# Center Brace For 130g all-glass?



## theleetbeagle (Jul 10, 2009)

I purchased a "new" 130g off some guy on Craigslist. It's all glass and appears to be .5" panes. 

The center brace, if ever there was one, is no longer there. Dude has a small piece of glass silicon'd in the middle to hold lighting in place for what I guess was going to be a reptile tank. He said he never did use it.

The question I have is, this will be a fish tank: Are center braces necessary? There is a lip along the border of the tank (to hold lighting in place) where I can brace it using plastic or metal, but is this necessary? If I fill it w/o a brace will it simply fall apart?

Thanks.
-Nick.


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## Fishin Pole (Feb 17, 2009)

i wouldnt trust such a large tank without a center brace, especially if it had one from the start..........Can you tell if it was cut out?.............Another thing to consider is the tank itself.........you said the previous owner was gonna make it a reptile tank, are you sure this is an aquarium or is it possibly a Critter Cage or Critter Keeper?..........There are major differences in the construction of the 2 different setups............Critter Keepers are not designed to be filled all the way up with water, these type tanks are not pressure tested and USUALLY use thinner glass.......Make sure what you have is an "Aquarium"..........Now the center brace issue, if filled with water, i would look at the tank from the side and see if the glass is bowing out, if it is remove water immediately,the tank will not take the pressure long without the center brace............130 gallons of water is alot of weight to be held back by only a sheet of glass without a center brace..........Sorry to give you some bad news about your tank, but these are things you need to consider before placing it in the house and having a major disaster..........I hope im wrong about it being a Critter Cage, but i would look into it all to avert a disaster..........


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## JohnnyD44 (Dec 5, 2008)

Nick, I had a similar problem with my 55G tank....while setting up my tank, I noticed that the center brace had slowly started to crack along the frame and peel away from the top framing piece(the one you are referring to about hold the lights)...I did not think it was a problem, as it sat for a few days cycling without any leaks or anything like that.....

after about 3 or 4 days, I noticed the tank was starting to bow at the top of it due to the brace peeling away.....it doesn't look like much but that brace is a essential part for the stability of your tank. After realizing my issue and talking with some memebers.....later that day I drained my tank, bought a new one....the old broken bracee one is sitting in my basement.

I hate to be hte bearer of bad news, but without that brace, I would not trust it with 125G of water, thats alot of stress with a support brace......just my experience!!!

In response to your other post....do all of the things you mentioned and monitor your parameters daily......you can simply move your 55G filter over and run it with the new filter and your new filter will acclamate itself off of your old one.


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## theleetbeagle (Jul 10, 2009)

I will cut and install a brace. I plan on filling it on my back porch and letting it sit for a week so that if it explodes it doesn't do so all over my front room.

It is definitely an aquarium as the glass is .5" all around and the entire unit weighs close to 200 lbs or possibly more.


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## JohnnyD44 (Dec 5, 2008)

Just out of curiousity...how would you get it to hold your glass top together?


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## theleetbeagle (Jul 10, 2009)

glass top?


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## JohnnyD44 (Dec 5, 2008)

Sorry, I meant to say how would you get it to hold to the frame uptop(that runs around the top of your tank), and even more important.....how will you get it to support the stress a regular brace is meant to do for your tank? it's a lot of pressure on those braces


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## WisFish (Dec 16, 2008)

The main question was never answered. Did it ever have a center brace? With glass that thick, it's possible it never had one. Older 55gal tanks used to not have a brace. I'm guessing because the glass was probably thicker. I agree with Fishin pole. Fill the tank up slowly, keeping an eye on how much the tank bows out. If it startes to bow more than 1/4", I'd start to worry. But take a look an see if it ever had a brace. With 1/2" glass, I bet it didn't. If it did, definitely make one.


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## theleetbeagle (Jul 10, 2009)

I'll take pics. I don't think it ever did. It is a very solid tank.


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## buzz4520 (May 22, 2009)

older large tanks were constructed that way, they used 1/2" high tempered glass and can withstand the water pressure hence no center brace. i've got a 125 gal that's about 10 yrs old and has no center brace and glass is 1/2" thick. newer large tanks have 3/8" glass so they added center braces for more support.


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## theleetbeagle (Jul 10, 2009)

Well I did indeed measure each pane and it is solid 1/2" glass. Dunno about tempering... how do you tell?

Anyhow, I filled it to the very top w/o a center brace. It bowed about 3/4" to 1". 

I left the tank in my driveway like this for two or three days with no leaks.

I then drained it and made a center brace out of a piece of glass. I then silicon'd it by wedging the brace between the bottom of the frame and the top of each side pane. I let the silicon dry and filled it up. It now only bows .5". Specifically, the depth of the tank at either end is exactly 18.5" and the depth in the very center, right over the brace is 18 15/16".

The silicon did stretch a little, thus the bowing. I added more silicon at the stretch point. It's been two days now, sitting in my driveway, completely full. No leaks and no more bowing. I'm going to let it sit for about a week while I build a stand and move the 55 it's replacing.


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