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Coral Vue Hydros

Center brace on AGA 33 Long


zachxlutz

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Now I know there has been some hot debate on here recently about removing the center brace on bow-front tanks but I'm not sure I've read anything about the standard glass AGA tanks. I've wiggled it around and it doesn't seem to be supporting much, looks like it was put there for holding up lights??? Any one have any info on removing the center brace from my AGA 33 Long? It blocks the 9 LEDS in the center of my sunpod. Any opinions? Experience with this?

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I used to have a FW 55gal, sold it, and I removed the center brace so I could put my own hood system I DIY'ed on it, they were only for putting those crappy hinge-hood light things, and once I removed it there was no change in my tanks front flex, should be fine.

 

hth

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taken from aga site

 

Can I remove the center brace of my aquarium frame?

 

No! Removing the center brace on the frame is not recommended. Removing or cutting the center brace will affect the structural integrity of the aquarium. The brace is needed to reinforce front to back support and modifying the brace may cause the aquarium to fail and leak over time. Most of our glass canopies and full hoods require the center brace to be intact to keep them from falling in the tank. In larger aquariums, removal of the center brace can cause the tank to “bow”. The extent of the “bow” could make the lighting products not fit properly. Please note: Removing the center brace or otherwise tampering with the structure of your aquarium will void the manufacturer’s warranty.

 

Some of our smaller aquariums do not require a center brace, so if your smaller aquarium does not have a brace, this is normal.

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Tanks for the info... I'm still debating it. the tank only holds 33 gallons of water, I can't imagine that the center brace is holding anything tooo tight. Any other opinions on the matter? If I get more "do it's" than "don't do it's"... I just might try it.

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NO Ansolutely not, I removed the brace from a 40H and the tank bowed about 0.5cm. It doesn't sound like much but later it developed a leak. It only held about 10 gallons since it was a vivarium, but never again would I do that.

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while you said you wiggled it around (with very little force I'm sure), you probably did not exert the force of the weight of water on the glass, and since it is a constant force it will always be on the glass. This will cause stress all of the time and over time it will lead to structural failure of your tank..... but hey, don't listen to someone with a background in engineering try it for yourself, it's your tank

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i had a 60 tall a while back and the brace cracked over time. Once it cracked all the way through i noticed about a 4 mil gap between ends that were broken. I wouldnt recommend taking it out either..

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I have a 36 gallon bow front and the center brace was creating a shadow in my reef (i have a single 250 watt halide. So i decided to remove the center brace and replace it with a 2 inch wide 1/4 thick peice of acrylic. I used epoxy for plastic and also drill two holes in each end to to put nylon bolts in. Has been working great, with no increased bowing for over 6 months now.

 

Just keep in mind you want to do this with the tank drained, and also i cut a section out to allow for a large surface area for the tank and new center brace to bond to(i.e. the center brace was 15 inches long, so i cut 11 inche out, leaving two 2 inch tabs on each side to epoxy to, and bolt. Also in the end i desided to glue the bolts and cut them flush on the top and bottom).

 

You can do it, just think it though structurally,

 

Hope this helps!

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Thanks for all the replies guys. I may replace it with acrylic, using the methods that JGross4 mentioned.

 

Thanks guys.

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  • 2 weeks later...

nope, it's built into the lights... after dealing with it for a couple weeks, it's not really bothering me so i'm going to leave it as is.

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