any ideas on how i can stop it from bowing anymore, its the black bit in the middle that goes from the back piece of glass to the front on the top of the tank, but it separated and now the front pane of glass is bowing out.. we have a temporary "clamp" but it doesn't really work as i have to readjust it about every hour to keep it on there

apart from anything that can be see i think your f,'ked

not nice

im in the same boat on my 8 foot tank, but i fab'd 2 braces. its just all thread, nuts, and some plate with a hole the size of the allthread cut in it.
lol i just pushed it back where it was supposed to be and screwed the nut and plate snug to it and tightened the locknut up really snug on it. so far its all good.
theres actually a thread somewhere around here where the top support braces gave out and fell into the tank the first time i filled it up, it was 3/4 full when that happend. and i measured it was flexed out over an inch. as it sits now its only 1/4" wider. i thought i was going to lose it on 2 dif occasions. it seems to be all good now tho

thats all good if you dont mind it bein seen, still looks very scary to you both! if glass bows its not good it could give any min

all the presure of the water is now on the bowed bit of glass

while having no bracket yet, i suggest to reduce water volume to half. that tank
is not looking good, the side panel may give in any moment. if you can not find
a full threaded rod, go to a steel welding shop, fabricate a bracket using an angle
bar, get two bolts and nut and have them welded in both ends of a rod and there you
go, you have a tightening rod.

i have a bracket but it doesn't really work i cant keep the metal plate straight it angles away from the tank, i have to redo it all the time because it just pops off. do you think you could get a more close up picture of your brackets win so i can try to make some?

pumas241 wrote:


sure

thank you, ill let you know how well it works

pumas241 wrote:


well its half inch diameter "allthread", and quarter inch plate steel on the ends, i have those nuts clamping the plate so it wont flex out like what you were talking about earlier. this seems to be pretty rigid and working for me. i would like to clarify that the stuff i used in my repair here... was what was available at a spur of the moment phonecall lol. sooner or later i would like to make a frame around the top out of angle iron, and it can do the same thing as those braces, and have some risers i can hang some lights off of in the process.

Hope everything works out for you! Once you get something in place that will work temporarily an angle iron piece welded to form a new top for your tank would be your best bet...like what Win mentioned above!

this tank is equipped with top and bottom support made of angle bar
with flat bar across the center top.