EMERGENCY! Broken tank bracing?!

[ameliaaahx]

CRAAAP! Was just sitting watching TV and heard a massive crack. Took me a few minutes to figure out it's the plastic bracing in the middle of my 65g Juwel tank. It's completely come away. And the top plastic bit is now bowed out about a cm in the middle.

I'm clueless to tank structure -- is this going to seriously affect the structural integrity of the tank? HELP!

[dlee]

Oh my goodness! I would be terribly scared also. Hopefully someone with more knowledge in this area, and the answers for you will be along shortly. In the meantime, my guess would be to start planning to remove the fish and water as soon as possible considering the size of this tank. Is there just one brace?

[ameliaaahx]

Yes, there's just one brace. The tank contains Harlequins, Dwarf Chain Loaches, an Angelfish and some Rams.

I've done a little research and apparently it is a very common problem with Juwel tanks, as the plastic gets brittle after being exposed to the heat of the light for a long time. I found this statement from Juwel:

"The brace bars are not a major structural part of the aquarium so the aquarium will not burst or give way, but they do hold the shape of the aquarium so without them the aquarium may start to bow slightly. The brace bars are available as a replacement item... The new brace bars need to be glued into place at the rim of the inside profile, the same as your previous brace bars were. If your aquarium has started to bow slightly, then before fixing the new brace bars into place, you will find that by lowering the water level this will take the pressure off the front of the glass allowing the aquarium to return to it's original shape so that you can then glue the new brace bars into place."

That's from the UK. I've just looked at all the catalogues from my LFS stores and none of them carry the braces as a standard -- I will call them all first thing in the morning to see if someone can get it in for me. Until then, I guess I'll lower the water level.

[dlee]

Well that makes it sound a little less urgent anyway!

[funkman262]

I believe LadyHobbs recently replaced the brace bar on one of her tanks so you may want to consult her to see if she can offer you any advice/tips.

[mizzoutank]

Oh no!
i've seen replacements sold and or people using/cutting metal to do the job as well.

do you have access to like a 2inch wide strip of aluminum to cut/bend to shape?

[coarb34]

another way to do the brace is have a piece of perxpex/plastic cut about 5cm wide thickness 0.5cm and by the length of your brace, some aquarium safe silicon and redo the brace that way