Re: [APD] Brace (it) yourself

["Berne Kairunas" <berne at choiceaquariums_com>]

> I have an old 50 gal tank somebody gave me. It's 4' long. I'd like
> to put some braces in the top and ends to give it that oooh la la
> eurostyle look. Ok it's really to make glass covers easier and safer.
> 
> Do I cut the lengths of glass to the exact width ? In that case how
> do I get the silcone to stay there when I put the glass into place?
> 
> The middle seems obvious, the tank can be bowed a bit but only once;
> when the brace is installed you don't want to be doing this again.
> 
> I plan to put 3 braces in the middle and one at each far end.
> 
> Anybody done this?
> 
> 


I've done something similar to this, but with a 6' long 100 gallon 
tank.  I had my glass cut and beveled by a local glass company. 

Cut your glass to the exact width of your tank at the corners.  When 
going to attach the silicon, place the bead on the glass you're going 
to attach (your braces) and place it onto the well cleaned tank top.  
I used 2" peices for the ends, and a 8" peice for the center.  For 
your tank you can probably get away with a 3 or 4" center brace.

i would recomend doing this install while the tank is empty so there's 
no bowing going on.  Also make sure you use the same thickness of 
glass for the braces as the thickness of your tank.

Once the beads on the seam have set - i also put an inside bead (just 
like you would see on the verticals - for added strength.  This worked 
well for me as i was able to pick the tank up by the end bracing while 
empty once things had cured for 48 hours.

i have a picture of the finished (but dry) tank at
http://www.mdaps.com/pictures/fishroom/100gal.jpg


HTH



-- 

-Berne Kairunas
Aquatic Plant Specialist
Choice Aquariums Sales Team


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