Euro-bracing a used 220 gallon Aquarium

I bought a used 220 gallon Aquarium and the top plastic brace "Frame" snapped clear off the tank while water testing. Thus began my mission to salvage my investment. I work in the Tropical Fish industry so i spoke to a handful of professionals about glass and silicone because i like the look of the "Euro-brace. Here is the video i made from clips i took while fixing this aquarium. If one person can learn something or can get inspiration to repair their own tank from watching this video then the time i took to make it and edit it was well worth it. Enjoy and happy fish keeping.

[@whitneyhuffman6644]

Thank you so much for this video!! We bought a 120 gallon used aquarium and the center brace for the top frame did the same thing on our water test. I've been having a heck of a time finding a place that can make a new top frame.

[@youngmango4508]

Amazing. And that angelfish is no pushover lol SWEET SETUP.

[@startduckin]

good work bro. I purchased a 180 w/ the braces busted on the strength of this video. Excited to start this project.

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Thanks man. That aquarium is still holding strong and is literally rock solid at the top. Stronger than it was before no doubt. I sleep well. Lol. Good luck man.

[@drew2truth]

my 225 started to leak in the bottom pain of glass 8 months after purchasing it, its shape is still thr so im thinking of euro bracing the inside bottom of the aquarium to attempt fixing it as im out quite a bit of money and my fish out of thr large home. Found this useful thanks, enjoy your nice set up.

[@keithb1830]

I really enjoyed this..you really did an awesome job...at the end when you said this tank is dope, I laughed and shook my head in agreement yes it is dope...

[@Tackleberry657]

Nice video. It was helpful. I have a Pug helper as well.

[@anthonybuonpane5394]

Nice presentation Joe!!!

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Anthony Buonpane Thanks

[@davidbrewer8309]

Hard work and patience paid off. I have a 150 gallon similar format as yours. The tank needs to be re-siliconed and I was curious if I can silicone over the factory joint bead. Will it the fresh silicone bind to that really thin existing layer?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Unfortunately silicone will not have a strong bond to existing silicone. I know this video I made years ago is long and can get boring but I do explain that you must thoroughly remove all existing silicone from the pores of the glass in order for new silicone to create a strong bond. When resealing an aquarium patching it simply does not hold. To do a proper re-seal you must clean off all the silicone using a solvent such as acetone. Then use GE formula 1 silicone to seal.

[@paulcardoza9880]

Awesome good luck w/ the new tank!

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Thanks

[@rockfella27]

Masking/painters tape makes it look very neat. Steal deal on the tank.

[@QUEST-YouTube-CoDM]

I have some questions Dante can you help me I’ve got this identical tank I mean exact so I’ve been following every step. You are LEGIT man!! Please message me if you have time.

[@bluenestaqua6610]

Good Video..💪💪

[@kathleendircks907]

Cool 😎

[@kennethbirkett1017]

Hey Dante! Nice build. I was thinking on doing the opposite, having the long braces on the inside and the cross braces on top. What do you think? I have pieces of glass i could use instead of shards. The long braces are 148cm long, 10mm thick and 5cm wide. Do you think this is a great idea? The reason im doing this is because i already have spare pieces to do the build this way, not the opposite.

[@elyh777]

Why didn’t you use tape to keep from making a mess with the silicone?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

As i explained in the video, next time ill probably use tape. This was my first time doing this and it was more important that i focus on using enough and avoiding air bubbles rather than to focus on how clean its gonna look. Also it was simple to cut off the excess silicone with a razor. It just took more time.

[@thebeatonpath]

How has this held up? I just got a used 48x12. The plastic brace was much like yours. Started crumbling. I've watched dozens of videos on rimless tanks and euro bracing, but I'm so nervous about it.

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Is that a 55 gallon. If so you can make the brace very easily. Ive used the small section of an older glass lid and cut it with a glass cutter and silicone it into the center. The brace on my 220 is still holding up fantastically.

[@youngmango4508]

@@dantesfishroom1960 does the lid you repurposed thickness matter for that large of an aquarium??

[@rockfella27]

@@youngmango4508 It is recommended to use same thickness as the glass used in aquarium.

[@immelting9834]

Great video . I have a 75gal that I wanted to remove the plastic brace off of. I'm thinking of having just 1 brace 8 inches wide going front to back . Do you think that's good enough for just a 75gal ?

[@ChelseaGirlStatus]

This was super helpful. Thanks! Now what if you need a new brace on the bottom? Do you do the same thing there?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

No i did not. The bottom frame was not brittle and was in great shape so i saw no need to do it on the bottom. Only the top got brittle as it was most exposed to UV light.

[@ChelseaGirlStatus]

@@dantesfishroom1960 but could you do that to the bottom? would the weight of the water break the glass brace?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

@@ChelseaGirlStatus Yes you absolutely should do the same type of bracing on the bottom of the tank on the inside if you dont have any bracing for the bottom of the aquarium the weight would eventually tear at the stability of the silicone seals. This bottom bracing is done in many reef tank builds here on youtube. Smaller tanks would not require it from what i understand but larger and taller aquariums like this 220 are holding 1600 lbs of water and most people agree that the bracing gives extra strength that allows us all to sleep good at night. That amount of water has the potential to absolutely ruin your home.

[@ChelseaGirlStatus]

@@dantesfishroom1960 good to know. I have a 180 that im fixing up. I dont have much knowledge on bracing so this was useful. Thank you.

[@dantesfishroom1960]

@@ChelseaGirlStatus Youre very welcome. I enjoy knowing that someone could gain something from my video. It makes it worth it for me to make them. It took alot of time, research and resources to pull it off successfully and its still holding strong as ever today . Im sure you will have success as well. Good luck.

[@MattJenkins1979]

I have a 90 gallon that I want to euro brace, but the bottom trim is also damaged. Can the bottom trim be removed without additional bracing?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

I've learned that the bottom frame is definitely necessary for stability. People who remove them should brace the inside bottom of the tank with a Euro brace as well. There are many videos that illustrate this. It's pretty much the same procedure as I did on the top.

[@isaiahhowerton8997]

I’m currently in the process of euro bracing my 150. One question, does it matter if the panels go on the inside of the tank? My plan was to silicone my 2 6ft panels on top of my aquarium and then silicone the 4 cross braces on top of them. Will that work?

[@rockfella27]

Yes. 4" wide braces every 2 foot.

[@MaheshKumar-ik9fz]

Hi There - Greetings from India... Thanks for sharing the video, it gives me idea to strengthen my fish tank as well... Can I ask you the dimension of your aquarium i.e. Length, Width & Height... Once again, thanks for your video 👍

[@dantesfishroom1960]

You're very welcome . I'm glad you enjoyed my video. My aquarium is 72" long by 24" width by 31" high.

[@MaheshKumar-ik9fz]

@@dantesfishroom1960 - Much appreciate for your information... Continue your good work & happy New year 🙂

[@daltonnovak199]

Hey man great video love the step by step. I was seeing if I could ask you the question of if my 90 gallon can do this? It's 3/8 inch glass and 2 ft by 2 ft by 4 ft.

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Im glad you gained something from watching my video. Yes you can do this with any aquarium. Just make sure the glass you use is non tempered plate glass the same thickness as your aquarium is made of or you can go even thicker if you want more strength and stability. Just dont use glass that is thinner than your aquariums glass.

[@daltonnovak199]

I have one more question if you don't mind my guy i want to use hob fitler on the back of them so you think If j didn't do the back glass with it that it would hold?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

@@daltonnovak199 No that would not offer enough support to brace the tank. You must build it all around the edges. You can however use a canister filter like i do. I use the fx6 by fluval.

[@NS3644]

@@dantesfishroom1960 could you show us how you utilized the FX6 with the euro bracing as i'm having trouble with my euro braced 120 and the fluval tank clamps which come with the FX6. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated., ty.

[@Donscmf]

I want to but a 75 gallon from petco...can I remove the top plastic brace which has a middle bridge and do a euro brace with thick glass? @dantesfishroom

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Absolutely! You can indeed. Just use glass that is the same thickness as the tank glass or thicker if you want but the same thickness is sufficient.

[@MagnaRads]

You could probably rip those braces out by hand imagine how much stronger the weight of the water will be

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Wrong, You cannot rip these braces out by hand. You obviously don't know much about the bonding strength of silicone to glass. Ive done this exact process to a dozen other aquariums. Notably a 500 gallon aquarium a year and a half ago. This 220 gal aquarium is still up and running years later.

[@md.assaduzzamanniloy5506]

What's the thickness of the glass? I am willing to build one in exactly the same dimension.

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Md. Assaduzzaman Niloy I built the brace out of the same thickness as the tank glass. 1/2" thick non tempered plate glass

[@md.assaduzzamanniloy5506]

Dantes Fishroom Thank You for the information :)

[@jaydeef5187]

Gets glass beveled for safety... glues glass daggers on said glass. Lol

[@dantesfishroom1960]

Yeah and? Did you really think that comment up all on your own? 🤣 The beveled edges are for long term safety. The shards of glass were only used over night. Smdh. Some folks just have nothing better to do. Smdh. So sad.

[@darronrobinson187]

I have a 150 gollan tank I brought from someone. I just released I have a center brace but have one on each end. Do I need that center brace?

[@mirtagordillo8725]

I'm in the process of putting a new brace for an aquarium that I acquired the problem is I don't know how many gallons it is and its diamention.

[@dantesfishroom1960]

You just need to measure it and use the measurements in an Aquarium Volume Calculator. There are several of these calculators to be found online.

[@mirtagordillo8725]

Thank you I will do that

[@PREDATOR_KING]

What is glass thicknes in mm?

[@dantesfishroom1960]

So. Because you know how to do and and been doing it for a billion years of course you see no use for a 26min video. As you can see in my comments others have found it useful. You're a douche for taking your time to write such a douchebag comment so you can pretty much just go douche yourself.

[@QUEST-YouTube-CoDM]

Troll just got OWNED !!! That was soooo Legendary!!