Hi

I have a 1200 x 400 x 500 (500 being the height) tank made out of 10mm glass. it is a professionally made tank, in good condition. It has bracing on the top of each end around 70-100mm, glued very well. When i bought the tank it did not have a middle brace, but i siliconed one on myself to be safe. I have now realised that having the middle brace is a pain in the A**.

Just a question for all the glass/tank gurus.. Would this tank be alright without the middle brace?? It is a very thick tank, which doesnt need such thick glass to be alright anyways... The glass thickness calculator says that the same size tank in 6.8 mm would have a safety factor of 2, and the same size tank in 9.3mm would have a safety factor of 3.8, so im guessing that the tank in 10mm would be around the 4 mark (that info may help, i duno )

So would it be safe without the centre brace? or do i just keep it there??

Thanks

dunno if it would be safe or not to remove it but its definatly safer with it. it helps stop the middle front/back of the tank from sagging out and i like to use it as a lid rest :lol:

all tanks over 3 foot have middle bracing IME so its gotta be there for a reason? perhaps you could take it out and silicon a thinner piece in place so its not so annoying? you learn to live with it after a while :lol:

I agree with your sentiments of being a pain in the proverbial.

One way to do it is to take off the brace, and use strips at right angles, on the top of the front and back, running legthwise.

This will cut down the width of the top but at least it will replace that PITB cross brace.

Personally, I'd take it off and not worry about it.

Alan 104

I would use strap bracing right around the top and no centre strap. I don't believe straps on the ends do much

My tank is almost 1800 long 12mm glass and has no center brace. But does have "euro bracing" round the top and bottom of the tank. Needless to say I measured the tank pretty carefully when I filled it to make sure there was no bowing. I am now completely convinced that I don't need a center brace.

so why are they there then? id quite happily have no centre brace on some of my tanks but i thought they were there for a reason so didnt wana mess with them

Hi

I have a 1200 x 400 x 500 (500 being the height) tank made out of 10mm glass. it is a professionally made tank, in good condition. It has bracing on the top of each end around 70-100mm, glued very well. When i bought the tank it did not have a middle brace, but i siliconed one on myself to be safe. I have now realised that having the middle brace is a pain in the A**.

Just a question for all the glass/tank gurus.. Would this tank be alright without the middle brace?? It is a very thick tank, which doesnt need such thick glass to be alright anyways... The glass thickness calculator says that the same size tank in 6.8 mm would have a safety factor of 2, and the same size tank in 9.3mm would have a safety factor of 3.8, so im guessing that the tank in 10mm would be around the 4 mark (that info may help, i duno )

So would it be safe without the centre brace? or do i just keep it there??

Thanks

The glass thickness calculator assumes front to back bracing as well as a strip approx 100mm wide running full-length of the tank (both front and back). There's a different set of formula's to calculate the thickness or safety factor if no bracing is used.

For a safety factor of 3.8 with no bracing you need 10.43mm glass and it will deflect by 1.66mm in the middle about 1/3 of the way up.

So you could remove the centre brace but the safety factor will be about 3.5. This is still much higher than most aquariums...

When I was making tanks I had a number of people ask me to repair broken ones and they were invariably tanks with only a brace across the middle and they break just beside the brace on the front or back. A brace euro style and another from front to back between the top braces would be belt and braces and avoids the point stresses that come with only a middle brace. Go Euro.

The glass thickness calculator assumes front to back bracing as well as a strip approx 100mm wide running full-length of the tank (both front and back). There's a different set of formula's to calculate the thickness or safety factor if no bracing is used.

For a safety factor of 3.8 with no bracing you need 10.43mm glass and it will deflect by 1.66mm in the middle about 1/3 of the way up.

So you could remove the centre brace but the safety factor will be about 3.5. This is still much higher than most aquariums...

So you reckon if i took it off i would be sweet then??!!??

i think that i would be more than ok. if it was only 6mm glass then yes i would have it but 10mm...

ive got a mate and his tank was much larger than your one and was 10mm glass and he didnt have any bracing at all (a bit doggie tho)

i have a tank thats 1150x300x600 (600 high) and that 6mm glass and thats only got bracing on the sides and thats been setup for about 2 years now, but there is a bit of flex in the middle of the tank so i plan on adding a center brace to that one.

imo i think that it would be more than sweet!

ohk thanks quack, im going to remove it when i have time.

Thanks everyone else aswell

I think I turned over too many pages somewhere... What exactly is Euro bracing? :oops:

I have this image of a whole lot of Euros silconed to the inside of the glass :lol:

euro bracing is strips of glass on all sides around the top of the tank isn't it?

Euro bracing is the horrible pain in the ass bracing where it's all wrapped around the inner edge of the glass making it impossible to get most filter outlets onto the tank and any cords for powerheads/heaters start down very obtrusively deep out in midwater instead of nice and hidden at the back.

Ah so Euros are a pain in the ass?!

Cheers for the knowledge 8)

Yea i agree with ira. I would put it on the front pane of glass, but never the back...

Just get a couple of holes drilled in it, that allows all the cords and filter intake/outake to go through. That's what the guy that made mine did and it works a treat.

Ah so Euros are a pain in the ass?!

Cheers for the knowledge 8)

Yes they are, almost as much of a PITA as standard bracing! Unless you want to use 20mm glass on a big tank it has to be braced IMO euro is the best way to go. I have a hole drilled in mine for the return plumbing and when I get round to it will drill a hole for the couple of power leads to my streams

I agree that euro bracing would be no good with hanging filters but if you leave a gap between the back and end braces you can easily fit air hoses,wires etc. I think the braces should not be connected anyway so they act independently.

What I've done with our six-footer (with euro braciong) is drill holes close to the corners (but still far enough away so there is some structural component to the strip ), and one along the back around the centre, so it's no hassle to get devices/filter spray bars etc in the tank.

Rogan, if you would like some glass strips cut for euro bracing, sing out and I'll see what I have left. It'll be 6mm, though that won't present a problem. Also I have the glass drill bit to drill the holes in the strips if you need.

I don't think the ends of the euro bracing matter that much as all they do is take the flex out of the top so they don't do a lot in the corners.

Hi. I just cut the back siliconing on the brace off and the tank popped about 3.5-4 mm. Is that alright ?? It sounds like alot to me, and i dont want it to break!!

Just had a bit of a measure up of the whole tank and this is what i found.

Each end along the top os exactly 400mm. I then measured the length accross the middle (i have a clamp across the tank holding the tank in its original place before i cut the brace off) and it sits 2-3mm further out anyway. So with an added 4mm on top of that the tank is actually bowing about 6-7mm.... I think i need euro bracing... The front will be all sweet, and for the back one i will just drill some holes in it for the filter pipes ad cables etc.

As i said, i have a clamp across the top of the tank holding it in at the original place untill i figure out what im going to do.

You need to empty the tank before replacing the bracing or increase your insurance.

DID YOU CUT THAT BRACE WITH THE TANK FULL???????????????

If you did you are bluddy lucky to get away with it.

Drop your water straight away, if not sooner if it is still full.

Alan 104