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removing tank trim

79K views 62 replies 37 participants last post by  rmsalaysay 
#1 ·
there's been some talk about this around here, does anyone have a step by step tutorial on this?
 
#2 ·
#3 ·
I don't have a step by step but I can tell you what I did on an old 75 that I am finishing up on. Take a Dremmel with a reinforced cutting wheel and split the frame all the way around.

Take it slow and you can gauge the thickness of the frame. You're basically just melting the plastic and weakening the hold of the silicone. Now you have two sides and you can run a razor blade between the side of the frame to separate it from the glass.

The tank I'm working on had loads of silicone on it and even after scraping the excess with a razor there was still a residual silicone "stain" so to say.

There is a product called Poly-Gone 500 Silicone Stripper that I used to remove this residue. It's used in the aircraft maintenance industry to remove silicone from cockpit glass, fuel lines and other parts. It actually breaks the silicone's bonding ability apart at the molecular level as I understand it. After its done its thing you just wipe the silicone off with a rag. It beats a razor blade by a mile.
 

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#6 ·
I gave it a try on a 5.5 gallon but ended up cracking the tank. I had 3 sides off using a razor and a dremel. I thought the whole thing was loose.. but one spot on the 4th side was still stuck and that ended up cracking the tank... wasted $10 bucks... but might buy another one and try again. Using a dremel on the top plastic was somewhat hard. The plastic just melts and you have to pick it out before it cools down. If you drill too deep it also nicks up the glass.
 
#8 ·
Just to note here - the ugly plastic trim that we see on most tanks made here in the US does not serve any reinforsement purpose. It does not help the structural integrity at all. It is used because of 2 reasons:

- When assembling the tank it serves as a guide where to place the glass and holds it in place.
- Helps prevent bumps of bare glass edges during transportation.

I've heard that some tanks have bad edges under the trim. Basically it's a very sharp glass edge, unpolished and dangerous, or just ugly. Is that so?

--Nikolay
 
#24 ·
Just to note here - the ugly plastic trim that we see on most tanks made here in the US does not serve any reinforsement purpose. It does not help the structural integrity at all. It is used because of 2 reasons:

- When assembling the tank it serves as a guide where to place the glass and holds it in place.
- Helps prevent bumps of bare glass edges during transportation.

I've heard that some tanks have bad edges under the trim. Basically it's a very sharp glass edge, unpolished and dangerous, or just ugly. Is that so?
I redid (disassembled and re-siliconed) a 30 gal. tank from Perfecto last month. The edges under the rims were definitely unpolished and dangerous. In their defense, they don't expect folks to ever be exposed to those edges, and those are the edges the glass has after cutting it.

After cutting myself the first time, I took some 600 grit emory paper (fine sandpaper) to all the sharp edges and polished (?) the edges. There are two terms used in the glass cutting biz for finishing the edges. One term just means taking the sharp edge off and the other term is for doing some more extensive shaping and smoothing. Anyone remember them?

Anyway, it cost me about 10 or 15 minutes but made the job much more pleasant and less dangerous.

I had to reseal the tank because the bottom mostly fell out of it. It started it drip leaking in one corner a few weeks earlier and while trying to make time to deal with it, I did a water change. Apparently filling the tank all the way up was a mistake because I came back to 15 out of 30 gallons on the (tile) floor.

Before anyone bashes Perfecto, this tank was purchased back in 1983 and spend about ten of the years since in a hot Texas attic.

Oh, on the topic at hand, I use a small (~1" wide) putty knife and carefully work it between the glass and the rim on both the inside and outside of the tank. This only adhesive where the glass edge actually meets the rim and that's usually pretty week. This a wiggle and pry and work around the tank until the rim comes off and hope that I don't break it too many times in the process. Anyone know a good place to buy replacement tank rims? They may be ugly, but they're handy for holding glass tops up on smaller tanks. I've done three 20s and the one 30 in the last couple of years with the putty knife method. More attic victims.

I think another method would be to separate the front and back panes from the rest of the tank with a razor blade and then (after using the putty knife method) see if you can slide the pane out of the rim at the top or bottom. But I haven't tried that idea.
 
#13 ·
I have a bowfront that I was given that the center brace was totally melted on (previous owner had the incandescent bulb sitting directly on the brace). It hasnt been used in a few years but it was fine for the 3 years it was up and running and never had a single issue.
 
#54 ·
Yes, I have derimmed My 20g long while fish and plants were inside, I grew tired of looking at the black trim.... very easy to do and now all my tanks have no trim, haven't cracked a single tank or scratched for that matter, I have a couple 10 gallon that I took the top rim off for trade for anyone interested
 
#18 ·
Very interesting info.

Surprised it hasn't become more popular sooner, considering people seem to be on the look out for rimless tanks that aren't as expensive as the ADA tanks. I know I had no idea that those black rims offered no additional support. Going to have to try this on a spare tank as well...

Cheers for posting...
 
#26 ·
Have you followed the link I posted? You can zoom in on the pictures to get a good idea of what they look like.
For the most part, the edges are not jagged and you are not in any danger of getting cut. The edge quality is not ADA by any means, but I have seen 5 or so tanks with the rim removed and wouldn't do anything to change the glass edges - they look perfectly fine once all the silicone is removed.

lildark185 said:
Sounds like a very neat and cheap way to have a rimless tank. Has anyone tried this on an All-Glass Aquarium tank and are the edges of the glass under the top rim jagged?
All the tanks I've done are All-Glass brand, and the edges are nice enough to leave un-modified
 
#27 ·
I just pulled the rim of an AGA 40 gallon breeder I got last year during Petco's dollar per gallon sale. I used the putty knife method like Trag. It was a lot easier than I thought, just required a little muscle. Came of in one piece. I could actually put it back on if I wanted.

Very cool. It makes the tank look so much bigger.

The edges are a little sharp but clean. Maybe a little sanding, maybe not.

Sweet.
 
#31 ·
I really feel that it is fine. Think about it. If there were no silicone the top rim would keep the glass from falling outward. Without the top rim the silicon keeps the glass from falling outward. Leave the bottom rim on so that is still helping along the bottom. Many stands hide this anyway. The water pressure is greatest at the bottom. As you get closer to the top the pressure decreases.

Go for it! Whats the worst that could happen? Hold on,....why are my feet wet?!
 
#34 ·
I just removed the trim on my 10gal I am going to start up soon. The bottom trim was definitely easier, as it came off in one piece without breaking. The top took a little more effort, but still only took about 10 minutes. Removing all the silicon was a different story. It took me about 2 hours to get all of it off the tank. I found Goo-Gone works the best. Now I have to scrub the tank down with water to get any chemicals out of it. Good luck to whoever decides to go this route. There is a definite improvement in looks, and it didn't cost me a penny. Now lets see if it holds water...
 
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