Calling on wood workers for some assistance

[bassman]

I am about to build a 230 gal tank. I have all the glass cut and ready to go including a 24" x 24" center brace but I would like to avoid using it if possible.

The brace is starfire so I am not concerned about it blocking my lights, I just don't want to loose that much space smack dab in the middle of my tank.

I am building the tank into a oak wall unit so I will already be putting a 3" - 4" wide strip of 1" thick oak all the way around the top and bottom of the tank to act as trim.

My question is this. Could a person just place two 4" wide strips of 1" thick oak across the top of tank, front to back?
They would be tied into the top outside trim. I would position them properly so when viewed from above the tank would have 3 openings of equal size. Allowing me to hang 3 pendants.

All the connections would be done properly with wooden dowels, clamps and glue.

The wood would be sealed with a potable rubber compound to avoid moisture damage.

I personally think this will be plenty strong, maybe even stronger then the glass brace. However I would like to hear thoughts from people that really know wood and it's capabilities.


Thanks