Metal brace around aquarium ?

[devmasa]

Some of you FW planted tank hobbyists might recognize this massive tank that belongs to the aquascaping master Takashi Amano.
I am curious about certain things :
- What metal is that metal bracing around the tank ?
- Is each glass panel siliconed to each other as well as the metal frame ?
- Would something like this work for a SW tank ? Ofcourse the metal plumbing wont work for SW but what about the bracing ?

 

[JustinS]

Some manufacturers use steel or stainless steel frames that they then either powder coat or rubberize to protect them from the salt. They typically only do this on very large tanks. Deep Sea and AGE will do this on large tanks.

 

[sonnus]

It's absolutely possible on a reef tank. I actually made a stainless brace for my acrylic tank so I wouldn't need any top brace.

I also have a friend with an AGE tank that has stainless on the top and bottom. They just have a nice bead of silicone between the glass and the metal.

304L stainless is good but 316L is best. If you want to keep that "metal" look you can have a clear powder coat applied to the stainless. You could leave it bare but I wouldn't because of all of the potentially bad metals in stainless.

 

[BigOldReef]

My 400g display tank has a stainless frame around the top and a totally open top.

Makes access to the tank great, and no shadowing from the lights.

I had a 3" acrylic edge put around the top of the tank (inside the frame) to keep the salt water from coming into contact with the frame.

I run a 26g surge, so when the surge dumps it fills the tank to the top.

I've had several friends who have also built tanks the same way, and other than some issues with manufacturers that 'misled' and claimed powder coating, when in fact they painted the frame the tanks have been great.

 

[devmasa]

Thanks for the info guys.
Would aluminum not work well as bracing material ?

can anyone post links to images/threads of tanks with full frame bracing like the one in above pictures?

 

[sonnus]

Here's a recent example:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2062544&page=11