mulita

Very nice Job. The design of the hood its just great. Very good idea about the hinge and lift system for it. Great job. Congratulations

sonaps

Clint, you have a pm.

mulita, thanks for the compliment.

sonaps

I had a four day weekend and got a lot done. I’ll be posting some of the more current projects soon. First, here is another one I did before my first setup:

I didn’t like the idea of a big piece of plastic blocking the light from my hood. So I replaced the plastic center support in my aquarium with steel cable. I wouldn’t recommend doing this unless you are sure you can complete the project (it’s not an easy one). It is a big step to saw off the center support of your aquarium! I covered all the steel with silicon when I was done. I’ve since seen other posters use an acrylic strip and attach it to the trim with small bolts. That seems an easier approach and accomplishes the same thing. But I do like that the support on mine is so small now, it’s real easy to work around two small cables.

hoppycalif

I assume the steel cable is corrosion resistant steel? How do you keep it from showing, where it comes through the plastic rim on the front?

sonaps

Hoppy, I’m not sure if it is corrosion resistant or not, I had this over my tank with no visible corrosion for about 2 years. I’ve since covered the whole thing in silicone just in case. Can it still corrode through the silicon?

The cable doesn’t come through the rim on the front. That’s what made this project so difficult. I drilled the holes only on the inside of the rim, then threaded the cable through (There is a small space between the rim and the glass). Once the cable was threaded it was easy enough to secure it. I over-tightened just a big to allow for the slack in the rim. It did make a scary sound the first time I filled it and the slack gave way a bit, but thankfully no sounds since. I used two independent cables even though the math says one would have been enough. I was more worried about the rim breaking than the cable. There have been no signs of stress on the rim.

mulita

It looks to me as this cable is the aircraft type Cable (Because of the threads and gage the wire looks like, This is Stainless steel) or at least this is the similar type that is galvanized steel which is also corrosion resistance. Either way, silicone applied to it will seal it more.

You are right about the rim, it is the weaker point for failure and this is actually taking the whole load. As you said, one cable would be enough to hold this load, however the rim is the weaker point as the cable is not thru it, If you can inject some silicone at least within the inner area between the glass and rim in this area of the rim that will improve load capacity, as it will give a better distribution area for the stress. It may or may not be necessary, it all depend as you look the state of the rim. if it stay the same (No bends, no cracks, no drill hole increasing size), then it wont be needed.

sonaps

Thanks mulita for your input. I remember being worried about corrosion in the beginning, but the employees that sold me the cable thought it would be fine. I was a bit overzealous about this project so I just believed them without looking into it any further. You do have to be overzealous (or a bit crazy) to actually cut the support off your tank. But like I said earlier in this post, I got this tank for real cheap so I figured if it didn’t hold I was out little money. I tested it outside and kept an eye on the rim. It didn’t even bend a little, and never has. That is pretty strong plastic that they use. I did inject a bunch of silicone recently, when I covered the wire. I didn’t think about distributing stress, I just tried to cover the wire under the rim completely. I pretty much filled the whole gap with silicone.

mulita

You just make it better with this action and actually reinforce the rim support. There is nothing to worry about this change so. If it was going to fail you should've noticed quile ago when you test it initially. Good job!

hoppycalif

That cable idea is good enough that some one could design a simple clip of some kind so it would be easy to use, then a little kit of clips and cable would be a good addition for http://oregonaquadesign.vstore.ca/. I would have used it when I started my 45 gallon second hand tank, which was missing the brace across the top.

sonaps

That’s a good idea. If the clip was made to distribute the pressure over enough of the rim (maybe 4 to 6 inches long or so) it could be made with only one cable. That would make it even easier to work around. Although that could be quite a liability for whoever were to make/sale them.