Brace Blew Out!

Sleepless night today.. .so sitting in the fish room heard a strange commotion. WTH? The center brace on a 155G collapsed sending two glass lids into the tank and 2 light fixtures dangling in water! I'm surprised the tank didn't jolt me.. or that the wall didn't blow out! Who on here has replaced a center brace? Bill

Epox for plastic works well. Just use a wood clamp to make sure the two sides of the broken brace are touching. Could also use a thin strip of acrylic and weld it on with acetone or Weldon 5. Another option is to have a 1/4"x 4" strip of glass perfectly cut to fit the inside of the tank. Then use silicone to glue glass on glass. Remember silicone doesn't stick well to plastic.

I did! Went to Lowes and got a 1/4" piece of acrylic cut to size, drilled 3 small holes on each side/small screws to hold in place.....DONE!! Tops don't fit as well but it works!!

Amp... acetone or Weldon 5 aquatic safe?

Doxiemom's suggestion will work well and you can also add some acetone or Weldon for added strength. Both chemicals are fish safe once cured. Not sure how toxic they are if dropped into a stocked tank.

Done it before, it is a pain in the ass to do. but just regular I believe number 2 silicon will work just fine to reseal it. just find a good SHARP razor and go to town on that punk, but be careful I sliced my hand pretty bad when I did one for a costumer.

When it happened I was under the illusion that the center brace contributed to holding the long wall from bowing out! Apparently not! Just to make the 6 foot span 1/2 of that for lights and lids...

The glass panes are strong enough to not blow out but that's not why the brace is there. Take a straight edge to the front and notice how much the tank is bowing out. Possible around 1/2" is my guess. The problem is when you do water changes. The lowering and raising of the water level causes the front and back to bow out and in. This action will eventually cause the silicone to fail on the side seams and the tank will leak. It's a matter of time. In some cases the tank can completely blow out but usually its caused by an existing chip in the pane's edge and the sudden bowing causes it to bust.

Amp.. I finally got round to addressing the missing brace.. Laying around I had a length of strap steel.. 1" by prob 1/8th... so I measured and tried to coax the original brace back into place, thinking i'd hide the strap steel beneath the manufacturer's original brace, leaving it as cosmetic cover!.. OOps.. the orig is at least 1/2 short of meeting the opposite side wall... A full 1/2 inch bow out!.. Luckily the glass, 6' long, is 1/2 inch thick so it's holding.....So now to repair folks..
A need to completely or drain to about 70 percent or so.. or try to repair the bowing by, carefully, slowly bringing it back to true
by using framing clamps?..

If you go with clamps, be sure to use a board on both sides. Don't want the clamps to apply too much pressure on a small area and crack the tank. Safer to just drain the tank.

Bill, that center bracket IS for wall support! Once you drain (75+ %) the tank and add that metal piece you'll be fine. The support won't allow the weight displacement of the water to bow the glass again. You'll probably make it stronger than it was to begin with!!
Gooood LUUUUCK!
PS....Yes..use frame clamps! 2 if you can. One 1/2 way between center and end on each side to pull the frame gently back into place.

+1 for drain