FAILED BRACE in my 375 gallon tank HELP!

[smoke15]

The two braces that go from front to back on my tank have failed. The silicon came apart and both of the braces " fell off". The tank is only 8 months old, and LEEMAR says its not their fault. My "metal halides" weakened the silicon and made both of these braces fail.
This is a FULL SPS tank. They told me to drain it., but that they could not help me otherwise. Anyone got some help for me on what to do, short of draining it? I went to homedepot and bought some 36 inches braces to hold the tank together until I find a permenant solution. In the mean time I drained 25 percent of the water. HELP ME PLEASE

 

[smoke15]

These are the two braces that have failed AT THE SAME TIME. Why has this happened and what can I do.

 

[waynem]

Sorry to hear about your tank. I think you do need to drain it.

I cant believe the excuse they gave you. I would really really **** off with that.

oh do they say not to use lights on your tank??? what a joke.

 

[porthios]

guess i can scratch them off the list for any future purchases..

any chance you can just re-silicone the braces yourself? sounds like you'll do a better job anyway..

 

[Ninong]

I'm so sorry to hear of your problem. Please don't panic. Now that you have the tank braced, you're okay. I don't want to offer advice, just sympathy. I think you need to get professional help. I don't think you have a serious problem as long as the perimeter bracing is intact and there are no cracks or leaks anywhere along the seams. I think you will be okay and everything will work out just fine.

That looks like 3/4" Starphire, right? If so, I want you to look at this 718-gal Leemar tank. That's Wayne Shang's tank. He lives in Fremont (SF Bay Area). That's 3/4" Starphire and it's 96"L x 48"W x 36"H. It's much, much larger than your tank. Note that there is only a single 8" cross brace in the middle of the tank. It also has 4" perimeter bracing.

That would seem to indicate that you could get by with just one cross brace instead of two. Please ask for a professional opinion first. If so, just make sure that you do not position a metal halide lamp directly over the center cross brace.

There are other professional tank builders in California besides Leemar. Try calling one of them for advice. See if you can find someone close to San Diego.

Good luck!

 

[smoke15]

Thanks guys for the quick response. At least I now have enough faith that it will hold through the night and I can try get some sleep.
I cant believe leemar is giving me the shaft like that too. I mean its only like 8 months old. My lights are 13 inches away from that brace. Its also odd that they both failed. First the first one then today second one a few hours later.
It is 3/4 starphire glass.

 

[Kaiden]

I really do not want to get into bashing an aquarium manufacture as I don't know the whole story. All though in all honesty, come on really if what Smoke says is true then were is the problem?

Blame it on the lights? What does Leemar think people use on reef aquariums these days. I have spoke to a few people that have gotten the same treatment from them in the past. So sorry Smoke.. my friends did not get a touch of help in the matter.

I hope everything works out for you...

Mental note: Never ever think about buying a tank from Leemar.

 

[hatfielj]

I think that what is important to see here is the way in which the eurobracing was attached. This is the same method that Aquarium Obsessed uses. The braces should be resting on TOP of the perimeter of the tank, instead they are placed on the inside perimeter. This makes it so that all of the bowing forces are placed strictly on the silicone and the rigidity of the glass braces are not used at all.
If you look at how Miracles and AGE build their euro braced tanks you'll see that they do it correctly, and consequently have far fewer issues with broken seams/bracing coming apart. (In fact, I've never heard of either of these companies having issues).

 

[Kaiden]

I think that what is important to see here is the way in which the eurobracing was attached. This is the same method that Aquarium Obsessed uses. The braces should be resting on TOP of the perimeter of the tank, instead they are placed on the inside perimeter. This makes it so that all of the bowing forces are placed strictly on the silicone and the rigidity of the glass braces are not used at all.

Could not agree more with the comments!

 

[john rochon]

I find that a strange way to brace a tank?? I went with end to end ,front and rear bracing. then my side bracing and center brace sat on top of the long braces. giving it more silicone to glass area. just the way I built it.

 

[smoke15]

So can someone tell me EXACTLY what to do? How do I fix this problem so I dont have 375 gallons of water on my hardwood floor? Can these pieces effectively be "resiliconed" back into place to the point where it will hold the tank together?
How do I prevent my "metal halide" lightining from damaging the silicone in the future like leemar claims this alll stared in the first place?

 

[hatfielj]

Well, at this point the only way to properly fix it is to drain the tank to take the strain off the joints. Then, I would remove all of the eurobracing and attach new eurobracing along the top of the tank as described above. However, this will require getting new pieces of glass cut because the pieces that are on there now won't be the right size.
How old is the tank? I would ask LeeMar to make you new glass pieces for free since it is effectively their fault the tank broke.
I would show them this thread to see that they are getting a bad rap on here for this kind of service.

 

[reef canada]

The silicone failing had little to do with your lights. It had to do with your glass bowing. You need to get braces that sit on top of the tank.

 

[Kaiden]

Empty Tank
Square Up Tank with Clamps
Buy Longer Pieces of Glass
Buy Black Or Clear Silicon
Go To Work..

If the braces just came loose then your problem is easy. As long as the tank is holding together this is a quick project.

 

[mpoletti]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14385898#post14385898 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reef canada
The silicone failing had little to do with your lights. It had to do with your glass bowing.

Yep. Now the question is why? Lets forget about who made the tank for a second. What kind stand is it on? Did you place foam underneath the tank? Was the stand tweaked at all? 8 months is a really short time and there must be some other pressure that caused this as we all know its not the lights

 

[Sk8r]

Heated water can cause bowing. I'd suggest also talking to some of the people in the DIY forum: these people build tanks, among other things, and may have some good advice to give about repairing this.

 

[smoke15]

The tank sits on a custom metal frame. Foam was not put under the stand. It just sits on the stand itself. This thing is super solid and I cant believe anything could tweak it.
Yes, please help my problem solve why this happened. I also do not believe my metal halide caused this.
I took a level to the tank, and it appears leveled.
I do agree this is a "poor design style" not having bracing on top of the tank, but just inside of it.
How does , heated water, make that brace fall off?

 

[smoke15]

what else causes a tank to bow in the middle?

 

[KenT]

WOW! To me, the 1st thing the builder should have done is come out there personally to see the damge. I'm sure that tank was expensive. BAD BAD BAD service.

Now what to do. I don't know how you have it braced, but do a search. I remember a thread about the same thing.

Get an experienced glass person to fix it. Check with your local reef club for referals. It absolutely has to be done right!!! Maybe they can also shed some light on why it failed.

Good luck.

 

[john rochon]

I have some ideas on possible why the center braces failed.
the center brace pieces maybe were just a bit to short, so with a bit of a thicker joint is possibly how they attached them. this wouldn't be good. it would be TOO flexible and with added radiant heat there ya go. but I can't say for sure because they must be building other tanks like this??

IMO, bracing euro bracing should be total length of tank, and then side, center braced. I prefer to have center braces sit on top
of long braces.better hold but not as pretty.