300 gallon center cross brace came off. Tank bowed!

[Reefer93105]

Yep title says it all. 8'X25"deepX30"tall center cross brace came off at the seam at the front pane of tank. Scared the hell out of me but I caught it on time and drained the tank half way. After draining halfway the tank was very less bowed. That gave me enough time to find a 300gallon agriculture ployethylene tub to move all stock inside 4 days later. Lucky for me I have a 180Gallon running in my garage. Was able to move top half of corals to the 180G tank and ran the bottom half with just vortechs for circulation. Replumb the sump to run and circulate on it's own. Will install lights, take apart sump and connect it with new 300 gallon tub tomorrow. What an experience and a rush! Still waiting for manufacturer to cleary respond what they want do. All fish and corals are fine.


Can see clearly how the center brace popped up.

Almost halfway drained center brace slowly coming down back to normal position. Can't tell the tank is bowed.

After a few glass creaking sound center brace back to normal and only 3/16" gap.

Bottom half of left over corals.

Spare 180 gallon came in handy. Lucky it was running and only a few frags in there.


Goodbye 300 gallon for now.



My new 300 gallon system. Sheeesh.

 

[saltyphish]

Nice save! Glad no livestock was lost. Sucks about the tank but could have went so much worse if you hadn't caught it.

 

[maroun.c]

Great you caught it on time and prevented a disaster.
it's also good that you had an additional tank to house everything.
Hope it'll be an easy and quick fix.

 

[Shep]

That would have been terrible! Glad you caught and took care of it in time

 

[Reefing Madness]

Go buy a bar clamp. You can clamp the center together and stop it from bowing, and silicone the center brace back in. Wait 72 hours for it to cure completely, and your done.

 

[runzwithscissors]

After you fix it, keep an eye for leaks from the end seams. That bowing could have weakened them. Had that happen to me as well....ended up buying a new tank. How old is your tank?

 

[Reefer93105]

I was told that this is one of the last tanks leemar made before they stopped manufacturing. I special ordered this tank in March 2014. Set it up late April. Tank is 1 year and 4 months old.
Can't really use a bar clamp since there is only 3/4" space between the rear of the tank and wall. No choice but to take the tank down. All is well so far in the garage.
My first concern is the integrity of this tank after it bowed. I'll let the professionals check it. Just waiting for manufacturer's decision to finally deal with this.

 

[StevenBell]

Dang!Nice save buddy!

 

[Reefer93105]

Anyone know the reason this happens?

 

[Reefing Madness]

Bad craftsmanship.

 

[jmb357]

I have a 240g.. 48"x48"sq x24"t...w/ 3/4" thick acrylic. Im bracing the top with 3/4" thick 5" x48" all around. Do I still brace the middle???

 

[Reefer93105]

Anyone know of a good professional aquarium repair person/company near Santa Barbara CA??

 

[Reefer93105]

After 2 months my 300g is now back from the dead. Had to cut and trim a few colonies to make most corals fit back in the tank. Larger colonies that are way too big were moved to my 1370 gallons propagation system. A few corals perished in those two months. Some fell under the rocks and I didn't notice. Very difficult to check all corals in a tub. Only new addition to the tank is a 4" Gem Tang.

 

[steelheader.262]

CRAZY!!!!

 

[Reef_Hobbyist]

I thought the brace was more of a mechanism to take "some" of the stress off the glass but not to actually hold the tank together. Surprised to see how much it bowed out without the brace. Seems to me that maybe the glass was not thick enough in the first place?

 

[zemuss]

How was it fixed?

 

[Breadman03]

I thought the brace was more of a mechanism to take "some" of the stress off the glass but not to actually hold the tank together. Surprised to see how much it bowed out without the brace. Seems to me that maybe the glass was not thick enough in the first place?

The tank should be designed as a system. One can brace a tank to safely use thinner materials, or use thicker materials to avoid using bracing. I would guess that this was a manufacturing defect.

 

[Dropped]

Looking good now, how long were they in the tub to grow so much they didn't fit back in the tank.

 

[Reefer93105]

The tank should be designed as a system. One can brace a tank to safely use thinner materials, or use thicker materials to avoid using bracing. I would guess that this was a manufacturing defect.

The glass is 1/2" thick. For an 8 feet tank, I'm not surprised it bowed. I have another 300G tank with 3/4" glass front and back. The manufacturer of that tank installed a 12" center brace.

 

[Reefer93105]

How was it fixed?

Sent it back to LeeMar and they dealt with the repair. They just re siliconed the center brace back and replaced a long piece of chipped eurobrace glass.