Tank bows out when full....please help
 

Hey,

I noticed few nights ago while setting up my tank that when its full of water, tank bows out. Now I'm not sure if this was happening before and I just haven't noticed it till now or not, so I just wanted to check if this should be happening or not. Tank is 33 gallon. When I took out a bit of water (about 5 gallons or so) everything seemd fine. Tank bowed out by aout 4 mm in the centre of the tank

Any help would be good.

TIA

I would have to say that isn't good. 4mm is a lot for glass to flex and it's adding stress to the seems. Have you modified the tank ie.taken out the center brace? What name brand is it? Is there a plastic rim around the top of the Glass

J

Is it glass?? or acrylic??

It's glass aquarium, and I got it from one of my friends few years back. Because of this I am not sure what brand it is. It never had centre brace when I got the aquarium. It does have plastic trim arround the top of the glass.

put on a centre brace i had to do it with my old 33 gal sump it worked fien after that

What exactly is a centre brace, how would I put it on, where could I get it and how much?

Thanks

You know, I've never seen a 33g with a centre brace, and 4mm is really not much. That's with 300 pounds of water in it, so if it's only bowig 4mil, I wouldn't worry about it. Now if the tank is old and has been dry for a long time, that might be something to worry about. Silicone can become brittle with older tanks that have sat empty for long time.

i have 33 that bows about that much and it has been set up for years and i have had no problems with it at all.

Just get a bigger tank and forget about it! You're going to one day.

Dave

Ha Ha Good one Dave. (Its funny cause its true... :mrgreen: )

The first time I filled my 130 gallon I was surprised how much it bowed. :eek: That was over 15 years ago and I have never had a problem with it. I think most tanks bow when filled. Atleast all the one I have owed have.

On the other hand I have also heard that a tank that has sat dry for years may develope leaks.

i hate to bring back an old thread. but after reading this i checked my newly setup 33. i was advised to cut out the center brace. i have discovered that it is bowing a bit. im not sure if a conclusion was decided on. brace or no brace that is the question?? anyone else have a bowing 33 up and running?


edit-tank had been up for about 3 weeks.....no broken glass...yet.

-paul

I cannot stress bracing enough. This spring, my 230G bowed because the center brace and one end brace came apart. The braces displaced some water and then the tank started to split. Wow...can 5/8-inch glass ever bow. I purchased some 5 foot clamps, emptied the tank, cut it apart and the re-siliconed it and the bracing before restocking it. It could have been a total disaster...especially when my wife found oceanfront property in the basement. The bottom line is that you need good silicone and bracing to help reduce costly mistakes down the road.

I have a 33 hospital/quarantine and when I fill it, it bows that much, I've never given it another thought... on another note, my 90 had it's centre brace POP after being set up for 2 1/2 years... :eek: I was there when I heard it... You ALL could have heard my heart beating! I immediately dropped 6 inches of water out of the tank, grabbed some clamps and removed the centre brace, cleaned and prepped it, re-siliconed and clamped it back into place without having to empty the tank and no loss of livestock.... *PHEW* The glass actually bowed a little more than 3/8"... quite a bit for a 4 foot chunk of glass!

thanks for the peace of mind. i was debaitng just buying a new tank.

-paul