Will My Tank Need A Brace?

[three-fingers]

Hey,

I have a 30"x12"x12" tank with glass 5mm thick, it has a hood on it and the hood sits on top of a plastic rim attached with silicone to the top of the tank (though I have taken it off in the past for cleaning).

I'm going to remove the hood and rim so I can hang an arcadia luminaire over it...am I going to have to silicone some glass braces on to stop it randomly deciding to burst open? Is there something easier and less obtrusive looking that I can do? (I like the idea of a braceless tank)

The water level isn't going to be right up to the top, and I'm growing orchIds and airplants too, but I may decide to make it full at a later date.

This is the tank and how high the water level is (excuse the mess it's not nearly finished yet):

And this is the platic rim thing:

 

[Tolak]

It's a 20 long. I've run 10's with no bracing, thinner glass but less length. The perimeter bracing keeps your corners together more than anything else, they are the weak point in a tank with no center brace.

If you are going to pull the rim, you might want to do something like a 1"x2" piece of glass to brace the top corners diagonally. This would not be real visible, like a brace around the entire perimeter, and would keep those corners from coming apart.

Be aware that any time you modify the construction of a tank there are risks, especially when dealing with bracing. I have a 20 long, they are a solidly built tank if they are from All-Glass. I would run mine with no bracing on top in my fishroom, but my fishroom is in the basement, concrete floor with a drain.

 

[three-fingers]

Cheers Tolak, just the answer I was looking for, I'll certainly do that with the corners . Probably saved me flooding my room .

A brace around the whole perimeter just wouldn't look good, and would get in the way of the plants.

Maybe a silly question but is there any easy way to hold the glass in place while I leave the silicone to dry? I can't really rip the whole tank down and wait 24 hours since it's inhabitants have nowhere safe to go...and I'd rather not as everything in the tank seems to have just settled now.

 

[huckFIN]

Maybe a silly question but is there any easy way to hold the glass in place while I leave the silicone to dry?

You could hold the glass braces in place with duct tape (which has a pretty stong adhesive) until the silicone has dried.

 

[three-fingers]

Love duct tape . Thanks.