Loose Centerbrace

[Salty]

Help! The centerbrace is loose on my 135 :o Do I panic and drain it now or try and repair with water in the tank? Does anyone know how long the tank can go with out the brace??

-Daniel

[JimD]

Run to Home Depot and get you a bar clamp or two long enough to span the depth temporarily. If you only have one center brace on a 135, Id say its critical that you take action NOW! Once you have the tank safely clamped, you can repair the brace yourself...

[Salty]

Thanks Jim! :) OK, bar clamp is on. How would I repair this? What type of silicone do I use? I thought I saw a thread on this before but I can't find it...

[::pete::]

HD also caries aquarium silicone, its near the super glue gel.

[JimD]

Ok, good,,, youre gonna have to empty some water, at least a couple of inches so you have room to work, once thats done, carefully remove the center brace completely, clean both surfaces really good, making sure all remaining silicone is gone, clean contact surfaces with alcohol, make sure surfaces are completely dry... next, slowly loosen the clamp to give yourself enough space to dry-fit the brace, once youre satisfied with the fit, remove the brace, apply a generous ammount of aquarium silicone (Ive also used a good two part epoxy) to all contact surfaces and re-install the brace, once you have it positioned, slowly draw the clamp tighter untill you see silicone bulging from the contact areas, then tighten a hair more to assure conact. Allow to dry at least 24 hours, more would be better, then slowly remove the clamp amking sure that the brace is well set and the silicone is dry..... whew!
Good luck!

[NaCl_H2O]

Let me get this right, all that is holding a center brace in place is a little silicone :o

Sure glad I order those Ocenaic Bricks now !!!!!!!!!

[Salty]

Do you think the epoxy would be a better choice? I am used to working with epoxy. I know the epoxy bond is stronger but not as flexible...there must be a reason the OEM chose silicone...

[Salty]

srodgers - in my case not even the silicone is holding it in! :shock:

[JimD]

They make a flexible type epoxy that would work, I just dont remember the name right off hand. As far as silicone goes, its not just a little, its gobbs of the stuff, you have to draw a bead totally around all contact areas for it to hold, dont be stingy with the stuff...

[::pete::]

Let me get this right, all that is holding a center brace in place is a little silicone :o

Sure glad I order those Ocenaic Bricks now !!!!!!!!!

Thats all that holds all the joints, coners ect !!! Makes you wonder :-o

[NaCl_H2O]

Thats all that holds all the joints, coners ect !!! Makes you wonder :-o

I guess I knew that, I just sleep better when I don't think about it!

Gee thanks Pete !!!!

[::pete::]

Gee thanks Pete !!!!

How can you sleep waiting for all those goodies? Kind of like the night before Christmas. :-D

[NaCl_H2O]

It is far worse than you think! Most of the goodies have arrived, I opened them, played with the boxes for a few days :roll:, read all the manuals, test fitted a few things together, ...... but really can't start "playing" until my tanks arrive after Aug 3. Plus. about the time my tanks arrive I'll be in the middle of salary and performance reviews at work :cry: :cry: :cry:

The pile of lonely goodies are in my study, and I can hear them pleading "saltwater ... salt..water ... s..a..l..t..w..a..t..e..r"

[wkopplin]

I know the feeling......

[eleyan]

**** .. you have enough goodies to open a small fish store :) how big is that tank?

[BA]

u can always donate some stuff to my tank, so they will feel pleased, by having saltwater running through them, always happy to help....

[BA]

:skeezy:

[NaCl_H2O]

**** .. you have enough goodies to open a small fish store :) how big is that tank?

Three show tanks (215g, 140g, & 60g) and sumps, fuge, etc. to total about 800g. My "Summer Project" :-D

BA - I'll remember your very generous offer :roll:

[witecap4u]

You can use a regular tube of GE Silicone I instead of the aquarium silicon, its the same stuff. Everyone says to stay away from siliconII though because it has chemicals in it to inhibit the growth of mold which could mess with the tanks inhabitants.

cs

[BA]

wow, thats going to be a heck of a set-up when it's finished, and a lot of "fun"(lol) to set up...how long do u THINK it's going to take u??btw what wattage are the UVs?

[Troy Valentine]

Daniel,

Your center brace has 2 parts, and one part that actually holds the tank together. It is not the glass that does this. It is the strap which is in between the glass. All larger aquatrend tanks use this strap.... This strap is your center brace, not really the glass that is just siliconed into position. Now if the strap is broken then you have serious issue.

[Salty]

Troy,

I did not see a strap but I will look when I get home. What is the strap made of? I guess that I should be very careful if I try and remove the glass to reseal... Without the clamp acroos the tank it had bowed about 3/8 - 1/2 inch...Is the strap something that can be repaired?

[Salty]

Ok, I don't know how I missed the strap before - it is between 2 of the 3 pieces of glass making up the center brace. I do not see a break in the strap...but...if the tank bow went beyond what the glass allowed did the strap stretch? It does appear that the strap "floats" in the glass...

Troy - I left your numbers at work, please give me a call

-Daniel