Advice on filling tank hole, and reinforcing center brace?

[Sati]

I got a couple tanks from a aquarium group member for free that I'm going to try to fix. There's no broken glass, but they do leak so I'm going to entirely redo the seals. So that's issue #1.

Other than that she had a whole plumbing setup for her 70+ active tanks so the tanks are drilled. I need to fill the holes where the valve/thingy/fillermacallit deal is since I don't have that kind of setup.

Here's a pic.

My other issue is that the center brace on the 55g is broken. I need to add a strip of plastic, metal, wood, or something to glue or drill to it so that the tank doesn't bow. The thing is, the piece isn't flat. Only the edge of the center piece would be affixed to the new reinforcement so I'm not sure how well it'll hold.

Again, pics so you know what I'm talking about.
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/fish/Center_brace1.jpg
http://www.ourglasshouse.com/holly/fish/Center_brace2.jpg

Once I've dealt with all of this, I'm going to move on to working on the lighting as well as building a stand. For now I just need to get these tanks safe Any advice is appreciated!

 

[JProx]

my fix for issue 1.
remove the bulkhead that's in the tank, then to go a local glass shop and buy a peice a glass (that's shapped like a square, and ask them to round the edges, so you don't cut yourself when handling, some places do it for free, other charge for it) that will overlap the hole by about 1inch in all directions, lastly get some aquarium sealer and apply it over the square peice of glass, then afix it over the hole, i have always applied this treatment on the outside of the tank. let the sealent cure (usually within 24hrs) then water test it, and reapply as needed.

issue 2
i have had the exact same problem with a 55, during tank cleaning i bumped the support bar with my elbow and it snapped. i called up my LFS and they told me it was replacable, but would need to be special ordered. it ended up costing me about 17bucks with shipping. my LFS carries All glass aquarium stuff exclusively, if you know of an LFS that does carry all glass stuff, i would ask them first [based on personal experience]. after you have it in hand, it's just a matter of carefully removing the old one, then filling the new one with sealent, position it in place, wiping off the excess and letting it cure.

if you need more specfics, just ask!