- Location
- Staten Island, NY 10306
Cutting out part of the center brace
- Thread starter bigyankfan
- Start date
WHY?...brace is plastic?
- Location
- Staten Island
I know why you want to do it. What about if you just took the whole brace off and eurobraced it? Make a nice rimless
- Location
- Staten Island, NY 10306
Yes, but brown plastic. I wanted my fixture to shine through and not have dark spot.
- Location
- Staten Island, NY 10306
I would but that sounds like a nightmare to do with a full tank.
- Location
- Staten Island
So empty it lol. Get a rubber maid or 2 throw a heater and a power head drain the tank and do it. it's that or get 2 fixtures .
I did it on my 65, drilled and put in two nylon screws with washers and nuts on each end and mounted clear acrylic, under where the old brace was, so it sat flush.
I screwed and glued the new clear brace into place before cutting away the original black brace.
did it with the tank full and running .
I screwed and glued the new clear brace into place before cutting away the original black brace.
did it with the tank full and running .
just checked your thread...looks like you have 2 separate led fixtures... did you change that?
- Location
- Staten Island, NY 10306
I currently have two, one on each side of the brace, but I am switching to a single fixture.
- Location
- Staten Island
why you going back to 1 fixture?
- Location
- Staten Island, NY 10306
The Evolutions are too high for the canopy I built - not enough air flow. I am going back to the Maxspect which have a much lower profile.
- Location
- Staten Island
what about fans in the canopy? wouldn't that be cheaper and easier?
- Location
- Northern NJ
I would never cut the center brace, installing fans in the canopy seems like the best choice. Try obe on eitger end to create a cross current. If you cut the brace youll compromise the structural integrity of the tank itself, unless you eurobrace it as mentioned before.
- Location
- Staten Island, NY 10306
I wasn't going to cut out the entire width of the brace. It would only be cut in the middle and I was going to glue a piece of clear acrylic over the hole so the brace would still be solid. It is not a heat issue - the Evolutions have fans in them. I just made the canopy a little too low. The fans in the fixtures cause the canopy to vibrate and it is noisy.
- Location
- Bay ridge, Brooklyn
I don't really think you're loosing that much light with the brace, I would leave it and put some less light demanding sps under it.
I was just looking at your tank thread - specifically the canopy you built - which is beautiful!
Why not just make the canopy taller by a few inches by adding onto the bottom of it? You could hide the seam if you used the same molding you used around the lower edge of the tank.
With the lights raised a bit, the shadow the brace is throwing would be less obvious.
Once you cut it, you are committed and the tank will not hold it's value either - in the event you decide to sell it down the road.
Just my .02
- Location
- Staten Island
I was just going to mention the same..raising the canopy might be a good idea.I was just looking at your tank thread - specifically the canopy you built - which is beautiful!
Why not just make the canopy taller by a few inches by adding onto the bottom of it? You could hide the seam if you used the same molding you used around the lower edge of the tank.
With the lights raised a bit, the shadow the brace is throwing would be less obvious.
Once you cut it, you are committed and the tank will not hold it's value either - in the event you decide to sell it down the road.
Just my .02
- Location
- Dingmans ferry PA
im with kathy and trigger.i woulld never mess with the bracing even if you plan on glueing some acylic.your still compromising the brace.i would rather build a whole new canopy then do what your planning to do.
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