225 gallon tank with no center braces

keiths

AC Members
Dec 12, 2008
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I recently got a new 225 gallon tank. It is 72L 24W 30H however it doesn't have any center braces. It is an older tank and I know older tanks didn't always have center braces and have thicker glass. I haven't measured how thick the glass is because there's a frame around it and it's hard to tell exactly how thick it is. Anyway do you guys think it needs a center brace? The other problem is I don't have a way to put a glass canopy on top of it since the only ones I have found are 24x24 and requires center braces.
 
Look for the tag in the bottom of your tank that tells you the year it was made.. Look this up online and make sure its a model that has no center brace.

AFA the canopy issue, get a couple strips of plastic and silicon them in place where the center brace would be located so your canopy will sit on top :) Just be sure the pieces of plastic, wood, really whatever material you want to use is strong enough to support the canopy..
 
I will check and see if there is a year. It makes me nervous since it is so tall I'm sure it's going to bend once it is full.

Should I use silicone to attach the pieces?
 
Does it have a metal frame? If it does then you won't likely find a year of manufacture. If it's a metal framed slate bottom tank you have a rare gem. You may have to build your own hood to go on top since they don't make tops for older tanks anymore as far as I know.

Q
 
I just bought a 125g that has no center braces, it was made in 1991, its full of water and the glass isnt bowed a bit. With that in mind, I have a 29 g that does bow slightly, a tiny bit of bowing is OK. Pure silicone, either the kind you buy at the lfs of the kind you buy at a home improvement store will work, just be sure if you get it from a home improvement store that it doesnt have anything added like mildew resitant stuff.
 
My 125 does not have a center brace either...
Its a circa 1990 AGA.

I did just write oceanic (they now own AGA) and inquired if I could get a new top frame with cross bracing so I can get a glass canopy to fit.
I have no yet heard from them..
 
I don't think it does have a metal frame but I will check for sure when I get home.

If I wanted to add braces for no other reason but to be safe and have a way to add a glass canopy, how would I go about doing it? What should it be made of and what should I use to attach it? Silicone? I'm not exactly sure how to attach it, I have a small lip that's on the frame, should I attached it to the bottom of it?
 
I had a plan to retro fit my tank with some cross braces to install a glass canopy.
Each brace was to be 2 peices of glass or polycarbonate.. I even considered using aluminum.

I was going to cut a piece 3 inches wide and attach it on the top of that lip, and the second peice would have been 5 inches, attached to the bottom of the first piece to support the glass lid.. I am hoping oceanic sends me a frame, but if not, I plan on doing this within the next month or so. I'll post a DIY when I do it.
 
Does it have a metal frame? If it does then you won't likely find a year of manufacture. If it's a metal framed slate bottom tank you have a rare gem. You may have to build your own hood to go on top since they don't make tops for older tanks anymore as far as I know.

Q

Also a leak prone tank that almost nobody will be able to help you with.
The comments mostly being :
the old fashioned tanks came with slate bottoms?, really?...I didn't know that. What's an old fashioned tank like?...and so on....
 
You also have to remember that slate bottomed/metal framed tanks were not very big. My first tank as a kid was a 29 gallon version.

I had the very same dimension 225 that you have. Mine had a center brace. I've seen them with an 18" wide 1/2" thick center brace or with 2 12" wide 1/2" thick end braces. Either way works.

Are there any indications that a brace ever existed? Residual silicone for example. Check under the inside lip of the tank frame at the top.
 
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