# WTF!!! Tank Brace Snapped This morning!!



## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

so this morning i woke up and fed my fish. my baby rhom is in a 55 gallon tank in my room and i noticed that there was some algae on the back to scrape off. so i scraped it off quickly. as i was bringing my hand out of the tank i hear this "crrrrr-ack BOOM!". at first i just jumped, but then i noticed that the brace had snapped, and the friggin front of the tank was bowing REALLY badly. probably 3" or so. luckily i was standing with my gut against the tank when i was scraping algae, so the glass didnt shatter, but it was looking really bad. i frantically emptied water out of the tank to relieve some of the pressure, and got to work setting up the only other tank i had lying around...a 10 gallon.

i got my rhom transplanted into the 10 gallon and everything, but god damnit do these things ever happen at the worst times. i was in a mad rush to get out of the house because i left my books at my gfs and had to go finish up a bunch of homework before class. 2 hours of wasted time switching tanks and i just now finished my homework...and i leave for class in 10 minutes!

i feel really bad for my rhom. poor guy was NOT happy about getting tossed into that tank. luckily my gf has a 35 gallon at her house that im going to switch him over to tomorrow or the day after.

this is NOT a good day. big wind/rain storm last night...horrible weather this morning...busted ass tank...and night school







lol

now im going to stick with acrylic tanks! thats my one lesson learned this morning.


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## sadboy (Jan 6, 2005)

dam bro, that really sucks..... Could you maybe glue a new brace on your tank? I mean until you get a acrylic tank.... I have never been a fan of glass tanks since I have a 6 year old boy and I have butterfingers. I am scared out of my mind of breaking a glass tank.


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

hey glad to hear u caught it, u shld look at it like u had the best day! I mean imagine how shi**y the day would be had you came home after all the other crap to a dead rhom and 55 gallons of water on your floor~! sorry about your problem, but u my friend are lucky!


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## Coldfire (Aug 20, 2003)




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## evermore (Oct 7, 2003)

Just thought you should know that the frame can be replaced. glasscages sell them for ten US $ plus shipping. i had this happen too.


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

i got to tell you, that is my biggest fear
55 gallons of water spilling down to my (downstairs) neighbors apartment....
i feel for you man, at least u saved it.








how big is the Rhom?.. oh 6"..... now i see..... well... yay for guts!


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

the rhom i THOUGHT was around 4", but after getting him out of the water i would say closer to 5". he's growin good!lol

yeah im glad i caught it, but it was still a PITA.lol

ill probably buy the replacement brace but sell the tank. after this i dont want to have a glass tank of that size that might crack. i would rather try my luck with an acrylic tank as i have yet to use one. ill keep my 2 smaller glass tanks, but i think it's safe to say that after the scare i got today that im going to ditch the 55 gallon glass.lol


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## crewdwg16 (Oct 17, 2006)

i got a thread on here on replacing a top brace on my 140 gal tank that thing was bowing in my front room! look it up if it helps any


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## TheWayThingsR (Jan 4, 2007)

haha, so ironic. At the end of this month I am moving to a first floor apartment just because I expressed my concern to management about my aquariums and what could happen. That's one of my biggest fears also. That and a couple thousand pounds resting in one spot going through the floor.

However, if you have a standard tank, you can probably find braces somewhere online.


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## ...Jay... (Nov 2, 2006)

Those 55s should have 2 braces, or one big one. Not one little danty piece of crap. There are so many 55s with a broken brace its sick.

I have 2 55s and they both have their brace broken. Only one has water in it though and it only bows like 1/8th inch so I try not to think about it.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

yeah, this was one cheap plastic brace. ill take a pic of it today when im moving the tank.

the tank is only a few years old as well. im thinking of taking it back to the store and trying to get a replacement, or money to put towards an acrylic!!


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## redbellyman21 (Jun 27, 2004)

sounds like a good idea, hope all goes well at the lfs, they should honor the manufacter warranty. Keep us posted


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i still have the receipt as well. i NEVER keep receipts.lol

i just spent 4 hours cleaning out the 55, changing the substrate in my other tank (dont want to waste the tahitian moon sand) and moved the tank out of my room. couldnt believe how friggin long it took.


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## ...Jay... (Nov 2, 2006)

If the tank is a few years old, I would hold your breath on a refund. You could get something else to put in there though. Some geckos, small comilians, or a snake or something.









consider it an excuse to get a new pet.

just a thought


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i just bought all of my gear for my first reef tank. i have no want or need for another pet!lol


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

so do you plan to silicone a new peice on, use it for herps or just get rid of it?


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## Aaronic (Apr 22, 2005)

Puff said:


> yeah, this was one cheap plastic brace. ill take a pic of it today when im moving the tank.
> 
> the tank is only a few years old as well. im thinking of taking it back to the store and trying to get a replacement, or money to put towards an acrylic!!


Glass tanks are usually reliable........


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## CorGravey (Feb 13, 2007)

If my 90 gallon glass snaps i will be on a stick, im not even allowed aquariums in my building even though its a brand new complex and WILL support the weight. My downstairs neighbour would have a sh*t when he sees 90 Gs coming down through the ceiling.


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## evermore (Oct 7, 2003)

Thats why its important to make sure your tank is as level as possible. not the stand. so the tank isn't stressed in anyway.cuz it would suck to get sued for something like that.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

everytime i set up a new tank i have the level out and quadruple check that the tank is sitting flat. already had one bad experience of a tank snapping because it wasnt level...at my gfs house...on hardwood floors. that wasnt a good night...330am wakeup on a weeknight.lol


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## bsonetwo (Aug 25, 2006)

CorGrav420 said:


> If my 90 gallon glass snaps i will be on a stick, im not even allowed aquariums in my building even though its a brand new complex and WILL support the weight. My downstairs neighbour would have a sh*t when he sees 90 Gs coming down through the ceiling.


we are in the same boat then... but I am not worried about it. if it happens I will go into the bathroom and break some pipes. then be like oh sh*t look what happened.

but to the original poster, I would be really happy that it happened with you there. My luck would be that mine would crash down while I am not there and I would lose my babies!


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

Puff said:


> everytime i set up a new tank i have the level out and quadruple check that the tank is sitting flat. already had one bad experience of a tank snapping because it wasnt level...at my gfs house...on hardwood floors. that wasnt a good night...330am wakeup on a weeknight.lol


your tank snapped because it wasnt level?
how unlevel was it?
how old was the tank?


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

i thought the tank WAS level, but i guess it was slightly off. the tank was brand new. probably a couple of months.


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## Nick G (Jul 15, 2007)

i would suspect something other than the tank being level.
hydraulically, the weight difference would be almost negligable, even if you had a 4' high tank or something absurdly tall. having a filter hanging over the side of your tank would be MUCH more stress on your tank than having an un-level tank. assuming the tank was close to level and not cocked at like a 45 degree angle.

maybe is was a manufacture defect or something else.


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## Grosse Gurke (Jan 3, 2003)

I broke the center brace moving a 120 a few years ago. I just went to a hardware store...got a piece of thick aluminum 2' long and about 2" wide. Then I drilled it and attached it with small bolts over the original brace. Never had an issue with the tank.


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## Puff (Feb 14, 2005)

unfortunately when the brace snapped it took the rest of the top rim with it. and i REALLy dont want to try to drill glass!


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