Anyone have experience with removing a center brace?

[jnam]

I want to go with halides but my tank has a center brace (36 gallon bow front) that will block the light. I have heard and read of people removing the brace but I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience (first hand) doing so. I would like to completely remove it. When the tank is full there is a lot of play in the brace. From what i can tell it is there to support the stock hood but I am worried there will be some negative repercussions... What other options can anyone think of?

 

Side note, if you have indeed used a MH light with this tank did the center brace reall have any effect? The light would be +/- 6" from the brace.

[Kool-cat]

I want to go with halides but my tank has a center brace (36 gallon bow front) that will block the light. I have heard and read of people removing the brace but I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience (first hand) doing so. I would like to completely remove it. When the tank is full there is a lot of play in the brace. From what i can tell it is there to support the stock hood but I am worried there will be some negative repercussions... What other options can anyone think of?

 

Side note, if you have indeed used a MH light with this tank did the center brace reall have any effect? The light would be +/- 6" from the brace.

 

Get a new tank or get two halides for each side?? But there will be heat. I have my MH about 6-7 inches away from the water.

Edited May 21, 2010 by Kool-cat

[jnam]

heat isnt really the issue. I love the tank so getting a new one isnt on the books at least for now... I could do the halides for each side but 30" isnt a whole lot of room to cram in the reflectors... Any thoughts on the brace?

[mohawk]

heat isnt really the issue. I love the tank so getting a new one isnt on the books at least for now... I could do the halides for each side but 30" isnt a whole lot of room to cram in the reflectors... Any thoughts on the brace?

 

 

If your in the testing mood.,. put it outside, fill it up and leave it sit for a couple weeks.,.,., if it works, its probably fairly safe.,., if it fails,.. at least its not on your living room floor...

[Bill Nye]

heat isnt really the issue. I love the tank so getting a new one isnt on the books at least for now... I could do the halides for each side but 30" isnt a whole lot of room to cram in the reflectors... Any thoughts on the brace?

 

 

Usually if something has a center brace its for support reasons. But the tank isnt very big gallon wise so it might be to support the hood. You can also look into some of the sunpods or other fixtures that have 2 150 watt MH I think they might be 36 inch fixtures though.

[chucktdbm321]

you could take the brace out and then do two eurobraces with plexiglass/acrylic pane so it wouldnt be directly in the middle and it would be transparent like this

Tank: ________________________________

I I light here I I

 

I I I I

________________________________

its very crude but like the point would be you would still have support (actually more) and it would be transparent and not in the middle of your tank

 

However depending on the thickness of your tank you might not need the brace anyway...

[westcoastreefer84]

Go t5. I would not remove a center brace on a bowfront.

[Aquanist]

T5 would be my choise as well. Or if you were thinkin of 150W MH you could go with 2x70W as well. I wouldn't go removing the brace. Structural integrity is like health - you'll miss it once it's already gone.

[andrewprime1]

I have a 36 bow with a halide in the center and I was thinking about this too. I would say don't remove the center brace because it is keeping the glass from bowing out. I have seen people take out their center brace and rivet in a thick piece of clear acrylic in the center. Not sure how safe this is, especially if you do it on a set up tank aka full of water.

 

I have a 175 mogul based MH on my tank and it doesn't really affect the lit at all. I have the light hanging +/- 6 inches above the tank right in the middle, and all it does is cast a bit of a shadow; really not too bad.

[jnam]

I have a 175 mogul based MH on my tank and it doesn't really affect the lit at all. I have the light hanging +/- 6 inches above the tank right in the middle, and all it does is cast a bit of a shadow; really not too bad.

 

 

Could you capture it in a picture?

I really dont want to remove the brace if I dont have to. The eurobrace did cross my mind but i wouldnt know where or how to start.

 

T5 is a great idea but maintenance costs are a factor for me. 4x40$ bulbs every 6-8 months versus 1x60$ bulb durring the same period that adds up a bit.

[Jeffko467]

so... 11 years later, did you take the brace out?

The Top Fin has a brace, the Aqueon does not, I think I am cutting mine out, how did you make out? The flap in the hood for feeding is right overtop the brace, stupid design!

[Tired]

I had a 65gal tank for awhile where the center brace had broken, so was no longer providing any sort of support to the rim of the tank. It did fine for a few years, and then I sold it to someone who wanted it as a terrarium. I assume it hasn't busted from being a terrarium, since being an aquarium didn't hurt it any. That said, I am a sample size of one. 

[Jakesaw]

1 hour ago, Jeffko467 said:

so... 11 years later, did you take the brace out?

The Top Fin has a brace, the Aqueon does not, I think I am cutting mine out, how did you make out? The flap in the hood for feeding is right overtop the brace, stupid design!

I'd assume that the brace is there for a reason - aka to support the volume of water from busting out seems / cracking glass and causing leaks. 

Thickness of plastic base top bracing / glass width / type of glass used could all be design factors in a tank that could give structural support.

 

 

I don't want water leaking in my home, so I leave tanks as they were built by mfr. 

 

[ausram]

I know this is a decade old, but really wonder what happened and if removing the brace would be worth the damage of having a tank bust a seam

[mcarroll]

On 5/21/2010 at 1:03 PM, jnam said:

I want to go with halides but my tank has a center brace (36 gallon bow front) that will block the light. I have heard and read of people removing the brace but I wanted to know if anyone has had any experience (first hand) doing so. I would like to completely remove it. When the tank is full there is a lot of play in the brace. From what i can tell it is there to support the stock hood but I am worried there will be some negative repercussions... What other options can anyone think of?

 

Side note, if you have indeed used a MH light with this tank did the center brace reall have any effect? The light would be +/- 6" from the brace.

Don't remove the brace – it's not there for the lights, it's there for the glass.

 

If you want to do halides, either switch to a dual 150-watt setup (like a pair of these) or switch to a braceless tank.   You currently have the wrong halide for the wrong tank.

 

(Hate to be the first to ask, but:  Why not LED?)