Brace removal and refit of a 180

cilyjr

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I've always been annoyed by the shadows the braces on my tank cast. I have 4 ai sol lights and a standard 180 tank has 2 braces leaving 3 2x2 square areas to reach into the tank so the way the lights were mounted did not help. I finally got around to replacing the braces with clear.
The 1st step was making the new braces. I used 1/4 clear acrylic it cost my 12 bucks for a sheet that was 24x24 inches.
I cut 4 three inch strips and glued 2 together giving me 2 half inch braces then cut them to length.
Next I braced the tank using a bar clamp about 6 inches away from the current brace I was working on. I put a container under the brace in the water and cut the old brace leaving an 1 3/4 inch tab. Next I fit the new brace in and drilled through the new brace and existing tab. Then I used nylon screws and tightened them down. I removed the bar clamp and repeated on the other side. I guess it's worth mentioning my tank is built into the wall so I was really only worried about stress on the back panel of glass as I have a 2x4 running the top length of the tank along the front with the structural edge to the tank

The finished product
20140821_185233_zpsqzsq4j8z.jpg


The next step was to make clear frames for the plastic netting over the tank for this I cut 3/4 inch wide strips of the same acrylic and mounted them so they were 3/4 inches tall to prevent warping. Next I glued the netting to the bottom. And now I have no more brace shadows.
20140902_184850_zpshgrjhqec.jpg
 

DomC

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Nicely done.. I have been wanting to do the same for awhile. Thanks for sharing.
 
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