water pressure question

[jenwebber3]

Hi all,

Physics question, as it’s far from my strong point: the top brace of my 60-gallon (48”x12”x 24”) aquarium snapped off. I currently have it held at that point with a ratchet clamp, which is holding it together nicely. My LFS guy is coming in about 5 days to install a new setup and swap everything over. My thought is to leave it as-is in terms of water height, as it puts equal pressure around the sides. Am I wrong? Should I drain as much water down as my sump will allow to reduce the pressure against the glass? I am assuming (because I have no choice but to be optimistic) that the clamp will hold and all will be fine, but….

Thoughts?

 

[DaveK]

I figure you can get away with this for 5 days, although there is always some risk. I wouldn't want to trust this arrangement much longer. Repair would mean replacing the top frame and it's not a simple task, but it's not impossible. However, you may find that it's actually less expensive to just replace the tank.