acrylic in...anyone done this (and have photos?)

I have a wood canopy that goes around the tank, but it doesn't have a center brace either. Maybe it'll help in the short term? Could we just nail a center brace to it? Ughhhh...Murphy was right...whatever can happen will happen at the worst possible time.

:headwalls:
MechEng99
05/13/2011, 04:59 AM
Seriously? No one has any advice?
props4you
06/29/2011, 07:14 AM
This is what I did....

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=4681&pictureid=32375

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=4681&pictureid=32376
redlabel
06/29/2011, 07:48 AM
i used plastic epoxy by loctite got it at lowes works great
lucky_snapper
06/29/2011, 07:48 AM
Well you have 2 options..

The first is what I recently did on a 6ft long 220 tank. I got a pieces of glass just wide enough to fit inside your tank. Then I got two smaller strips of glass about 14in long and 1/2in wide. I used rtv108 to silicone the two strips inside the tank. These 2 strips will act as a table to support your brace. Once thoes were dry I set the brace in and siliconed it in place and used a clamp to secure it while it dried. So for it has worked perfectly... Tank is full and there is 0 flex along the span.

Here is a pic of the center brace that I siliconed back in... any cut piece of glass would work here..

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/69CamaroRacer/2011-06-29083526.jpg

Here you can see the strip of glass that I set the brace on.. see the glass tabs I left in there to give it the correct height..

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a129/69CamaroRacer/2011-06-29083533.jpg


Your other option would be to Eurobrace the tank.. really very easy to do just get some glass cut to the correct measurements and silicone it in place with a structural silicone like RTV108 or RTV103..