# 55 Gallon Take Question



## kasey06 (May 24, 2008)

I bought my standard 55 gallon used, it had been a freshwater fish for a few years. It is an aquarium vs. reptile tank and had been used as a freshwater tank for quite awhile. It does not have a center brace, I noticed a lot of tanks do. I saw it set up with fish/water before buying and there was no bowing or issues. There never was a brace on it. Will this be an issue? I'll have to get measurments but the acrylic is very thick. Should I not worry about it? Any thoughts?


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

If the acrylic is thick enough the tank doesn't need a brace. Generally if it was originally manufactured and sold with a brace it needs it, if the tank was designed without a brace it probably doesn't need one. I have a glass 55g that has extra thick glass and no brace, I have no concerns about it. The way I see it, that tank was built 30+ years ago, if it were going to have a problem it would have been a long time before I bought it.


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## kasey06 (May 24, 2008)

Thanks, thats kinda how I was thinking as well. Another question. What is the best method for buffing out the scratches on an acrylic tank? I am going to clean it this weekend and was going to work on the scratches as well. Not quite ready to fill with water as we may be swapping out our home for a new double wide, etc. Getting impatient though, i've had the tank for like 2 months now. Oh well it'll be worth the wait! Suggestions for scratches??


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

As long as it just doesn't have a brace I'd say its fine. If it looks like the brace has been removed it could be trouble. I have a 135 with no center brace (try to find new tops for that :-? ) that has no issues.


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## kasey06 (May 24, 2008)

The tank is in really good condition minus a few scratches. The previous owner bought it new and it was a fresh water aquarium. He just upgraded to a larger tank and decided to sell this one. It never had a brace and the acrylic is really thick so I assume a brace just isn't needed. Any suggestions on buffing out the scratches? Tips/methods? Thanks.


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

I agree that the brace is not an issue then. I've never buffed acrylic and I'm surprised you haven't gotten an answer to that from some of the other folks here, but I'd encourage you to search here as there are several threads regarding acrylic buffing.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

lol i asked this exact question and every response i got was to get rid of the tank, that it will definately explode leaving me to replace my floor. actually it was on this site, early last month.


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## remarkosmoc (Oct 19, 2005)

booba5 said:


> lol i asked this exact question and every response i got was to get rid of the tank, that it will definately explode leaving me to replace my floor. actually it was on this site, early last month.


If a tank was designed to have a brace and the brace is broken or removed, it can bean failure of the tank to fill it without it. However there is nothing wrong with running a tank without braces that it was engineered to run without. I have a 135 w/o any center braces and it is just fine. It is the older model when they sued thicker glass instead of braces.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

I agree totally, my tank never had a brace either. Niether does my 75


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

booba5 said:


> lol i asked this exact question and every response i got was to get rid of the tank, that it will definately explode leaving me to replace my floor. actually it was on this site, early last month.


People around here like to freak out about silly little things they really have no experiance with and spend your money like it grows on trees. Everybody thinks they are a structural engineer because they read a story on the itnernet or because their friend knows someone who heard from their roommate in college that glass breaks sometimes. I have an engineering degree and work as an engineer yet I know enough to stay out of the arena when people are talking about stresses and strains on a glass aquarium, I'm convinced that nobody really understands aquariums from a hydrostatics or mechanics standpoint. Nobody has been able to address some of the most basic engineering questions that I have in regards to the distribution of forces on an aquarium using a physics based analysis. To the OP I suggest just filling the aquarium with water because it was designed and presumably tested without a brace so I have no reason to think that it shouldn't be filled without a brace. Your case is slightly different, you said that the tank was bowing, which isn't really good in most cases, you also say that the tank wasn't an aquarium but a terrarium, some of the common assumptions can not be made with that information given. Here we don't know that the tank has bowed, and it's acrylic so it will handle a little bowing better than glass would, I don't know if acrylic terrariums exist (although I suppose they do, I can't recall seeing one.) To be honest if the amount of deflection on your glass tank is really only a couple millimeters over 48" I wouldn't worry about it. How did you measure 1-2mm? The glass may be fine, it could be the frame was bowed and glued on to the tank that way.


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## booba5 (May 3, 2008)

lol where were you when i started that thread. I just used a tape measure to see the difference, using the frame as reference, so your right, the frame maybe bowed. I was told the tank was bought as a aquarium, not a terrarium, but thats only what i was told. I figured the same as you, that it's fine, and guess what, it didn't shatter. sorry to thread jack, back on topic, if it's not done lol


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## moneygetter1 (Jan 8, 2006)

kasey06 said:


> The tank is in really good condition minus a few scratches. The previous owner bought it new and it was a fresh water aquarium. He just upgraded to a larger tank and decided to sell this one. It never had a brace and the acrylic is really thick so I assume a brace just isn't needed. Any suggestions on buffing out the scratches? Tips/methods? Thanks.


 8) I guess you've got enough advice on the 'brace issue' so let me assist on the cosmetics http://www.novuspolish.com/ . Recommended by my tank mfgr. & so far has lived up to the reco. "T"


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