my (used)new fish tank

Okay, now that you have done that, I fear you have a serious problem on your hands. The tank is, I'm going to presume, acrylic (plastic) because glass would very likely have exploded if bowed out to 1/4 inch. The light falling in it would have been the least of your problems. (although to answer your question, if it wasn't plugged in it would have done nothing. Let it dry out and it should be fine.)

Sounds like somebody has modified this tank, in a very bad way. If it was built with a support brace across the top this was there for a reason, ie to hold the front and back together. Sounds like you are going to have to figure out a way to re-brace this before you put the full amount of water in it. If it's bowing out at 3/4 full it will shatter with more pressure on it.

This does not mean the whole thing is useless or has to be thrown out even if there is no practicable way to brace it enough to fill with water. You could probably make it work as a paludarium although that would be a considerable design challenge for you. You could still keep fish in the bottom portion of such a setup although maybe not as many as you have now. That is a problem for the future though.

I leave it to the more experienced DIY and aquatic engineering types here to advise you further. Best of luck with your tank. :)
 
well it was only held on with a plastic brace from the get-go. and now that i think about it, when we did use it once before, it was only filled halfway. do tanks not normally bow? i figure most tanks would bow out somewhat. also maybe 1/4in may be an exageration, as that was just about the spacing from the edge of the lid to the upperlip of the tank, possibly it was build to have a little play?

so i take it that this will only be a 25gal tank, now?

important detail!
the guy who sold me the tank this morning told me that its like 20 years old and been dropped a few times (without water in it), but hes filled it up all the way on multiple occasions after that. well right now im about an hour and 20 dollars worth of gas away from my tank thats locked in my room so if the tank breaks, well... hes the one who told hes dropped the tank before.
 
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I don't believe tanks normally bow. I would definitely take the water out or put it down to halfway. You do not want 55g of water on your floor. I'd just look on craigs list and get another tank. This time go with glass (if it is acrylic) and carefully inspect it for damages. I have 2 little acrylic tanks and they scratch something awful.
 
No (shudder at the very thought) tank walls are not built to bow.

(Well, okay, just to confuse matters, there are tanks made in a style called "bowfront" but those are designed for the front portion to be curved at top AND bottom the same amount on the front, sort of like a letter "D". )

If a tank is designed as a rectangle or cube it is supposed to be straight on all sides, just like diagrams in geometry books. If the front and back sides of the tank (the long sides of a 55) "bow out" the top lines of the upper rectangle would be curves, not straight. They are supposed to be straight. Hope that makes sense...I feel a need for a blackboard and a ruler to illustrate this but have only words. :)

Between the bowing you noticed and the mention of the tank having been dropped in the past I really think you are better off just assuming that it will never again be safe to fill completely full, without repairs by somebody who knows what they are doing. Like DieselJunki said, you do NOT want 55 gallons of water to be roaming your floors unsupervised. Not to mention what it would do to your fish, there is the matter of unhappy downstairs neighbors, housemates, landlords, insurance adjusters, etc.

If you don't want to tackle a paludarium or vivarium type of project maybe you can work a swap with somebody who does. again, best of luck.
 
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god **** it, the guy who sold me the tank is notoriously lazy, and i called him earlier to open up my room and remove the water and even explained why i needed him to do it. and hour and a half later i call him and he still hasnt dont it. an hour later and he wont pick up the phone... fan ****ing tastic

im sure ill be seeing him sitting on the couch talking on the phone with his girlfriend while my landlords on his hands and knees cleaning drying the carpet

i know i aint gonna clean that bull**** if it ****s up

ugggh. censored cursing, my bad
 
Not uncommon to see all tanks bow a bit....even brand new ones....but it does sound like yours is pretty bad.
 
:grinyes: Mine bows several inches across the front. But then again so does the stand.

Is the tank acrylic then, or glass? I have heard of old glass tanks missing a crossbrace on top being repaired. If it is acrylic...hmm, don't know what to tell you.
 
well the water level has been lowered, so things should be ... kinda fine for now

why woudlnt i be able to put a brace on an acrylic tank?

I was planning on getting a steel bar then placing notches at the width of the tank at its edge then sliding it to the middle, that should work, shouldnt it?
 
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