Daplatapus's 210 upgrade

daplatapus

daplatapus

New member
Sorry but for my first post I have questions before pics :D
I've started the upgrade and have a bunch of work done but I'm rushed for time this morning so I thought I'd post a ? and fill in the backstory later tonight.
I have a standard 210 - 72"long, 24" wide, 30" tall. I cut out my internal overflows and am going to patch those holes. I've cut a side overflow into the left side but then when cleaning up after everything, I leaned on the unsupported black ABS side brace and broke it. Du'oh!
So after cleaning the piece of glass I cut out, I see it's totally polished so this tank seems like a likely candidate for removing the black plastic trim and replacing with glass euro bracing. Only problem is I can't get anyone to help me figure out what size of glass pieces I need. Not on the DIY forum here, not me glass shops, not any tank manufacturers - no one will speak to it. Most won't return PM's or calls.
Tank is made of 12mm (1/2") glass. Can someone tell me how wide these pieces should be and exactly how to place them on the top of this tank?
I want 2 centre braces to accommodate my 3 DIY LED's.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
Total center brace width should be 1/3 the length of your aquarium. To be EXTRA safe you might want to brace the bottom on the inside in the gaps ( directly under the spaces for your LEDs )

No one calls you back because you not knowing scares the crap out of them, no one wants to be responsible for the bad advice....

....so IMHO...fill it and run it for at least a week OUTISDE your home with LOTS of flow (wave action)

Good luck, that's scary
 
Lol, I hear ya! How do you think I feel making this mod? It's my living room floor and basement, haha.
But I'd assume this knowledge isn't miraculously bestowed on certain individuals. I'm more than happy to learn it, but I can't find the info anywhere. Is there somewhere to research how to calculate the sizes I would need? Everything I've read so far talks about the thickness of glass but no where can I find how to determine the width of braces.
I'm 100% behind the philosophy of "Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a life time."
So if someone can point me to where I can learn how to make the determination for myself, I'd be very grateful.
 
scuzy said:
I would custom order a tank than to modify a standard just for the piece if mind.
Click to expand...

While I would agree, that if I was wanting a tank like this originally I would definitely custom order one. But I have a tank. Other than this one break of the original trim, is still a good tank. I can't see the wise thing being throwing away a perfectly good $1000 tank if I can fix it. I would bring it to a professional to fix it but alas, there is no one any where near me that builds tanks. So I either fix it or throw it away, which seems a bit extreme.
So, how can I fix it?
I'm not some weekend warrior that has no idea about anything structural. I'm a high end renovator, who has tools out the ying yang and has a head on his shoulders that I know how to use. I'm more than willing to read and learn, obviously not afraid to acknowledge that I don't know everything and am humble enough to know when to ask. So, I'm asking. How can I fix this tank so it's good for the next 10-15 years?
It would appear to me the existing trim is a bit brittle so I thought I'd re-do the bracing rather fix the one break, but if the consensus is I'm better off repairing the existing bracing rather than glass euro brace the tank, someone tell me.
Please...
 
I'm not an expert and I don't have rafts of engineering specs to back anything up with, but I will try to give you my simplistic understanding of this stuff and see if it helps you figure something out for your tank.

As far as I know the plastic trim you removed from the upper edge doesn't do diddly for your tank as far as structural support. It helps stop salt creep and looks pretty. The purpose of euro-bracing is to prevent deflection, i.e. warping of the panes of glass. Obviously this is going to affect the longer panes of glass most.

The weird thing is that water distributes its weight from the top down so it pushes outward most on the bottom seams of the tank. Therefore the most effective place to start with euro-bracing is along the bottom of the tank on the long sides. This bracing strip should be three inches wide and the same thickness as your tank's existing panes, i.e. half-inch glass. This should run end to end. Then use the same thickness glass to fill in the ends at the bottom of the short sides.

The second place the glass is going to want to bend and stretch is along the top edge, and again the sides most susceptible are the longer sides. Use the same bracing strips that you used along the bottom, i.e. three inches wide and half-inch thick glass run end to end. Then use the same size bracing strip across the top short ends.

As for cross braces along the top you get a lot of argument. Most people hate cross bracing as it is always in the way when lighting, feeding and cleaning the tank. The lengthwise strips along the top edges will manage the most of the deflection in the glass but cross braces of the same size strips (three inches wide and half-inch thick) can't hurt. I have had tanks up to 60" long with no need for a cross brace. For yours at 72", if you really think you would feel better having a cross brace on top I think you would only need one across the top centre.

Make sure to leave room for the silicone adhesive when measuring the lengths of your bracing strips. There is some real potential for some d'oh moments lying in wait for you.

If it's any consolation feel happy that you are working with glass. Deflection in acrylic is ten times worse.

Dave.M
 
Thanks for the info dave.m, I appreciate it. That all makes sense. I won't be touching the bottom bracing at all. It's all sound and since I'll be making my own custom stand that'll cover it, I'm not worried about it at all.
I've finally talked to a tank builder in Alberta who's done tons of these mods and he's given me direction on how to proceed as well which is cool.
FoxDaddy: That's a very good suggestion about setting it up outside for a week or 2 running full of water. While in itself that doesn't guarantee it'll last forever without blowing out, it should certainly help me ascertain if there's any deflection or issues that are not readily visible when filling it up and creating a surge in there. I've got a decent shop I can set it up in that should do the trick.

Well if I haven't put too many of you off yet with this mod, at least I can put up some pics of the tank and keep you in on this scary ride of mine. Again, any help will be appreciated.

Here's a pic of the original tank (right now it's in my basement, not my shop):


I cut out the internal overflows:


Cleaned her up. You can see on the side what I wanted to cut out for my external overflow:


My original plan was to cut out that glass on the one side and leave the trim in tact and it all worked out well, but then when I leaned on it when it was no longer supported by the glass, it broke. Which is what worries me a bit about the centre bracing. I'm assuming they are just as brittle. I'd assume because of the previous lights degrading the plastic. Thus my thinking of removing and replacing the bracing.

So, I did my layout, and cut my side holes in the trim:


There's still lots of meat in the trim remaining:


Drilled my left hole:


Right hole:
 
Used my "Beast" to cut the straight line. It did an awesome job, but I got a bit wet to say the least:










But then dummy me did the oops :( :




But I'm glad it happened now rather than when it had 210 gallons of water in it. So I cleaned up the piece I removed and this is what the top edge looks like:


So after all the reading I've been able to find on euro bracing tanks after the fact, it seems like the largest issue (other than making people extremely nervous) is the finish on the top edge of the the tank glass. This would appear to have the best case scenario in this regard. And I feel more comfortable with the idea of replacing this trim with 4 1/2" X 1/2" glass on all 4 sides with 2 centre braces of the same size than leaving this trim as is and repairing this break with a piece of flat stock ABS.
I agree it's not as good a solution as replacing the tank, but I can't see that being an option right now.
 
Further on the rest of the build, I built my stand. My house is an older place, probably built in the 30's or so. I've completely renovated it from the framing up. But as old houses do, it's got some levelling issues. So after I built the base for my stand I sat it in place, levelled it out and scribbed the bottom. Took her back out and planed it, dropped her back in place and Bob's your uncle.


On a six foot level:


It's final resting place:


The armoire will be removed along with everything above the stand obviously, and a cabinet built around the tank on the left side and over the top. So it will be visible from 2 sides. I'll also be including exhaust fans from the hood to outside. I've got a basement sump so the bottom of the stand will all be useable cabinet.
 
So, I was finally able to have a good long chat with a couple tank manufacturer's and one of them in a city a couple hours away cut up some eurobraces for me and some glass for my new overflow box. Got everything siliconed up last week. Got the overflow box siliconed on tonight. I'll give it a few days and fill 'er up in the garage with a couple MP40's with a nice little wave. We'll see if she holds.
Here's a couple pics of the overflow box construction :









And a couple while doing the eurobrace. I used a couple of the cross braces as temp braces while I siliconed the front and back on:

 
I know you said you're not interested in fiddling around with the bottom panes on your tank, but if you want to see what bottom pane cross bracing looks like, I can show you, my tank has it.
 
that's some serious mods...glad you have the stones to do it cause I wouldn't be able to lmao.... good job so far
 
maddmaxx said:
that's some serious mods...glad you have the stones to do it cause I wouldn't be able to lmao.... good job so far
Click to expand...

Haha, I hear ya. No guts, no glory though I guess. Like Dave.M said, I've had some "Du'oh!" moments already but had enough wits about me to catch anything remotely serious. If I can get a few guys over here this aft, I'll have water in it tonight. I've also got a couple WP40's to stick in there to get a bit of wave action.
Here's for a dry garage floor in the morning :) :beer:
 
HAHA... dry garage.... Well at least it is not in the basement yet. Much rather not have that wet right?
 
You got that right. I may be brave with my tank, but not so much with my wife :D

So here's a bit of a clip with water in it:

 
Geeze, didn't realize it's been so long since I've updated this. No it's not wet yet, but we're getting there, lol.

I let that water test with the wave sit there for over a week, seems good to go. Got the stand painted to seal the wood and bribed a few buddies over with beer to get 'er moved into the house.





I was originally going to build a foam rock wall for the back but decided I really like the look of my existing tank with bare glass. But with the overflow where it is, you can see it from the viewing side. So I broke out my wet saw (benefits of being a contractor, I have a few cool tools) and cut up a box of Marco rock...







 
Then I just starting laying it out and siliconing it to the left side of the tank.





and what it roughly looks like finished





I plan on having an arch that connects to the lone floating rock on the right side.

Then I started building my cabinetry, which has taken me a while - no time :(

Canopy frame





And how it looks on the tank





 
And working on the left cabinet and tying it all together...





Yesterday I finally had the time to get the face frame, crown moulding and the lower tank trim/stool into the paint boot and give 2 coats of Clawlock







And hopefully today we get a couple coats of white on. I'll be clear coating everything also after that.
I really need to get to my plumbing :)
 
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