RSR 450 silicone guard fell off

[Paleozoic_reefer]

A friend of mine is sticking to freshwater and gave me his RSR 450 (and equipment) for free.

Obviously I’m not going to pass that up, even though an extra tank was never in my plans. The tank is ~6 years and in great condition. All the seams look good and water tested for two weeks in the garage.

During the cleaning and pre-water testing one of the plastic silicone guards on the side was coming off about 1/2 way and so I just removed the whole thing.

It looks like it was 1/2 off for a long time based on the amount of carbonate build up on it. My questions are:

I’m I OK with out it or do these guards provide any structural support?

Would it be worth it to get some top Eurobraces on the tank?

The tank is still in my garage as I get new plumbing, GFCI outlet and do some waterproofing of the baseboards in the event a leak happens in the distant future.

Any thoughts or recommendations are appreciated!

 

[BairCorals]

Don't think it's anything structural. I think they put those on so you don't accidentally scrape the silicon when you clean the glass with a scraper. You could easily just silicon it back on or just leave it off imo

 

[nickng]

A friend of mine is sticking to freshwater and gave me his RSR 450 (and equipment) for free.

Obviously I’m not going to pass that up, even though an extra tank was never in my plans. The tank is ~6 years and in great condition. All the seams look good and water tested for two weeks in the garage.

During the cleaning and pre-water testing one of the plastic silicone guards on the side was coming off about 1/2 way and so I just removed the whole thing.

It looks like it was 1/2 off for a long time based on the amount of carbonate build up on it. My questions are:

I’m I OK with out it or do these guards provide any structural support?

Would it be worth it to get some top Eurobraces on the tank?

The tank is still in my garage as I get new plumbing, GFCI outlet and do some waterproofing of the baseboards in the event a leak happens in the distant future.

Any thoughts or recommendations are appreciated!

Just curious is the plastic guard a flat piece or is it a rod with a triangular crossection?

 

[homer1475]

Older 450 thats been drained, and moved. I wouldn't touch it with a 50 foot pole.

Great tanks, but once moved is when we see the seems splitting. No idea what causes it, but they tend to fail once drained and moved.