Stengthen rimless tanks 17gallon 24x12x14 6cm

[orangefan]

Does lowing the water level help strengthen the rimless tank seams any? I was thinking even as low as 10.5 10 maybe.

Is there any other advice to strengthen the seams on a rimless tank when they get this big? tape anything? maybe extra silicone on the edges?

Does eurobracing the corners help the seams any?

I am using it for a freshwater aquascape and couldn't dig up a thread on this Thanks,
Adam.


Got mine from marinedepot.com awesome deal on a new aquamaxx series seams really good, very clear alittle green in corners but why spend double on a ada.

[GimpyFin]

Was there a defect with the tank? Lower water will decrease the overall stress on the tank to a degree, but shouldn't matter in any case. Large rimless tanks use thicker glass and bracing to support them, but IMO, 17 gallons isn't really something I'd worry about trying to re-inforce.

[thegrun]

Are you seeing signs of stress? Tanks should be engineered to handle the tank being full, so unless the tank has been modified you should be fine filling it to the top. Is this an acrylic or glass tank? You could add a euro brace to strengthen it if you really think it is necessary. It is common for there to be a little bit of bowing on an acrylic tank. If you do add bracing use glass and silicone on glass tanks, acrylic and Weld On solvent #4 for acrylic tanks.

[orangefan]

no signs of bowing or stress not setting it up for a couple of weeks though. I have heard from some experts (through extensive research) that the ada 60p (same size), and roughly 16 gallons and above is where the seams start having a few issues if the glass isn't double the thickness safety factor for rimless tanks.

Glass tank, aquamaxx they have great reviews so far 100bucks for this one and free shipping marinedepot brand new company.

I did the specks. I might try keeping my water at 10.5 at all times. This being a 6mm thick tank. It if were a 3 mm thick tank instead, or half the thickness a 10.5 water level would leave me with a safety factor of over 3.0 instead of just a 1.7 by taking those 3 inches off. Not to mention the extra 3 inches of silicone above it as well. That is also 12 1/2 gallons vs the 17.7. Which is still pretty good, and takes roughly 50 pounds of pressure off the sides.

I might go with a light mirror and a small 1/2 inch glass inlets to hold it at a angle so you can look down on the aquascape instead and that would compensate for the extra 3 inches, plus I am not keeping a Beta in it :P. I know ada makes a set like that to compare with.

Thanks guys.
ps sorry about the editing I am going to learn to stop being so excited when posting

[Ron Reefman]

I'm not familiar with the tank you are getting. But for comparison, I made a 65g rimless shallow reef tank. It's 4'x2'x14" and has no bracing at all. It's made with 3/8" thick glass.

[orangefan]

sounds great! would love to see a pic.

I heard one specialist recommend 7.8 safety factor instead of 3.8 (double for all rimless tanks) for whatever its worth. Not saying that is needed but that is the strictest rule I have seen. Maybe he was speaking mainly for diy projects. Either way that is around 12" for mine (once I did alittle deeper research). So loosing alittle over 2 inches isn't bad. Plus I am adding a overhead bridge into each as they touch which will be roughly 3x4Wx3 above the water line 3 inches thick or roughly .25 gallons (only keeping freshwater in this one) So I am, thinking 11.75 just taking those extra 30-45 pounds off will make a huge difference in the longrun.

There is a nice calculator on here. I love this site very simple use
http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium

[Ron Reefman]

Originally Posted by orangefan

sounds great! would love to see a pic.
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It's not really a pretty tank, it's more of a 'catch all' tank and it gets a lot of odd critters that I collect when snorkeling or at the beach. It even gets used as a frag tank and a grow out tank for things I want to eventually put into my 180g reef or the 75g gorgonian tank.