# Center Brace on a 6 foot 150 Gallon



## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

Last week the wife and were sitting in the dinning room having our morning coffee. Our 3 tanks are quite close to us in fact I sit almost directly in front of the big 150 gallon. We heard a pop sound then heard and felt a shudder in the floor. Of course I got up and started to inspct all around the tank for cracks but didn't find any. Upon further inspection I realized that the center brace, which consisted of a 1 inch thick piece of glass 12 inches wide siliconed from front to back, had let go. I immediatly grabed a tape measure to measure the deflection/bow in the center of the tank and to my horror it was 3/4 of an inch. Thank god the front and back didn't blow out as well. I drained the tank to where the deflection was not present and the tank was the same width all along, about 3/4 of the water.

Now the fix. As it happens I work in a steel fab shop so I had a piece of 3/16 stainless steel 10 inches wide bent down on the front and the back to form a brace that will hold the glass together from the outside of the glass rather than something glued into the inside of the glass. Of course this meant having to redo my lid as there in now a 10 inch wide piece of stainless on the top of the center of the tank. Good thing I was using acrylic sheeting for a lid and all I had to do was cut it in half and remove the 10 inch section where the brace now is. All in all had the tank up and running again within 6 hours.

Although the stainless isn't in contact with the water itself it is subject to condensation and I would assume drips back into the tank. Question now is wil the stainless harm the fish? It has been a week and I am showing no signs of stress or odd behavior in the fish other than their world getting messed up for the day. The stainless is very high grade used for making large water holding tanks for humans so I am going to assume there will be no ill effects.

Anyone using stainless in their systems? and how is it working for you?


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

If the stainless is good enough for humans, it will be good enough for the fish. Also, I think that a lot of thermometers are made of stainless (pretty sure that one of mine is).


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## gfry (Oct 20, 2009)

My Via Aqua heaters are stainless steel. You should be fine.


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## Tom S (Dec 28, 2009)

If the stainless is in the 300 series of steels you should be ok, they are the types used for contact with food and beverages. Since it is used in water tanks I would think it is 304 or 316. It should not do anything to your water or your fish.

-Tom


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## vfc (Feb 13, 2007)

Now that you have repaired the center brace, you should address the root-cause of the break.

I suspect that your stand is not completely supporting the center of your tank. When a stand (or floor) sags, the downward force at the center of a tank forces the sides to bow out. Your new SS brace may keep the sides from bowing out, but that doesn't relieve the stress on the silicon seams. You may end up splitting a seam and dumping 150G of water on the floor.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

vfc said:


> Now that you have repaired the center brace, you should address the root-cause of the break.
> 
> I suspect that your stand is not completely supporting the center of your tank. When a stand (or floor) sags, the downward force at the center of a tank forces the sides to bow out. Your new SS brace may keep the sides from bowing out, but that doesn't relieve the stress on the silicon seams. You may end up splitting a seam and dumping 150G of water on the floor.


I have checked the stand and it is still flat and level. It is made up of 6x6 posts and 4x4 runners with steel re-enforcments. The top is made with 2x6 tongue and groove with a 3/4 inch plywood top on it. The floor is also flat and level as I installed a 6x6x1/4 steel beam under the floor. I am positive that it is the brace that was just poorly installed when the tank was built. Upon checking the glass that was used for the brace the cuts are very rough and uneven leaving too much room and dependance on the silicone to hold it all together. In some spots there was at least an 8th of an inch of silicone in the gap between the brace and the tank wall. There was not the nice smooth edges in the joints that there should have been. I am keeping an eye on it to be sure none the less.


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## cichlidpastor (Jun 20, 2009)

I had a Marineland tank that was custom and they used 2 glass center supports siliconed into the inside front and back panels. Both gave way after having the tank for only a short time. I had resiliconed them just to have them give way again. I just replaced the tank.

I say that to say that I think that is just a bad design and will always give way eventually. If you have no stress on the tank from floor or stand, its probably just bad design for the center supports.


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## FlyHigh (Nov 15, 2009)

Wow, you were lucky you were there when it happened. Had you not heard it, i wonder how long it would have been until you noticed something was wrong?


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

FlyHigh said:


> Wow, you were lucky you were there when it happened. Had you not heard it, i wonder how long it would have been until you noticed something was wrong?


Not too long lol a big 12x19 by 1 inch thick piece of glass lying on the bottom or the mess on the floor woulda tipped me off lol.


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## TangSteve (Sep 20, 2009)

What brand of tank?


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

TangSteve said:


> What brand of tank?


Don't know was given to me about a year ago. Looks to me like a custom built though.


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## vfc (Feb 13, 2007)

See if you have any gaps by trying to slide a piece of paper between the tank and stand.

Now even though there may be a small gap (or no gap) that doesn't mean that the tank is being supported. As and example, you could cut away the center of your stand, replace the wood/metal section with a piece of foam that is making contact with your tank bottom, and you could think your tank is being supported.

I learned that lesson when I bought a cheap particle-board stand from PS. I had placed a 1/2" foam mat between the tank and stand, and after a year, you can clearly see the stand had sagged in the middle. Without the foam, the stand would most likely have stay straight and in contact with the bottom of the tank; it just would not be providing any meaningful support.

BTW - plywood on the top of a stand doesn't provide much support. It just flexes and twists with the rest of the stand.


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## JALOOS (Sep 6, 2008)

vfc said:


> BTW - plywood on the top of a stand doesn't provide much support. It just flexes and twists with the rest of the stand.


As it sits the top is first done with 2x6 tongue and groove glued around the edges and in the tongues and grooves. The center span of the 2x6 is screwed and construction adheasive into 2x2 by 1/4 inch thick angle iron that runs from the front to the back in 4 places with self tapping flat deck screws. The plywood top is then glued and screwed down every 4 inches in a grid pattern into the 2x6. Where the plywood travels over the angle it is also screwed right through the 2x6 and into the steel angle with self tappers as well. Including the 4x4 frame around the outside of the stand (where primarily all the weight is to be supported ) the total thickness is approx 5 3/4 inches thick. (3 1/2 for the 4x4, 1 1/2 for the 2x6 t&g and 3/4 for the plywood). The whole stand was then washed with a thinned out mix of epoxy to make it look like stain, and if there was any seperation or shifting of the materials the presence of bare wood would indicate it as the mixture does not penetrate well at all.

Believe me when I say there is no flex in that stand. I built it to hold a car and tested it with an 1800 pound weight we use to straighten I beams at work. I am confident that the problem in the brace was with the brace and how it was attached in the first or by the looks of the silicone job second place. As I mentioned earlier some of the gaps in the old brace were up to 1/8th thick. Silicone just wasn't meant to hold that kind of pressure at that thickness.


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