Replacing center brace

[700dollarhat]

Wanted some opinions. I have a 120 gallon with a plastic center brace, I feel like it definitely shades my plants in the back center. Was thinking about siliconing in a glass brace instead. I was thinking about bracing the outside while the silicone sets, leaving maybe an inch of the plastic brace on each side to also silicone the glass brace to. Anyone ever try this? Any issues?

[Brianmcq]

What about putting a small cheap LED strip under the center brace if you are worried about shading.
Brian McQ

[700dollarhat]

Never thought of that, it would be right at the surface of the water though.

[jwcarlson]

I repaired a cracked one on my 125. I personally wouldn't screw around with it... asking for trouble.

You could probably put a piece of aluminum foil (or other reflector) behind the light and reduce the shadow quite a bit.

[pitdogg2]

Bad idea!

[jeep]

You may not see it happen, but draining and refilling a tank does make the glass flex. I can't imagine that silicone would hold up over time as a replacement.

I don't know if this is even viable, but I wonder if you could redesign the bracing into a Euro style bracing. This would add the horizontal support needed to keep the glass from flexing and stressing it out in the sides and corners. This is actually an option when ordering a custom tank from Glass Cages. If that's a new term for you, I'd probably confuse you by attempting to explain it, lol... I just did a search for "euro aquarium bracing" and a lot of info popped up. It seems it's very popular and doable. This actually may be the solution I've been looking for after the center brace on my bow front tank broke and I've been using some nasty red duct tape to keep the back wall from flexing.

[Brianmcq]

Never thought of that, it would be right at the surface of the water though.

Hygger make submersible led light for about $15

[700dollarhat]

Thanks everyone, I’m leaning towards not changing the brace.

[brewmaster15]

I'm a little late here, sorry, but I'm just looking at the plants you have growing in there and I am not that the brace shading the middle is a problem but maybe more lighting is the solution. Increasing the lighting intensity on the tank maybe a better solution for your plants.

hth.
al