Center brace blocks light can I drill holes ?
 

So my 65g marineland tank has a centre brace on top which is blocking some light from my 24" Maxspect razor. It blocks light from the center puck. Im am going to build a cover which will block even more light because both frames will widen the centre brace. My question is can I drill say half inch holes along the centre brace with adequate spacing of course ? Will this weaken the brace or cause any problems? I would obviously protect the water from the drilling

Rule of thumb #45: If it came with the tank there must be a reason for it.

I'm sure many people have done things like this and haven't had a problem but my own opinion is if they built it like that, leave it alone.

If you can find some glass you could always just pull the center brace and replace it with a euro brace.

+1

Yes i see your point of view and thats what worries me but what if we look at it as a "Mod" Just like many mods are done on various equipment in our hobby.

And I can't replace it with euro brace because its been running for threes months and has livestock in it. That would be much of a project.

Thank you for your input and suggestions , .....

How is drilling holes in a tank full of livestock any safer than trying to switch it to eurobracing? Both seem pretty impracticable with a full tank. I vote upgrade time and transfer everything over

I like your approach but I just set up the tank 3 months ago. And I could remove some water and tape plastic garbage bag underneath the brace and along the rim, that way I can catch the particles from drilling...not a problem

Many years ago when I switched from MH to T5 I was very annoyed by the shadow my center brace left. I drained the tank about halfway, cut the brace or at least 80% of it and replaced it with clear acrylic. I drilled holes in the ends of the brace and the acrylic and attached with nylon screws and nuts. Zero bowing and now it's probably been 7 years. This is in a 5 foot 112 gallon miracles tank. There is still a little bit of shadowing, probably more magnified now that I use LED lights but its much better then a black center brace.

^ Thank you . That is also a possibility but a bit more tricky. Also very assuring that this could be done with out ill effect

Highly impractical but this could work....


Build a brace out of 2x4s to slide snug over the top rim of the tank. Have a eurobrace made at a glass shop. Drain the tank down a 1/4 and install 2x4 brace. Cut off center brace and silicon in the eurobrace. Let it dry and then remove 2x4s???