Middle Support broke on Glass Tank! Advice?

[CarsNfishtanks]

Hello!
I was setting up a Phosphate Reactor on the side of my tank where the lights sit on top of the tank and the lights fell and hit the Glass support in the middle of the tank. There is now a 1/4 inch gab between the glass support. I heard the support/brace is really important for holding the tank together and I could have a 75 gallon flood on my hands soon if i don't act fast.

I started the tank 2 weeks ago and this is my first salt water tank. I have about 55 pounds of live rock in it, 80 pounds of live sand in it, 2 clown fish, 1 bubble tip anemone, 3 chromis, and a pulsing xenia frag.

Do you guys think I'm going to have to buy a new tank, or can it be fixed with the live stock inside?
If I do buy a new tank, can i just put all my water, live sand, live rock, fish, and corals in right away or will i need to wait? I would obviously wait until the sand settles but would I have to wait any longer?

Any advice would be really really helpful,
Thank you so much for your time!

 

[Tkey3425]

You should have already waited more than 2 weeks but that's been preached forever so to answer your question....you'll need to find out what manufacturer the tank was and order a new top trim for it. Cut the old one off and then replace it resealing the top. Now to some more issues you have...the anemone #1 needs a very stable tank (not many beginners are very stable with their tanks) #2 they need very strong lighting. (6-8 bulb T5s might cut it but metal halide and high power LEDs are more commonly used in high light demand systems) #3 you need to slow down and research some about the hobby. (Tank cycle, equipment, etc etc) now back to the question. You can put everything in a big runner maid container like a 32 gallon or a 55 but that would be temporary and you might end up losing the anemone because they can't really take all the stress of a new tank especially when moving around doing tank repairs. On the other hand clowns and Xenia are pretty resilient so you might want to consider selling or letting someone hold the anemone until it's complete. also just for some info. Most people will not recommend a anemone unless a tank is about a year old. Also it will kill your corals if they touch so be careful and keep researching.

 

[CarsNfishtanks]

I feel dumb!

Tkey3425,
Thank you very much for your response! I'm a car guy and Im not very good at being patient but my emerald crab died today so I think I will definitely go a lot slower for now on. Im not really sure where to do my research, when i added in my fish, the tank had cycled for a week. My ammonia and Nitrite was at 0 while my Nitrate was at 10-20 range, and my Ph was at around 8.1. My local fish store said I was ready to start adding some fish and said it was fine for me to add the anemone so I didn't think twice about it. So, do i keep the clownfish and get them a frogspawn or hammer to have it host in?

Is there a rate of speed of adding things that i can go by or how do i know when I can add more life to the tank?

Thank you for all your help!

By the way i forgot to say i have 2 emerald crabs(now 1), and 7 nassarius snails

I spent about $3k for the 75 gallon tank set up so i was hoping for some immediate gratification but I guess I'm in the wrong hobby for that lol

 

[Tkey3425]

You need to let your tank run for at least 6 months to let the tank stabilize and let you get a feel for the tank maintenance. Things will fluctuate in a new tank especially if it's your first. You'll need a good reef salt mix to keep corals or anemones. Also clowns don't need anything to host. They will host a heater or corner if they want lol. It's not unhealthy for them to not have anything to host. Your lights are also a big factor in what coral you can house. Even hammer and torch require some decent power lighting.

 

[nelix10]

To fix the glass support you may be able to clamp together the sides to get the brace back tight together, then glue a piece of acrylic or glass onto it! Once good and dry you can remove the clamp! I would try this before buying a new tank or moving anything!

 

[CarsNfishtanks]

To fix the glass support you may be able to clamp together the sides to get the brace back tight together, then glue a piece of acrylic or glass onto it! Once good and dry you can remove the clamp! I would try this before buying a new tank or moving anything!

Okay! Thank you!!

 

[nelix10]

I rushed things a lot too! Be diligent with WC and you can keep things going fine!

 

[woody390]

When you say ammonia and nitrate was 0 did you add anything to start the cycle and add the ammonia?

 

[CarsNfishtanks]

When you say ammonia and nitrate was 0 did you add anything to start the cycle and add the ammonia?

Yeah I used ZEObak along with my live sand and live rock

 

[AbsoluteFaye]

You paid $3000 for what? It's a 75 gal setup, what was included in the $3000? Just curious.

 

[woody390]

I'd have used an ammonia source to build bacteria up rather than bottled bacteria. It's a lot more reliable

 

[dmolavi]

Tkey3425,
Thank you very much for your response! I'm a car guy and Im not very good at being patien

Saltwater tanks are like racing cars...the faster you go, the harder you crash.

I cycled my tank for 3 months. It didn't need that long, and was stable after 4 weeks, but I like to err on the side of caution. (And my LFS didn't get my livestock in when I expected)

 

[Holygral]

As others have said you are headed for even more troubles than you realize with a stocked tank that probally hasn't even started to cycle, you chances of keeping the nems are slim to none in a new tank that still has to cycle. 3-6 weeks for a cycle, then only a cuc, and then a few weeks later a single small fish and a few weeks later another ect. After 3 months you might be ready for some easy corals 9-12 months, maybe a nem and many before you also thought that their tank was different but they never are.

But as far as your brace problem, as others have suggested, try and get a new top, buy I would drain the tank part way and take the stress off of it, if you want to fixe it, get some weld on and acrylic and make 2 new pieces to sandwich the broken piece in-between. You will have to get the gap in the old brace closed before doing it. Weld on will fuse the pieces all together. Care will been takes not to get any of it in the tank.

Also it broke while setting up a phosphate reactor, you don't need one, save your money, wc is all you need to keep most reefs successful.

 

[dmolavi]

Re: an ammonia source...you'll have one once your livestock starts dying off because your tank isn't cycled. You should see if your LFS will take your livestock and put them in a holding tank for you while you cycle.

Put a raw cocktail shrimp in an old stocking and let it rot away. That will kick start your cycle. Or, you can use the pure ammonia (no surfactants, sudsing agents, etc) from a local hardware store.

 

[CarsNfishtanks]

As others have said you are headed for even more troubles than you realize with a stocked tank that probally hasn't even started to cycle, you chances of keeping the nems are slim to none in a new tank that still has to cycle. 3-6 weeks for a cycle, then only a cuc, and then a few weeks later a single small fish and a few weeks later another ect. After 3 months you might be ready for some easy corals 9-12 months, maybe a nem and many before you also thought that their tank was different but they never are.

But as far as your brace problem, as others have suggested, try and get a new top, buy I would drain the tank part way and take the stress off of it, if you want to fixe it, get some weld on and acrylic and make 2 new pieces to sandwich the broken piece in-between. You will have to get the gap in the old brace closed before doing it. Weld on will fuse the pieces all together. Care will been takes not to get any of it in the tank.

Also it broke while setting up a phosphate reactor, you don't need one, save your money, wc is all you need to keep most reefs successful.

I hear a phosphate reactor might be doing more harm than good? Is it taking out essential minerals I might need?
Thank you for your time! Every week I'm gonna do a 15-20 gallon water change

 

[Holygral]

So many people want to dose and add extra equipment, but bottom line is 99 % of reef tanks only need regular water changes, if all the money spent on unneeded equipment! chemicals and snake oils was just spent on rodi units and salt there would be many more successful reefers out there, just my experience Abd opinion.

 

[nelix10]

So Carsnfish have you fixed your broken support?