Broken Center Brace!

Steel would rust pretty quickly, if it gets a bit of splashed water on it.

 

Man, must be nice to be independently wealthy.
I wish I could throw used stuff away, but money is too hard to come by. I'd repair it as described by Pickupman66.

 

Double post removed. Never had that happen before.

 

That middle brace is for added support for the front & back glass to prevent it from bowing & blowing out. First I would remove any rock that might be resting on the glass itself & drain the water to at least half. I'm surprised no one has mentioned this. How old is the tank? Most large tanks have a 5 year or longer warranty!

On a second note, how much do you value the room it's in & your livestock? If not covered under warranty, just buy a new tank. Hey, perfect excuse to go bigger. Best of luck..

 

Not even that, just the salt air itself will cause it to rust like crazy.

 

By the looks of it, your current tank has a HOB overflow, If you end up on getting a new tank, get a pre-drilled one with a built in overflow, less headaches.

 

Well, you are back to what I was recommending. Looking at the break, I would suggest the following....

1) You can use steel, but you'll need to seal it to prevent the rust issue. There are plenty of paints and rubber coatings available that will do the job.

2) I would consider having a something like this. Shown from underside for better view.



Have it lip over the back of your tank. That will give it better stress characteristics and spread the load across the back wall better. How many through holes you have is random... I didn't spend a lot of time designing the part for you. 2-3 holes should be fine. More than one to distribute load, not too many because it would weaken the existing brace.

3) I would highly recommend both bonding and through bolts. Get a good plastic to metal glue for bonding and put some 1/4 through bolts

4) After you've got it all together, seal it to prevent rust.

Honestly, I really think that will be sufficient.

Mark

 

If you are really stressed, do something like this as a permanent clamp from the front to the back of your tank. That basically provide an alternate load path to prevent bowing.



Again, I didn't do any optimization. Just a quick concept design for you to consider.

Hope it helped.

Mark

 

Great Idea.. That would work. Heck, it could be made out of aluminum or stainless. Out of steel I would use a epoxy paint or tool dip to coat it.

 

On my post above, I'm not disagreeing with the folks who recommend fixing it; and the solution put forth by Geek would work--but to me it's a helluva eyesore having an external center brace, it would be the first (and maybe only) thing I see when approaching the tank. However, money what it is, and considering your geographical dilemma, maybe a repair is for the best. I'd only add that if you go the bracket route--consider revising the bracket to have some sort of lip on the back side (the surface making contact with the outside of the tank) to engage the existing plastic trim--keeping the bracket down and in place, preventing upward dislodging movement.

I neglected to mention on my post above, the LFS will not have the tank frames in stock. They'd have to order it. If you're unable to obtain it in Hawaii, and don't mind paying shipping from the mainland--let me know your tank's brand, and I'll look into whether it's available in the states. Shoot me PM if you're interested.

Again, good luck.