Snapped Brace On A Jewel 400!

[TheRedDarren]

hi guys, i'm posting this on behalf of my mate...

He recently bought a jewel rio 400 second hand, it looked fine to begin with, but recently one of the braces at the top has snapped and now there is a wicked bow in the front of the tank! it seems to be sticking out a good 1/2 inch or so.
We've braced it with a builders brace for now while we figure the best way of fixing it. The main problem is the tank is heavily stocked with a lot of cichlids and we have no where to house them temporarily to empty the tank!

So the question is...

Has anyone had this problem before and how did you fix it? Can we simply brace it while we silicon the original brace back in?

Thankyou, D.

 

[Allen]

400 litres of water and one brace broken - I would drain it immediately if it was mine - but then again , my missus would have my balls off if it burst !

 

[SkiFletch]

Silicone will NOT support the weight that the brace requires. It doesnt stick to the plastic well enough. Your best bet is to get some acrylic or other plastic and some nylon bolts. Use the builders brace to remove the bow, then cut a strip of acrylic mirroring the brace and place it on top. Drill a couple holes through the acrylic and the brace and fix the nylon bolts to tie the two pieces together. Do this on either side of the break in the brace and it should hold it together. Avoid using metals and metal screws as they will corrode over time.

Is there enough brace on either side of the break to tack it together?

 

[cheesy feet]

My rio 400 has been like this for some months.scary i know .Tomorrow or some time this week i will be emptying because of my new tank so i'll have to see if i can fix it then Mines bowing a good centimetre and a bit.Tetraqueen [sp] also has the same problem.

 

[aaronc]

Is is the same brace as on the smaller Rios, ie injection moulded plastic?

Bit worried about mine as I adding extra lighting which will rest on the brace

Aaron

 

[Maximumbob]

Has your mate tried speaking to Juwel customer support? Its quite good. They may be able to suggest a repair method / spare parts etc.

 

[Bloo]

This is an old thread about a cracked centre brace on a Juwel 180 which may be of some help - it even has some feedback from Juwel in it. Good luck

 

[cheesy feet]

tetraqueen and me contacted juwel twice.never got bak to us.anyways gota run.dam exams

 

[scorphonic]

How do these things break?

 

[windsor-aquatic]

If you haven't already done so, empty the tank immediately! You have a potential disaster waiting to happen. Then contact the tank makers, which may require some persistance from what you have said, for advice.

 

[diet]

hi i spoke to juwel back in feb because i noticed that my rio180 was bowing quite alot, (my brace was ok) that even if the brace did fail these tanks were designed to withstand the pressure and hold up...............i dont know if i want to believe them as thats a heck of alot of water,

But if its under 2 years old its covered under their warranty (just ask the old owner if he has the reciept) then Juwel will replace it

 

[cheesy feet]

I just did a water change of about 30% on mine and i managed to clik a bar back in, but the other one is completely snapped so i couldnt put it back in. When i was filling up it clicked of and started to re-bow again around a centimetre and i couldn't clickit into place.How dodgy is that!

Does anyone know where i can get some replacement bars?