# [Wet Thumb Forum]-Center Brace on Large Aquarium



## brbarkey (Nov 17, 2004)

I am going to buy a 125 gallon tank and hopfully put in a big piece of drift wood. My question is how important are those braces and Can i take the brace off and on so I can pull out the driftwood? How do other people put in big pieces of driftwood with those support braces on the aquarium


----------



## brbarkey (Nov 17, 2004)

I am going to buy a 125 gallon tank and hopfully put in a big piece of drift wood. My question is how important are those braces and Can i take the brace off and on so I can pull out the driftwood? How do other people put in big pieces of driftwood with those support braces on the aquarium


----------



## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

Go ahead and remove the brace. The manufacture put it there just to bug you. It has nothing what so ever to do with the structural integrity of the tank. The most that will happen is you will fill the tank and the front and back glass with either break or just separate from the sides. 125 gallons of water is not that much water to try and remove from your floor. Just keep a good drill with a large hole saw attached so you can drill out some holes around 2" in diameter so the water can drain off your floor.

*In case you did not see my tounge firmly planted in my cheek you are best off to leave the braces alone.*










American by birth, Marine by the grace of God! This post spell checked with IESpell available at http://www.iespell.com

See my Profile for tank details.

See my planted tank FAQ at http://members.dsl-only.net/~rex/

[This message was edited by Jay Luto on Mon December 29 2003 at 07:36 AM.]


----------



## brbarkey (Nov 17, 2004)

So i guess I can remove it then.









You still didnt answer my last question. How do get big pieces of drift wood into the tank. For example one that is about 5' long


----------



## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

Remove the brace, then put it back in after the driftwood is installed.


----------



## Hawkeye (Aug 20, 2004)

I would cut the driftwood in half then reassemble in after you put it in the aquarium. 

Good one Rex!!! I love to read your replies !!! ROFLOL

Hawk

Trust But Verify «*»®


----------



## Rex Grigg (Jan 22, 2004)

You can try and angle it in. Or you could cut it in half as suggested and epoxy it back together.










American by birth, Marine by the grace of God! This post spell checked with IESpell available at http://www.iespell.com

See my Profile for tank details.

See my planted tank FAQ at http://members.dsl-only.net/~rex/


----------



## vinz (Feb 19, 2004)

Or...

Don't use that large a piece of driftwood. I often find that single large piece of wood do not make as interesting a shape as several shorter/skinnier pieces arranged nicely. They can be arrange to look like one large piece. Better for maintainance in the long run too.

Vincent
Home: Aquatic Habitats Hangout: Aquatic Quotient


----------



## TheChucko (Aug 30, 2003)

Or couldn't you remove the brace before any water is added, place the driftwood in the desired location, and then replace the brace and add water? Then if you need to remove the driftwood I guess you could remove the brace if you drained a lot of the water from the tank first.


----------



## Jim Miller (Feb 3, 2003)

Probably stating the obvious but remove and replace will likely reduce reliability. And I'd want any tank in my house that required a center brace to be *very* reliable.

jtm


----------



## gpodio (Feb 4, 2004)

You can also remove the entire top plastic frame without cutting anything, but it took us a loooong time and a lot of fiddling with razor blades to get through all the silicon. If you do cut the brace, I suggest you use a longer piece to replace it rather than the same one. Overlap the edges and bolt it on using stainless steel locking nuts and bolts. I've had a 90 open up on me and like Rex pointed out, it's a lot of fun!









How about cutting the wood instead and inserting stainless pins in one end or long screws so that it can be re-assembled once inside the tank. I'd feel safer doing it this way.

Giancarlo Podio


----------



## brbarkey (Nov 17, 2004)

Rex...I did everything you said and it works like a charm!!

thanks


----------



## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Why is it that Europian tanks do not have a center brace? I accidently broke off the center brace on one of my 55s when moving it. It hasn't caused me any problems. I do not think you could reliably re attach it after cutting it off.

Robert
King admin
www.aquabotanic.com


----------



## JERP (Feb 4, 2003)

The center brace can be reatteched. You have to use clamps to hold the sides of the tank in place while the epoxy dries. It's like building a cabinet. Any carpenters out there know this game pretty well.

I have also seen glass tanks that substituted a 2" glass rim on the top along the outside edge for the center brace.


----------



## McKee (Feb 7, 2003)

> quote:
> 
> Originally posted by Robert H:
> Why is it that Europian tanks do not have a center brace?


They have metric water over there, so it isn't as heavy nor as dense as our water. That's why they can measure their water in liters, but we have to measure ours in gallons.









------------------------
Our diary: http://Oscar.deardiary.net/


----------

