125 tall center brace keeps breaking

[muddybigbludodge]

I got this tank which is a 115 or 125 tall I forget which I have just replaced the top trim about maybe 3 mo. Ago and it just broke again is this common for these tanks its 4' wide 21" deep and 3' tall approx going off memory

 

[AquaRick]

Not sure about tall tanks, but I had a similar problem with a regular 125g tank. Brace broke a couple weeks after I bought it off a guy from CL. Instead of getting a new plastic brace, I made two (top & bottom) from aluminum framing. It was about $15 for one piece. Ended up using 3 for all sides. It's been up and running for 3 months now. There has been absolutely no bowing of the glass as opposed to slight bowing when the plastic brace was up and running.

 

[muddybigbludodge]

Well dosnt matter now a few hours later 2:00 am the basement has 120 gallons of water on the floor now. Im done with this whole hobby can't afford to be replacing tank and wood floors

 

[ffmedic2800]

Sorry that happened. Will say that's the first I've ever heard of that happening to anyone and I've been doing this a long time. I'd say stick with it, you'd probably have better luck being struck by lightening then having a tank break on you again.

 

[rayt]

did you redo the silicone in the tank when you redid the brace, chances are if it broke, the silicone was probably failing and all the pressure went onto the brace.

 

[muddybigbludodge]

Yea I redid all silicone in the tank and it was fine for months the top brace broke so I put a strap around the top to help and then the bottom of the back glass blew out about a foot wide v shape hourslater later

 

[BillD]

Sorry to here about your problem. It is difficult to say what happened here with real certainty, but, a strap around the top would not offer much (if any) support. If the break started at the bottom, than something else was going on here. A tank that is 36" (or even 30") tall should be made of thicker glass than one that is 24" tall. If the manufacturer cheaped out, and used glass that was too thin for the height, the centre brace would have to withstand much more stress than on a tank of 24". This might explain the short life of your new top frame. Another possibility would be that the stand did not offer a flat level surface, which would introduce torsional forces to the equation.