Is this broken trim structural or cosmetic??

P

peth

AC Members
Aug 31, 2005
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So I just picked up a used 125 gal tank. The trim on both the top and the bottom of the tank has been damaged as you can see in the pictures. The tank holds water fine otherwise (I didnt leave it full of water in case this trim is structural). Is this trim more than cosmetic? Should be doing more than just putting it back in place with sillicone?

trim1.jpg


trim2.jpg
 
Umm.. if it was me I would put on a new trim on it. I kind of think it helps with holding the glass together so the glass doesn't come apart after a while.
I hope there will some better advice than what I have given. But again I think you'll be better off with new trims.
 
How thick is the glass? How high is the tank? Is the trim relatively flimsy, or does it take a bit of effort to move it? There is no support beam in the middle of the tank and the trim could possibly be there for extra structural support, but this also tells me that it was designed to support the pressure of the water and if the glass is relatively thick, IMO it is just there for a cosmetic reason.
 
I dont have the tank here to measure it, but I know that the glass is at least 1/4 inch thick or better. The physical dimensions of the tank are, 6' long, 20" wide, and 24" tall. The trim is malliable plastic materieal, but was never a solid band around the tank, as there are seams at the one corner.
 
So long as there is no sign of a center brace being there at one time then that trim is only cosmetic. If at one time there had been a center brace then the integrity of the tank would be in jepordy. My 135 I had years ago had no center bracing but it was 1/2 plate glass and took 4 guys to move it.
 
If it is only soft plastic then I would think that it is only cosmetic. From the pics it looks more than 1/4 inch thick and if it is more than than 1/4" I think you wont have any problems.
 
I agree, provided there was never any center brace, the trim is merely cosmetic.
 
I agree with what the others have said. One thing I would like to add is if you are going to replace the trim, why not add a center brace for even more assurance that nothing bad will happen.
 
If you go with Blues advice make sure you leave a bit of room for expansion. I made a 125 glass tank back in the day and had a beauty of a hood made for it and never took in to account expansion and by the time the tank was almost full the front panel snapped and luck would have it that it was in the basement still so no harm done just a bunch of wasted time and money
 
It dosent appear that the tank has ever had a centre brace. What would one make a brace out of, and how much could I expect the tank to expand? The tank did hold water as is over night before I drained it out of precaution.
 
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