Broken eurobrace on 160 seamless bowfront

[JeffLED]

AHHHHH - I was feeding my fish earlier in the week when I saw a hairline "crack" on the eurobrace of my 160 gallon seamless bowfront. Upon closer inspection, it is fully cracked!
I contacted the manufacturer and they informed me that I should repair the aquarium by draining it and then silicone a new glass piece on the top for structural integrity.

Yikes, more than I anticipated on my aquarium that is just a few months old. Has anyone ever experienced this? How long do I have before a catastrophic failure occurs...and what would it look like?

Of course no one would make any guarantees, but am I safe for a few days, weeks, months, any way to know?!?!?

 

[nereefpat]

It looks like there is a plastic trim too? That should help. It is a glass tank, right?

I would silicone a new brace in place. You shouldn't have to drain the tank though. For me, adding a eurobrace would be difficult. I would probably silicone a brace running back to front. And you could probably put it right on top of the old eurobrace.

Have a local glass shop cut you a piece, maybe 2" wide and 1/4" thick, that fits back to front. Silicone it, and insert the piece, ideally use a big clamp from the front of the tank to the back to keep it in place.

That's what I would do anyway. Good luck.

 

[homer1475]

The silicone should hold? It holds the panels together, so I would think it should hold for the immediate future.

I think I would just silicone a new piece in probably spanning the crack a couple inches on either side.

 

[MarshallB]

If you are going to replace the whole brace then drain the tank at least 1/2 to 3/4 to relieve any pressure before you remove it to replace it. You could reinforce it by adding a center brace like someone has already suggested.

There are a few threads on Reef2Reef that people have shared using simple metal pieces you can pick up at homedepot or lowes. Using a thing metal bar instead of a wider piece of plastic running from front to back to reinforce will block less light.

edit: Your question on how long this will last as is. That's really a gamble. since the tank is so new that crack could just be a defect, but if its a stress crack then thats a pretty big problem. Either way I would act on it pretty quickly just in case.

 

[JeffLED]

I added another photo for reference of location.

The crack is right smack dab on the middle of the eurobrace. It is a glass seamless bowfront so I am not sure if attaching or bracing to the front curved glass is even an option.
I’m still unsure as to the maximum forces taking place that I’m bracing against. Are we reinforcing the vertical seam that run between the curved glass and front glass? Or reinforcing the curved shape to maintain horizontal dimension?

 

[JeffLED]

It looks like there is a plastic trim too? That should help. It is a glass tank, right?

I would silicone a new brace in place. You shouldn't have to drain the tank though. For me, adding a eurobrace would be difficult. I would probably silicone a brace running back to front. And you could probably put it right on top of the old eurobrace.

Have a local glass shop cut you a piece, maybe 2" wide and 1/4" thick, that fits back to front. Silicone it, and insert the piece, ideally use a big clamp from the front of the tank to the back to keep it in place.

That's what I would do anyway. Good luck.

The plastic is just the baffle for the center drilled overflow. I do not think it is providing any support.