# Broken center brace



## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

I don't know if it was caused by accident or just age thing, but the center brace of my 46 gallon bow front tank has broken off, and I can see the tank bowing when filled with water - the part that tore off from the rim is almost half centimeter apart when the tank is filled.

Now I am not sure if this is safe, and what would be my best option at this point, any advices or past experiences in a similar situations?

I certainly don't want to shut it down, so if the tank is unusable I would have to purchase a new one. Should I go with that option?


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

if you can see visible deflection - i wouldnt risk it till you can fix it/replace the top trim.

Can you drain the tank most of the way into buckets etc, and then when the gap isnt big - pull the two brace pieces back together, and attach them with some sort of mending plate - a piece that is attached to both halves to take up the tension? that might keep you together till you can get a replacement trim on it.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*center brace*

could u take the measurements and take it to a glass shop and get them to make u one and then silicone it back to the tank .i used palace glass on midland ave they did and awsome job cutting my glass for me . it looked beutiful .for now why dont u take a set of your wood vise to hold the tank togeather


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

use a bar clamp to hold it for now... then fix or replace the brace if possible. Probably easier than trying to move everything over into a new tank.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*vise*

thanks kevin , i blanked on teh name of the tool . but thats exaclty what i meant 
cheers 
tom


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## charlie1 (Dec 1, 2011)

Good idea on the bar clamp, if you have enough material on the trim side x2, you can also consider a piece of plexi glass strip - drill the plexi & the remaining brace & attach via 2 stainless steel bolt & nuts @ each end, essentially replacing the existing plastic piece with clear plexi .
Regards


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## Daryl (Mar 1, 2012)

Your best bet would be to lower the water level to be on the safe side, As a Temp fix you can use a rachet strap around the top of tank and fill back up


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Thanks everyone for good suggestions. I'll take a picture tonight and post it so that it's easier to see the problem I have. 

I cannot use a piece of glass and silicone, as the plastic trim around to rim is still there.

I'm wondering if the bowing is still safe (not really feeling comfortable with it) for a while. I might just get that clamp and hold it .. or build a brand new center brace using plexiglass.. (could be ugly..)

I was thinking of replacing the whole tank, as the tank is getting old (10+ years).. but that's going to be a major effort that i want to avoid at this point (may need new substrate, etc).


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

Found almost the same damage in someone else's tank. Looks like it is possible to replace just the top trim in this case.

I don't know the original manufacturer of this tank, but I think it's purchased from BigAls with matching stand. 

What's the chance of getting correct top trim piece from BigAls?


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

If you can get the trim off the bottom, you can swap it with the top. Ten years is not old for a tank. You can add a piece of glass below the existing centre brace.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

BillD said:


> If you can get the trim off the bottom, you can swap it with the top. Ten years is not old for a tank. You can add a piece of glass below the existing centre brace.


Oh, is the bottom trim identical to top one?

Regardless, I don't think I can get any of them off without breaking it. If I were to take the bottom one off, I'd have to empty the tank completely, and the effort would not be worth it, I'd just get a new tank and replace it...


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*brace*

not experienced here but it sounds like u want to save this tank and are willing to take a risk.
i would cut the plastic triim on the other end .measure and trace a peice of cardboard to fit insde the tank ,glass to glass .cut out the cardboard and exact curvature of the glass .take it to glass shop and have them cut u a 3/8glass peice and silicone it into tank usisng the wood bar or strap method let it dry and cure ..imjust thinking u may have to drain the tank to do this tho other wise the tank will flex and not give u a proper adhere to the glass of course the measurement will change if u have water in tank .so u may want to drain 
cheers
tom


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

tom g said:


> not experienced here but it sounds like u want to save this tank and are willing to take a risk.
> i would cut the plastic triim on the other end .measure and trace a peice of cardboard to fit insde the tank ,glass to glass .cut out the cardboard and exact curvature of the glass .take it to glass shop and have them cut u a 3/8glass peice and silicone it into tank usisng the wood bar or strap method let it dry and cure ..imjust thinking u may have to drain the tank to do this tho other wise the tank will flex and not give u a proper adhere to the glass of course the measurement will change if u have water in tank .so u may want to drain
> cheers
> tom


It's not about saving this tank but rather minimizing work and risk involved in getting it fixed. The simplest solution would be to replace the tank but I'm not sure if my fishes will survive the transition, so if there's a way to fix this without draining the tank that would be the first option.

My tank is planted and has Eco complete substrate, and for fishes few discus, neon tetras, Etc.

Havent had chance to drop by Big Al's yet. I have drained 20% of water to make it safer while I look for a solution.


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## loachman (Jan 21, 2012)

I have same size tank with same issue, could see the centre brace start to separate from the plastic rim of the tank. Must be poor construction, mine is the oak colour tank. Anyways I used construction adhesive to fill the gap and used claps as someone mentioned to hold it closer together and used some mending plates on the side of the centre brace as it was cracking on the side also. Didn't notice when I bought this tank used but now I know to look at this in the future for these bow fronts. Anyways repair seems to have worked and brace is staying put and not separating any longer. Did take me a couple of tries with adhesive and clamps as the clamps did not have much to hold on to on the aq rim and slipped off the first time to I had to put some weight on them to hold them in place while the adhesive dried. Hope that helps as I too like to bow front tanks more than the standard rectangular ones.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

tom g said:


> not experienced here but it sounds like u want to save this tank and are willing to take a risk.
> i would cut the plastic triim on the other end .measure and trace a peice of cardboard to fit insde the tank ,glass to glass .cut out the cardboard and exact curvature of the glass .take it to glass shop and have them cut u a 3/8glass peice and silicone it into tank usisng the wood bar or strap method let it dry and cure ..imjust thinking u may have to drain the tank to do this tho other wise the tank will flex and not give u a proper adhere to the glass of course the measurement will change if u have water in tank .so u may want to drain
> cheers
> tom


I did pretty much just this in a tall tank that had it's brace cut out of it.
After siliconing, use one of the clamps mentioned before for a week or two.


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

loachman said:


> I have same size tank with same issue, could see the centre brace start to separate from the plastic rim of the tank. Must be poor construction, mine is the oak colour tank. Anyways I used construction adhesive to fill the gap and used claps as someone mentioned to hold it closer together and used some mending plates on the side of the centre brace as it was cracking on the side also. Didn't notice when I bought this tank used but now I know to look at this in the future for these bow fronts. Anyways repair seems to have worked and brace is staying put and not separating any longer. Did take me a couple of tries with adhesive and clamps as the clamps did not have much to hold on to on the aq rim and slipped off the first time to I had to put some weight on them to hold them in place while the adhesive dried. Hope that helps as I too like to bow front tanks more than the standard rectangular ones.


I'm going to try this first without draining the tank completely. What type of glue did you use, and where did you get the mending plates from?


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## loachman (Jan 21, 2012)

yes I didn't drain the tank to do this and fish were still in there. I used PL premium construction adhesive. Just don't get any in the tank where water will be contacting it as I am sure it would not be good for the fish. Mending plates I just found some similar plastic to the brace and cut some pieces. You can use whatever you can find that has some strength, even some small pcs of glass would work. Good luck, let us know how it goes.


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## loachman (Jan 21, 2012)

how did you make out? Did you fix it?


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## conix67 (Jul 27, 2008)

yes, I ended up fixing it similar to the suggestions made. I had some scrap pieces of plexi glass plates but adhesion was the key question. So I got a hold of several glues, including the PL premium, and tested on similar materials as the trim piece and plexi glass scraps. I happened to have some Weldon 13 and bonding was the best using it. It appears PL premium isn't suitable on most plastics.

Anyway, I put the plexi glass piece in top and bottom of the breakage, and it appears the fix is working well so far and very strong. I didn't have to drain the tank so other than the preparation work, it wasn't very difficult overall.

Thanks for all the suggestions. I hope the fix is permanent. if not I will be visiting this thread again.


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## J_T (Mar 25, 2011)

I would still drill through, and secure it with the screws. This will keep all 3 pieces together as one. Which is key. If the stress is all over the place, it could fail. With 2 screws on each side of the break (if possible) it will be very secure, and durable.

Also, there are 4 or 5 types of PL glue. They are designed for various materials. While Premium is the go to, fix all equal to duct tape, there are times when specific ones will work better.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

JT, Any screw That close to Water Will rust... And could drip into the water.


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## df001 (Nov 13, 2007)

Chromey said:


> JT, Any screw That close to Water Will rust... And could drip into the water.


or one could use stainless steel... bronze... etc etc. 

regarding use of PL premium - on smooth surfaces like plastic - the PL needs texture to bond to. so take some 80grit sand paper - and rough the surface up.

that will significantly increase the surface area/texture ensuring a better bond.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

Or drill a few holes and use nylon bolt and nut.


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## xriddler (Feb 16, 2012)

Here this is great info and i think its pro man. i hope it helps you. the beginning has nothing to do with this topic but somewhere inbetween does. so watch the whole thing and dont close it after you hear the intro lol


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