LOL, I never siad it was ofencive and I am not doign this cuz I am board. (that is reserved for building eatra gagets for the system not for redesigning hehe ). ok let me try explain the pic here :lol:

my tank is 3 foot long and 2 feet wide, the brace is 1/2" glass and is ~9" wide.. I am thinking of putting a radium inbetween my 250 watt AB's and I was thinking I would get better results if I didn't have the center brace..
I know it will still work with it but if I can re brace it with out any problems I could kill the shadow effect of the glass (not much but noticable) and also get it out of the way for when I am working on the tank, what I have now is abouyt 1" of space on each side for manuvering things around.. not impossable but a pain..

Yes I should have not cheeped out when I orderec the tank and I should have spent the extra 120.00 to have it made out of 1/2" but the fact remains I didn't :roll:

as for a getting a new tank and moving them.. hmm if I could get a guarenteed sale of this one I befor I order the new one I would probably think about it, but other wise it isn't a option either...

as for another tank.. I don't have permission to do that untill I either build a addition to the house or buy a bigger house.. then I have free reign for a big tank built in the wall :lol:

rossb, I don't like euro bracing on the inside of a tank... it makes it harder to clean and gets in the way for power heads and such.. but if it would work being on the outside that might be a option also..

Lee, no I haven't do you have a link to them? I was thinking of making some clips and using aircraft wire to tension them.. we fixed a buddies tank like this when it broke...


Steve

Dang those euro's. Here I am thinking and thinking...and those guys already thought of it.

Ok how about this...go with the glass on the outside (like you were thinking)...and then use ABS pipe??

hmm I am almost scared to ask... but what is the ABS pipe for? :shock:


Steve

I think it was a jab at me .... Touché.... point taken. :) I'll stop enforcing my view of "whatever can go wrong will go wrong" .... just call me Murphy... :roll: 8)

Tony I would never take a jab at anyone...especially in public!!! :D The ABS is a reference to another thread...and is apparently a sad attempt at humor :)

Steve,

How high is your tank? My DIY tank has 3/8" glass and is 40" long with 17" of water in it. The top centre bows 1/16". So if your tank isn't too much higher then don't worry about the glass.

I have another diy tank that is 36" long with 1/4" glass and 18" of water and the centre bows about 1/8". I saw bubbles form in the joint and reinforced the ends instead of the centre and the tank's been holding water for the last 5 years.

My 90 gal is 5' long with 1/2" glass and it bows a little more than 1/16" when filled to 1" from the top. With 3/8" glass it should bow about 2.5 times more than my tank IE a little over than 1/8". I'd like to see a picture of that 1" bow. :roll:

the tank is 24" tall.. hmmm interesting.. I wonder what effect the extra 6" of hight would have.


Steve