Aqueon 60 Cube or 40/55 Breeder? Newbie advice

[shakacuz]

not if the silicon on the bottom is already failing from poor application.

You would need to redue the silicon entirely.

Eurobracing helps it from rupturing and litterally ripping the entire panel off at the top.
But if the silicon is already set to fail, the gap inside will continue to get larger and larger until a leak happens due to hydrostatic pressure being applied at it, and will peal the silicon alway until you one day realize you have a puddle on the floor.

can’t you euro brace the bottom as well? i plan on doing this in addition to euro bracing to top as usual

 

[mdpitts]

not if the silicon on the bottom is already failing from poor application.

You would need to redue the silicon entirely.

Eurobracing helps it from rupturing and litterally ripping the entire panel off at the top.
But if the silicon is already set to fail, the gap inside will continue to get larger and larger until a leak happens due to hydrostatic pressure being applied at it, and will peal the silicon alway until you one day realize you have a puddle on the floor.

I can't emphasize how important leak testing is, and checking all the seams.
I would never setup a tank larger then 10gal without doing a 24/48 hour leak test to make sure there are no bubbles anywhere inside the silicon.

yikes. I didn’t know this. i don’t have big tanks yet though but I’m glad testing was emphasized here so I do it when I do get a big tank. My biggest is a 37 gallon Top Fin and it’s doing great so far- 2 years. I’m going to inspect it tomorrow in the daylight.

 

[nereefpat]

Thanks for the tip. I’m starting to realize that I can’t cheap out. I fell in love with an expensive hobby. I guess folks that bought the older Aqueons had better luck but I’m thinking now maybe I should spend some time and save some bucks for a better built tank.

Nah. Just look at the seams before you take it home, then leak test in the garage.

 

[Naekuh]

can’t you euro brace the bottom as well? i plan on doing this in addition to euro bracing to top as usual

Please explain how you are to eurobrace the bottom?
That makes no sense as a Euro brace is top brace that looks like this:

How is one to euro brace the bottom when the bottom already has a entire sheet of glass?

Did you mean Rim the tank with a border?

 

[19Mateo83]

I’m with @HighlandReef and @Naekuh , I wouldn’t buy an aqueon tank. Look up the reviews on the cubes and all the stories about seam failure.

 

[19Mateo83]

rimless tanks can be reinforced by eurobracing. i plan on doing this to the 60g cube i’ll be upgrading to

Nothing like polishing a turd…. The money you will spend reinforcing a cheap tank, you could have saved it and bought a better tank… just saying..

 

[nereefpat]

Please explain how you are to eurobrace the bottom?
That makes no sense as a Euro brace is top brace that looks like this:

How is one to euro brace the bottom when the bottom already has a entire sheet of glass?

Did you mean Rim the tank with a border?

Eurobrace wouldn't be the term for it, but interior bracing on the bottom of a glass tank is common.

 

[Naekuh]

Eurobrace wouldn't be the term for it, but interior bracing on the bottom of a glass tank is common.

all that work for a aqueon tank?

I might of as well bought a Waterbox or a Fiji instead for the price of eurobracing the top and adding a second floor base at the bottom.

The end cost would probably be the same, if you bought them on sale at discount, and the 2 premium vendor tanks are a heck of a lot better then aqueon, with a much cleaner silicon application.

The money you will spend reinforcing a cheap tank, you could have saved it and bought a better tank… just saying..

Yup totally agree, unless you happened to get that one in a hundered Aqueon which was actually made right with perfect seams.

But as i said, even the one i picked up had bubbles all over the place on the seams.

This is the things my nightmares are made out of...

 

[Roatan Reef]

my first SW tank was my 40B. no issues other than wanting to go bigger every single time. i never did because of my small apartment. the biggest i can go is a 75G (and i was close to finishing a 75G build but decided not to), or a custom dimension tank. i've decided to upgrade to a 60G cube to save space in the apartment, while increasing water volume. i did the plumbing and drilling myself, and did my own sump (using fijicube's DIY kit).


i highly suggest looking into getting a sump. AIO's are very "out the box" kind of good. but i believe you'd benefit from having more available room with a sump.

Where did you get the R2R sign above your tank??

 

[shakacuz]

Please explain how you are to eurobrace the bottom?
That makes no sense as a Euro brace is top brace that looks like this:

How is one to euro brace the bottom when the bottom already has a entire sheet of glass?

Did you mean Rim the tank with a border?

line the inside of the tank the same you did with the top. you’re essentially creating the same effect but, bracing the bottom glass the same way, just inside? there have been a few tanks i’ve seen who have had this done in the event their bottom seams looked “sus”. or just did it for peace of mind i guess. not sure if it truly helps but i don’t see any reason not to try it

Nothing like polishing a turd…. The money you will spend reinforcing a cheap tank, you could have saved it and bought a better tank… just saying..

buying small cuts of glass to eurobrace is still significantly cheaper. the quick “scan” i did with tank vendors still showed most tanks would still be more expensive, albeit probably significantly better sealed/siliconed. but resealing isn’t rocket science, or making sure the seams are properly done. i can understand playing devils advocate to avoid potential issues, or suggest a marginally better product but perhaps the OP is looking for the least expensive without compromising “too much” safety? besides all rimless tanks are done the same way. the only difference is quality assurance or perhaps what they use to seal the seams

Where did you get the R2R sign above your tank??

here on r2r. there was a thread made by daniel or rev, i believe.

 

[nereefpat]

all that work for a aqueon tank?

I might of as well bought a Waterbox or a Fiji instead for the price of eurobracing the top and adding a second floor base at the bottom.

The end cost would probably be the same, if you bought them on sale at discount, and the 2 premium vendor tanks are a heck of a lot better then aqueon, with a much cleaner silicon application.

I'm not suggesting that you buy a rimless Aqueon and add a bunch of bracing. I'm just explaining what was meant by bracing the bottom. It's not uncommon, and some brands of tanks come like that from the factory.

I would not buy a rimless tank and then add bracing to it. I wouldn't buy a rimless tank of any brand, actually. The rims and trims add a ton to the safety factor. That's why rimmed aquariums have thinner glass. A tank with thinner glass that has a top and bottom trim and cross bracing is safer than a rimless tank with thicker glass.

There are a ton of standard 40 breeders out there running just fine. Inspect the tank at the store, and leak test it somewhere before you permanently set it up. That should be done with any tank. As long as those 2 things pass, and your stand is built correctly, there is no reason that an Aqueon tank won't last a long time...like mine has.

 

[Naekuh]

buying small cuts of glass to eurobrace is still significantly cheaper. the quick “scan” i did with tank vendors still showed most tanks would still be more expensive, albeit probably significantly better sealed/siliconed. but resealing isn’t rocket science, or making sure the seams are properly done. i can understand playing devils advocate to avoid potential issues, or suggest a marginally better product but perhaps the OP is looking for the least expensive without compromising “too much” safety? besides all rimless tanks are done the same way. the only difference is quality assurance or perhaps what they use to seal the seams

putting a euro brace is not as easy as you think it is unless you have experience working with silicon and glass.
Infact most of the time, it comes out really MESSY and really nasty.

Look at some of the cheaper fish tanks, see how the silicon job goes all over the place?
Imagine that on the top of your tank.

If your experienced with silicon and glass, you would probably just redue the entire tank with better grade wacker silicon, then leave it as it is, not to mention you will probably do a LOT cleaner job then the guys at Aqueon did.

But this is my 2 cents.

If your going to do it, and your already putting that much work, why not go a bit more and just redue the entire tank one side at a time?