Tank w/ broken frame = garbage?

[Otis2557]

Hello fellow fish heads.

I have an aquarium that measures 29 1/2 Inches long, by 12 1/2 Inches wide, and is 16 Inches tall with a glass thickness of 1/4 inch. I would love to fill it with water and fish n such but I can't use it due to a broken top and bottom frame. I,ve looked all over the net high and low trying to find a replacment frame, but the only replacment frames I can find were an inch too small. Does anyone on this fish forum have any experience with replacing a top and bottom frame with a self-built wooden or metal one? If so, would he/she/it be willing to post instructions or at least some helpful tips on how to do something like this?

Please, if anyone can offer some tips on this I would really appreciate it. This tank has been sitting around for a few years and I would like to utilize it instead of being forced to throw away a potentially nice tank

- Otis

[bushwhacker]

that tank really isnt that big have you tryed to fill it to see if it bows out in the middle?.. the bottom frame isnt that big a thing, the top you can silicone a 1/4 inch thick brace about 2 inches wide from front to back and that will support it

[korith]

There are places where you can order replacement trim frames. http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=43 sells some replacement frames. They also make custom tank frames if you send them the dimensions you require. Find GE silicone at home depot or lowes and use that to reseal the joints, make sure the tube you get doesn't contain any sort of mold inhibitor.

For a tank that size it probably isn't worth it to replace the trim, a lot more work than it's worth. Once you consider the cost of ordering trim, silicone, and the time involved. You would need to scrub, scrap, use alcohol to remove the old silicone off the glass and then reseal it. I would just sell the tank on craigslist, people can use them for other animals w/o water in them. Then buy a replacement.

[Sarkazmo]

I doubt you'll need the frame. We see frameless tanks all the time. The silicone is what holds the tank together and gives it it's strength. The frame on the bottom is to raise the tank a little and to keep small imperfections in the surface you're sitting it on from breaking the tank. The top frame gives an edge that will hold hoods and such.

Set the tank on a piece of 1/2 inch foam insulation board that can be found at DIY centers for about $10 for a 4'X8' sheet. Cut the foam board a little larger than the bottom of the tank and you should be fine.

Sark

[Otis2557]

that tank really isnt that big have you tryed to fill it to see if it bows out in the middle?.. the bottom frame isnt that big a thing, the top you can silicone a 1/4 inch thick brace about 2 inches wide from front to back and that will support it

The tank was sitting outside for a long time before I finally found it a place to sit inside. The top frame is completely gone now but the bottom frame is still intact. I haven't filled it water because the silicone is worn out and needs replacing. Eventually, I will get some sealant for it and see how that goes. If i used more silicone than normal for the seams, would it hold water without the top frame? It might bow out in the middle because the old top frame had a plastic brace in the center. Has anyone here ever made a replacement frame for an aquarium out of wood or metal? The idea sounds good, but I want something that i know will hold all of this together and so I won't wake up one day to the sound of 40 or so gallons of water splashing onto the floor.

- Otis

[Otis2557]

There are places where you can order replacement trim frames. http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=43 sells some replacement frames. They also make custom tank frames if you send them the dimensions you require. Find GE silicone at home depot or lowes and use that to reseal the joints, make sure the tube you get doesn't contain any sort of mold inhibitor.

For a tank that size it probably isn't worth it to replace the trim, a lot more work than it's worth. Once you consider the cost of ordering trim, silicone, and the time involved. You would need to scrub, scrap, use alcohol to remove the old silicone off the glass and then reseal it. I would just sell the tank on craigslist, people can use them for other animals w/o water in them. Then buy a replacement.

Funny, I went to that website hoping to find a replacement frame for the tank awhile back. Even went as far as E-mailing them asking if they can furnish the frame size I needed. They pretty much told me I was S.O.L When did they start selling custom tank frames? I didn't see any reference to such a thing on their website.

- Otis

[korith]

Funny, I went to that website hoping to find a replacement frame for the tank awhile back. Even went as far as E-mailing them asking if they can furnish the frame size I needed. They pretty much told me I was S.O.L When did they start selling custom tank frames? I didn't see any reference to such a thing on their website.

- Otis

Hmm I was fairly sure they did, or they did at some point.

Oh you above post, if the old silicone is worn, you'll want to completely remove it, and then scrub the glass with alcohol or another similar liquid to remove any silicone residue. To make sure the new silicone holds, it won't seal with the old silicone that well.

The others are probably right in that it might be ok without any tank trim on it. But I like to error on the side of caution.

[Otis2557]

Hmm I was fairly sure they did, or they did at some point.

Oh you above post, if the old silicone is worn, you'll want to completely remove it, and then scrub the glass with alcohol or another similar liquid to remove any silicone residue. To make sure the new silicone holds, it won't seal with the old silicone that well.

The others are probably right in that it might be ok without any tank trim on it. But I like to error on the side of caution.

Has anyone ever tried that tube of aquarium sealant they sell @ walmart? The place is a lot closer than my LFS and I was wondering if anyone has used it before to reseal their tank. Resealing it seems easy enough but if I used their Chinese sealant would it work as good as say, a diffrent brand of sealer? Maybe someone can chime in on here who has done a few sealant jobs in his/her lifetime.

Thank you all for your helpful responses so far

- Otis

[Northernguy]

GE Silicone I 100% rubber silicone.Its a great sealant for tanks.

[Otis2557]

GE Silicone I 100% rubber silicone.Its a great sealant for tanks.

What is GE silicone? Never heard of it, and would it be better than the stuff I could buy @ wally world? I recall seeing some sealant there a while back but not sure how well it would do. As far as the profile, I joined this forum yesterday and have yet to fill out all that info and such. Although I was thinking about posting pics of my 10g if anyone would wanna see that.

- Otis