What would you do with a 55 gal tank w/ a busted cross brace

[Imran]

Hi,

The movers broke the cross brace of my 55 gal tank, it snapped right
across the center. I tried filling it up but it started to bow and
that's too much stress and water for me to deal with on the floor. I
tried fixing it by rebracing it with a wooden dowel, now the cross
brace stays together but it's ripping off the plastic molding going
around the top of the tank on both sides. I just bought a new one and
threw the busted one on my back porch where it is collecting
rainwater. Now I have some spare time to deal with it.

Here is what I'm considering:
1) Trying to get the plastic molding off and replacing it with a new
one. Has anyone ever removed that without dismantling the whole the
tank? Can you get replacement moldings from anywhere? Any idea how
much they cost?

2) Pulling the whole tank apart and attempting to build a smaller
custom sized aquarium that will fit nicely on a shelf I have. Been
doing a lot of reading on this, the thing that worries me most is
cutting the glass, it can't be easy cutting a 4 foot piece of glass.
But hey, it's free glass so I might as well give it a shot if option 1
isn't possible.

3) Cleaning it up and selling it on ebay as a terrarium.

Would you guys do any one of these 3 options or are there better
solutions out there.

Thanks

Imran

[blove]

the petshop i work at can get the plastic molding but i don tknow how much
it costs and its a pain to get on but you aint gotta dismantle the tank. i
personally would put in a lil pool and a lil fountain, some live moss and
live plants and get some little anoles or a couple of tokay geckos and have
it as a living vivarium.

"Imran" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> The movers broke the cross brace of my 55 gal tank, it snapped right
> across the center. I tried filling it up but it started to bow and
> that's too much stress and water for me to deal with on the floor. I
> tried fixing it by rebracing it with a wooden dowel, now the cross
> brace stays together but it's ripping off the plastic molding going
> around the top of the tank on both sides. I just bought a new one and
> threw the busted one on my back porch where it is collecting
> rainwater. Now I have some spare time to deal with it.
>
> Here is what I'm considering:
> 1) Trying to get the plastic molding off and replacing it with a new
> one. Has anyone ever removed that without dismantling the whole the
> tank? Can you get replacement moldings from anywhere? Any idea how
> much they cost?
>
> 2) Pulling the whole tank apart and attempting to build a smaller
> custom sized aquarium that will fit nicely on a shelf I have. Been
> doing a lot of reading on this, the thing that worries me most is
> cutting the glass, it can't be easy cutting a 4 foot piece of glass.
> But hey, it's free glass so I might as well give it a shot if option 1
> isn't possible.
>
> 3) Cleaning it up and selling it on ebay as a terrarium.
>
> Would you guys do any one of these 3 options or are there better
> solutions out there.
>
> Thanks
>
> Imran

[Djay]

The cross brace on my 70 gal tank is a piece of glass 1/4" X 4" X the
distance across the tank. It is siliconed in place against the rear and
front surface of the tank. The tank has a plastic molding all around with
mitered corners. The molding has no strengthening value.

DJay

"Imran" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> The movers broke the cross brace of my 55 gal tank, it snapped right
> across the center. I tried filling it up but it started to bow and
> that's too much stress and water for me to deal with on the floor. I
> tried fixing it by rebracing it with a wooden dowel, now the cross
> brace stays together but it's ripping off the plastic molding going
> around the top of the tank on both sides. I just bought a new one and
> threw the busted one on my back porch where it is collecting
> rainwater. Now I have some spare time to deal with it.
>
> Here is what I'm considering:
> 1) Trying to get the plastic molding off and replacing it with a new
> one. Has anyone ever removed that without dismantling the whole the
> tank? Can you get replacement moldings from anywhere? Any idea how
> much they cost?
>
> 2) Pulling the whole tank apart and attempting to build a smaller
> custom sized aquarium that will fit nicely on a shelf I have. Been
> doing a lot of reading on this, the thing that worries me most is
> cutting the glass, it can't be easy cutting a 4 foot piece of glass.
> But hey, it's free glass so I might as well give it a shot if option 1
> isn't possible.
>
> 3) Cleaning it up and selling it on ebay as a terrarium.
>
> Would you guys do any one of these 3 options or are there better
> solutions out there.
>
> Thanks
>
> Imran

[Surgicalrn]

As someone who recently lost a 55 gal. due to the same problem I would
suggest #3 as the easiest! I had mine burst on me at about 3am one morning
and it woke me from a sound sleep! I had it about 1/2 full of water trying
different things to fix it (none of which worked) so there was about 25 gal.
or so of water, sand, gravel and java fern on the floor! Took me four days
to clean up completely and I still have my cat dragging up the occasional
shard of glass. Good luck with whatever you decide to do! There are ways to
replace that plastic piece but someone other than me will have to tell you
about it.

[bassett]

Whats wrong with getting a section of glass and "Selastic" it on top of the
broken section,
or removeing the broken section and adding a couple of new braces at 16 inch
centres

bassett


blove > wrote in message
...
> the petshop i work at can get the plastic molding but i don tknow how much
> it costs and its a pain to get on but you aint gotta dismantle the tank.
i
> personally would put in a lil pool and a lil fountain, some live moss and
> live plants and get some little anoles or a couple of tokay geckos and
have
> it as a living vivarium.
>
> "Imran" > wrote in message
> om...
> > Hi,
> >
> > The movers broke the cross brace of my 55 gal tank, it snapped right
> > across the center. I tried filling it up but it started to bow and
> > that's too much stress and water for me to deal with on the floor. I
> > tried fixing it by rebracing it with a wooden dowel, now the cross
> > brace stays together but it's ripping off the plastic molding going
> > around the top of the tank on both sides. I just bought a new one and
> > threw the busted one on my back porch where it is collecting
> > rainwater. Now I have some spare time to deal with it.
> >
> > Here is what I'm considering:
> > 1) Trying to get the plastic molding off and replacing it with a new
> > one. Has anyone ever removed that without dismantling the whole the
> > tank? Can you get replacement moldings from anywhere? Any idea how
> > much they cost?
> >
> > 2) Pulling the whole tank apart and attempting to build a smaller
> > custom sized aquarium that will fit nicely on a shelf I have. Been
> > doing a lot of reading on this, the thing that worries me most is
> > cutting the glass, it can't be easy cutting a 4 foot piece of glass.
> > But hey, it's free glass so I might as well give it a shot if option 1
> > isn't possible.
> >
> > 3) Cleaning it up and selling it on ebay as a terrarium.
> >
> > Would you guys do any one of these 3 options or are there better
> > solutions out there.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> > Imran
>
>