[Supersnake_63]

The crosspiece on the 55 gallon i picked up off craigslist is broken. it was a steal so i dont mind putting a little more money into it to have that added support, but i dont know where to get a new one. No fish stores in the area, any ideas?

 

[mambee]

You need to fix it fast. I happened on my 55 and it started to bow.

I ultimately replaced it with a 90, but I was told at the time that you can replace the cross piece by siliconing a piece of glass.

I would drain half the tank to reduce the pressure until a fix is in place. This is a hazardous condition.

Mike

 

[Chunkanese]

Sounds like it has no water in it. Its an easy fix, you can either glue or silicone a bridging piece of plastic or glass, or you can bolt it in. Either way its pretty simple, or you can just take off the entire rim, fill it up 40% the way and call it a riparium. Which are very awesome.

Dont fill it up all the way until you do this. If you have fish in it now, i would take out atleast 50% of water

 

[Alpha7]

Hey there!

Assuming you have a little hardware know how, the best way would be to bolt on a bridging piece. Glue and silicone both work, but can let go, and that could get nasty if you have a full tank. If you are unsure what/how, read on:

Get a (minimum)1/16" thick strip of polyethylene or polypropylene plastic about 3/4" wide, and long enough to bridge the broken part with an overlap of 1" on each side. Drill a 1/4" hole 1/2" from each end of the plastic. Place the plastic over the broken bridge, mark where the holes land on the bridge, and then drill holes in the bridge. Use 1/4" Stainless steel bolts with washers on each side and nylock nuts (nuts with a nylon insert) and fasten snugly (not too tightl!).

Don't know where to get plastic? find a clean white commercial pail, rinse thoroughly and cut out two horizontal strips from the side. Why 2? because the pail is probably thinner than 1/16".

Obviously, if you are not a handy kind of person, you may need help with this method.

Good Luck!

 

[Chunkanese]

Hey there!

Assuming you have a little hardware know how, the best way would be to bolt on a bridging piece. Glue and silicone both work, but can let go, and that could get nasty if you have a full tank. If you are unsure what/how, read on:

Get a (minimum)1/16" thick strip of polyethylene or polypropylene plastic about 3/4" wide, and long enough to bridge the broken part with an overlap of 1" on each side. Drill a 1/4" hole 1/2" from each end of the plastic. Place the plastic over the broken bridge, mark where the holes land on the bridge, and then drill holes in the bridge. Use 1/4" Stainless steel bolts with washers on each side and nylock nuts (nuts with a nylon insert) and fasten snugly (not too tightl!).

Don't know where to get plastic? find a clean white commercial pail, rinse thoroughly and cut out two horizontal strips from the side. Why 2? because the pail is probably thinner than 1/16".

Obviously, if you are not a handy kind of person, you may need help with this method.

Good Luck!

:thumb: very good explanation. i agree, bolt it, you have peace of mind and its cheaper.

 

[Supersnake_63]

thanks for the advice. yea tanks empty im setting it up this week and cycling it so that i can eventually move my cichlids into it.

I guess i should have said before but the bridge is non existant. But ill head to the hardware store tomorrow and figure something out, it doesnt need to look good as it will be inside a bar, i just want to be able to have my lid and light sit on it right.

Thanks again

 

[adam0444]

Woo wait what? The crosspiece in fish tanks isn't just so the lights/tops fit? Because some tanks don't have them that tiny plastic thing in the middle of te tank? I'm amazed

 

[Anthraxx8500]

go to home depot. buy some silicone (clear silicone sealant) also get yourself a decent sized peice of plexiglass. ask em to cut it to whatever size u need and go home sand the edges up real nice and glue that baby in there where it should be. just reverse it so that it hangs under the lip rather then on top. (it may interfere with lights) GL to ya but i highly reccomend u fix it rather then let it fly.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,

Here is my cross support gluing setup. Its a glass cross piece and I used aquarium safe slicone. Its very strong. Matches are there to make sure the gaps for silicone are uniform thickness.

If your aquarium has aluminium frame then a bolt on piece is easier.

Hmm.. it seems that I cannot post pictures or links in my 1st post. Lets see if the system lets me do it in next post.

 

[TonyH]

Here...

 

[BillD]

go to home depot. buy some silicone (clear silicone sealant) also get yourself a decent sized peice of plexiglass. ask em to cut it to whatever size u need and go home sand the edges up real nice and glue that baby in there where it should be. just reverse it so that it hangs under the lip rather then on top. (it may interfere with lights) GL to ya but i highly reccomend u fix it rather then let it fly.

This is a recipe for disaster. Silicone will not hold plexi well enough to do the job. A glass piece would work using silicone but not acrylic plastic.

 

[Supersnake_63]

thanks for the input, it is a plastic frame not aluminum but i think i have found a solution ill post pics when im done. the thing with my tank is that it is in a bar so the fix will be hidden and doesnt need to look good, just function

 

[TonyH]

Here is another way to do a center support:

My old tank with a simple L-profile bolted to the frame. This has lasted 20+ years.

 

[newforestrob]

Am I missing something,but why dont you just get a new frame and silicone it in place?
http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=43

 

[adam0444]

Am I missing something,but why dont you just get a new frame and silicone it in place?
http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=43

do that than! that will look better also and wont have to worry about it breaking! be careful taking the old frame off though that sounds hard

 

[Supersnake_63]

Am I missing something,but why dont you just get a new frame and silicone it in place?
http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=43

this however answers my original reason for my question. Thank you

 

[Stumpjumper]

Here's what I did.... Simple, 20 minutes and $4.50

Go to the hardware and buy a 1"x1/4" bar of rolled steel or stainless, measure ends and put 2 90' bends on both ends and slide over aquarium. Simple and works great.

 

[animalcule]

I want to set up a 55 gallon that's been lying around unused since my turtle died - unfortunately, my big dog chewed on the plastic top frame it when it was on my floor, took off most of the center brace and also messed up some of the outer rim. I read up on it and apparently this part of the tank is very important, so I decided a replacement frame would be better than any repair I could manage. People made it sound easy to 'pop off' the frame - but It was a real bitch. Took me a couple hours and hurt my hands! I went all around with a knife between the inner and outer frame and the glass, as well as taking all the silicone out of the upper corners, but it was still clamped on. Eventually I (carefully) used the saw from my pocketknife to cut the corners and cut down the top to the glass in a couple places. After I was able to get one small piece off, it went pretty quickly and peeled/popped off without too much stress on the glass.

I found the right size frame online for $20 plus shipping, now I just have to silicone it on.

 

[jackskellington101982]

if your building it into a bar you can use the bar to suprot it. build a cross brace in side the bar to suport the outside walls of the tank. If the bar all ready stand you have to modify it any way. and If you have to build it from scratch you should be able to make it work easly and eficiantly.
so that you will have full acess to the lights, filters, feeding, and tank. just an idea.