Euro brace question
 

Ok, the price difference between a regular 65g tank and a euro braced 65 gallon is too much. I have MH lighting so I can't have the center brace.
What I need to know is if the plastic center brace can be cut out and replaced by a thick piece of glass. Has anyone ever done this who can help me?

Sea Star only uses glass for the cross brace but it's bulky and it gets alot of algae and salt on it especially if a light is right over it. Why not contact some of the people who make or order custom tanks from the sounds of it you've got a couple of excellent choices out your way.

Doug

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I have looked into ordering a eurobraced 65g from a couple of sources and the price is at least $100 to $140.00 more expensive! I'm trying to figure out if I can buy a regular tank, buy some scrap glass off of a supplier and brace it myself. Of course I want to sleep at night so I need to know if this can/has been done.

What is the thickness of your glass?

I know with the couple of 65gallon hagen tanks that I've owned, and none of them had a center brace, just a standard black trim. I believe the glass thickness on those tanks are about 3/8". The one remaining 65 I have was used for a few years before I bought it, and I've had it running for about 4 years now, so I don't think structural integrity is a problem. By the way, the dimensions are 48"x16"x20" (lwh).

-Rich

Yes, it can be done. Like Doug said, our local tank builder uses glass centre braces. Usually 1/2" thick, about 8" wide on my 5' tank. You could probably go 6 inches wide on a 4 foot tank.

Brad do you think he could go with a 3/8s thick glass strip that's the width of the plastic center brace? I can't see how the glass would be weaker. You'd sure want to make sure it was the right width though.

Doug

The width is important due to the amount of contact area for the silicone. The silicone holds the tank together, not the width of the glass.

I knew that, was just testing you... honest...

Okay yeah that makes sense I knew there had to be a reason for the size of those braces.

Doug

get hockey nut to snap a pick of his 120, he replaced his plastic one with a plexy one that screws in place so he can take it off if he needs to.

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Thats not a bad idea if there is enough room left on the trim to drill a couple holes. The tank I'll be getting is 36x24x18 and I believe its made from 3/8 glass. So if I wanted to use a glass brace, would 6 inches wide be enough? Do you want to leave a millimeter or two on either end for the silicone or squeeze it in at the exact dimension?

Sorry, is it 24 tall or 18 tall? At only 3 feet long, you may not need a brace at 18" tall.

I wouldn't bother with a center brace at 18" tall either.
I have 2 - 48" long tanks that are both 20" high that don't have any bracing other than the standard black trim. No problems with either one.

I'm running a custom tank with 3/8" of glass that is 36x20x20 an i dont have a slight bow in there. I have a friend that has been making tanks for years and he tells em that on a 3/8 anything over 20 " you will need a center brace.

mike

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Sorry, it 36 long x 18 deep x 24 tall. Will a 6 inch center brace be enough?

I'd start filling it and see if it bows. There isn't any danger doing this for testing. I had a 4" tank that lost it's brace in the middle of the night. The tank bowed out about 2.5" front and back and was fine for a day until I repaired it. So you could fill yours, see if it bows more than an 1/8" or so, if not, skip the brace.
If you're not comfy with that, then yes, a 6" brace would be fine.

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Cool, I'll brace it just to be safe. This just saved me about $100. :biggrin:

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Do I get a commission? :razz:

Or buy some glass and make the eurobracing yourself too.

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LOL!

Jon, I don't really like the look of euro bracing for some reason. I must be the exception. :confused:

OK I have never bought a new tank in my life, so what the hell is euro bracing?

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Normal store bought tanks have that black trim around the top and bottom of the tank. A euro braced tank uses glass instead. Only, the glass is silconed around the top inside of the tank perpendicular to the tank walls to add stability. It offers a unique image to the tank, and if you search the pic forum you'll probly find a pic or two.

the purpose of eurobracing to to compansate for the lack of a cross member. a lot of euro'd tanks still have the trim around the top.

how thick is the glass on the 3 foot long sides?

I took the brace out of mine and it bowed less than 1/32 of an inch total so I have been running braceless for about a year now.

mine is 3 foot long 24" wide and 25" tall.

Steve

Steve, 3/8" thick

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Yes its 3/8 glass.

I bought the tank last night, it will be drilled and ready for pick in about a week. I hope the hole doesn't have any affect on the bracing issue.

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I silconed a 6x17.25x.5 inch brace into the tank two days ago. Its so strong you could probly stand on the thing. Cost of the center brace....$10.00 from Bow valley. :biggrin:

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Are you going to test that theory for us..? :razz:

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Haha, I've learned too many leasons that way. But I did lean on it pretty hard and it didn't budge. It will definatly prevent the tank from bowing.

How did you silicone in the glass? Did you remove the plastic trim completely or just silicone the glass under it? The reason I'm asking is that I just ordered the same tank and have to do the same thing you just did. I'm not the sharpest crayon in the box so if you had a pic that would be even better.



Scott

for euro bracing there , its best to have the tank empty and then lay it on it's side and ensure you wipe down the glass with rubbing alcohol and then apply the silicone to the piece and push it on the glass and then do the sides the same way after its dried. you will turn over the tank and glue the other side on make sure that the glass its laying horizonal to the tank standing up.

mike

Sounds pretty simple. Should I just use 3/8 glass like the tank is made with or go something thicker. Would 3 inches wide be about right or too much. Also do you think doing the sides would be really necessary seeing that the sides aren't braced from the factory or do they assist the front for strength?



Scott

3/8 is fine for the tank i have to figure out how to do mine, maybe
i ahve a 62 gal custom that i made
36x20x20 and its 3/8" I dont need a brace it hasnt bowed either .

the sides are added there for extra strenght and water splash too. IMO

2" is acceptable for the glass if you can get it cut if not go with 3"

mike

Cool. Thanks a lot for your help Mike and when it's all done I'll let you guys know how it worked out. Now to start building a stand that I can hide a couple big rubbermaids in.




Scott

I just euro'd my 120g (48x24x24, lwh). I stripped out the glass bracing it came with and took off as much of the old silicone as I could. Then I had 3/8" glass cut into 2 48"longx3"wide for the front and back and 2 17 7/8"x3" for the sides. I actually siliconed them onto the top of the glass panels, as the bracing it came with was on top, as opposed to inside. I siliconed a thick bead onto the tops of the glass panels, and then placed the front and back braces on as they stay up without support running the whole length of the tank, and then siliconed the side braces in. I let them cure for 48 hours and then trimmed off any excess silicone, then siliconed the black trim back on the top that it came with. Seems really strong to me, but then again I am not 1200lbs pushing on the glass either. :lol: Well, yet. :rolleyes:

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The first thing I did was cut out the existing center brace with a hack saw. Then after carefully cleaning the new brace and tank walls I put a fair sized bead of silcone along the top corners where the brace will go. Then, with the tank on it's side I carefully slid the brace in place and then taped it in down. Then I applied more silicon around the edges.

Keep in mind that the inner dimension of the tank was 17.25 inches across so I had the glass cut to 17 & 1/8 to have a small gap for the silicon. I used a couple of thick paper clips (1/16 inch) as spacers as well.