# DIY Rimless Tank



## gforster

My current 75 gallon tank is quite old - I got it third or fourth-hand and scratched up quite a bit. I would love to replace it with a nice rimless tank. 

Good looking rimless tanks like ADA don't seem to have much silicone holding them together. What is a good method for accomplishing this? Also what thickness and type of glass should I use?

My in-laws own a glass business, so materials will be cheap and/or free and I will have professional help in putting it together. I need some aquarists' opinions as to how to go about this, though.


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## JustinKScott

Are you going to just remove the plastic from your old tank or build a new one from scratch?


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## gforster

I would like to build a new one from scratch. I am a bit afraid of simply removing the trim from the current one. Too many things can go wrong - it is in use at the moment. 

With my in-law's shop I can test it and get it right. The problem is that they don't build tanks on a regular basis. I can order any type of glass, use their tools, and get their help. 

I don't know what type of glass to use or how to get the silicone to not show and still be strong enough. 

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk


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## niko

You can fake the same look very much 100% but what you can't do is guarantee your new tank against busting at the seams. What you see when you look at an ADA tank appears deceptively simple.

The most used approach to have minimail silicone is to use masking tape to very carefully mask the glass so silicone does not get on it. There is also a lot to be said about the source of the glass but I don't know details about that. There is also a lot to be said about cleaning the glass in preparation to apply the silicone but I can't really give you details either and I don't think anyone in the US can or cares about that too much. Just letting you know about some of the things that go into making a simple looking glass box.

Make sure that your 4 side glasses glue to the 4 sides of the bottom glass. And of course - bevel the edges (this is called something else in glazier's terms so make sure you are talking about the same thing).

Keep in mind that a minor bend of the glass when the tank is full is acceptable. This is where the quality/source of the glass comes into play. You can build a tank looking aquarium using thick glass but that's not the point.

Good luck.
--Nikolay


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## gforster

thanks, niko. Thankfully, I will be doing this with the help and equipment of professional glaziers. Of course, the help I'm getting is from people who do residential and commercial glazing - they've never built an aquarium before.

Any recommendations for the type of glass to use? Something strong, with good clarity that hopefully won't show the scratches that are bound to come down the road. 

Also, how thick does it need to be?


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## B-9

I have a rimless 55g standard 55 dimensions, glass is 3/8's thick and i get no bow.


i would say 1/2" atleast.


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## Daniil

You can use this calculator to calculate the thickens of the glass
http://www.theaquatools.com/building-your-aquarium


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## AaronT

Just to reiterate what Niko said about how it fits together, make sure the bottom fits inside the four sides. You don't want the sides resting on top of the bottom pane of glass because silicone doesn't have good sheer strength. Does this make sense?


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## DogFish2.0

Is there a "better" grade of silicone used to help handle the pressure of the water?


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## vancat

Good point AaronT...never thought of that. Makes perfect sense.


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## niko

DogFish2.0 said:


> Is there a "better" grade of silicone used to help handle the pressure of the water?


Perenator, a german silicone. Not too easy to find but available in the US.

Good silicone or not there are other factors that go into making a simple glass box hold water and look good at that. Time and expense wise you cannot beat ADA tanks. Unless you want a custom size tank it makes no sense to try to make/have someone make the tank for you.

--Nikolay


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## vancat

Niko, I agree. I am always amazed at the amount of people here who want to DIY a rimless (although gforster, you seem to want to go about it the right way). Taking chances with a huge box of water IN YOUR HOUSE seems to be asking for trouble....but I guess not everyone's as cautious as me!


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## DogFish2.0

If everyone that wanted to build something didn't because it was hard to do, we'd still be living in caves.


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## DogFish2.0

Niko - Thank you for the info on Perenator.


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## miles

gforster said:


> I would like to build a new one from scratch. I am a bit afraid of simply removing the trim from the current one. Too many things can go wrong - it is in use at the moment.
> 
> With my in-law's shop I can test it and get it right. The problem is that they don't build tanks on a regular basis. I can order any type of glass, use their tools, and get their help.
> 
> I don't know what type of glass to use or how to get the silicone to not show and still be strong enough.
> 
> Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk





niko said:


> You can fake the same look very much 100% but what you can't do is guarantee your new tank against busting at the seams. What you see when you look at an ADA tank appears deceptively simple.
> 
> The most used approach to have minimail silicone is to use masking tape to very carefully mask the glass so silicone does not get on it. There is also a lot to be said about the source of the glass but I don't know details about that. There is also a lot to be said about cleaning the glass in preparation to apply the silicone but I can't really give you details either and I don't think anyone in the US can or cares about that too much. Just letting you know about some of the things that go into making a simple looking glass box.
> 
> Make sure that your 4 side glasses glue to the 4 sides of the bottom glass. And of course - bevel the edges (this is called something else in glazier's terms so make sure you are talking about the same thing).
> 
> Keep in mind that a minor bend of the glass when the tank is full is acceptable. This is where the quality/source of the glass comes into play. You can build a tank looking aquarium using thick glass but that's not the point.
> 
> Good luck.
> --Nikolay


check out this video.


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## pickled78

AaronT said:


> Just to reiterate what Niko said about how it fits together, make sure the bottom fits inside the four sides. You don't want the sides resting on top of the bottom pane of glass because silicone doesn't have good sheer strength. Does this make sense?


Hi, 
Im really confused now as I have 5 tanks (4x clear seal and 1x juwel) and all of the 4 sides on each tank are sitting on top of the bottom pane.

Which is the right way?

Ron


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## tokyo

I often see it done that way with smaller "rimmed" tanks for some reason. But having the vertical sheets of glass siliconed to the outside edge of the bottom pane, rather than sitting on top, will give you a stronger tank.

I just built a 3'x2'x2(approx.) last weekend. It was very easy to do. The only challenges were keeping air bubbles out of the silicone and working within the curing timeframe.

Also, the silicone tends to get pretty messy. I taped off all me seems and still ended up having to use a razor blade to clean up the silicone a bit. I didn't end up with ADA grade seems, but they don't look bad.


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## DogFish2.0

miles said:


> check out this video.


Nice video, great craftsman ship. But, the front pane of glass bowed. Should of gone thinker.


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## DogFish2.0

I just bought an old 75gl. tank, really old, a plastic rimmed Metalframe. Best I can tell it goes back to late 70s or early 80's. Funny, the lady I bought it from was admit that it held water, even offered to fill it up. I told her I was buying it for the glass, and for $50 I was happy.

I sent 2 hours on disassembly and general clean up. Mostly done with a razor but, I had to use dental floss on some areas were the joints were very tight. I still have a bit of detail cleaning to do.

It doesn't look to have a tempered glass bottom? If it is, then I just buy a new from pane and use the front for the bottom. It is a lot of work to recycle and old tank however I now have 3/8" glass for $50.

It's off to the glass shop next week to be cut & ground. I hope to end up with a tank 37x16x18. There are a few small chips on two edges so the shop will have cart blanc to cut & grind.

From what I have read @ 16" tall I should have plenty of strength with 3/8" glass. 

I'll follow-up with shop labor cost for those that might want to recycle an old tank.

Frank


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## DogFish2.0

As I suspected the bottom was NOT tempered! So, i was able to recycle all the glass.

Shop Co$t: $8 per cut x 10 cuts. They hit all the edges with 120gr on 
a disc gringier for me N/C............ _Total_ $80.

Points to consider:

Shop around, the oldest shop in my area didn't even want to talk to me. They also have the best equipment. Most will offer to cut at your risk. Do your research learn what polished, beveled and flat grind edges are before you decided what you really want. Pay for what you can not do, do the rest yourself.

I have no experience cutting glass and I didn't have enough glass to afford mistakes. I do know how to use various sanding tools so I can polish the edges myself. Don't walk out with sharp glass it just isn't worth taking a chance. Have them hit the sharp edges for safety.

Unlike wood or metal, glass at 3/8" does not like to have small cuts made in it. Small cuts under 1" tend to flare at the cut line. which can result in a edge that is a 1/16 off. Be sure you have enough glass to work with.

Locate construction quality silicone that is used for building Aquariums. Like most builds the research & material prep take much longer that true actually assembly.

I'll post pics after it's been leak tested.


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## DogFish2.0

Doing a final clean before tapping. Decided I want better edges than I am able to do with my disc sander. That adds +$25 & off to the glass shop, assemble date pushed to next week.


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## DogFish2.0

Just picked up my glass after having it run through the Grinder/Polisher machine at true glass shop. I'm very happy with the results. This is not a step to skip if you plan on building a Rimless tank.


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## Jane in Upton

I found some good information regarding tempered, "Starfire" and other glass considerations from these folks:

http://www.greatlakesaquariums.com/aquarium/rimless-aquarium/glass-complete-list.aspx

Their tanks look gorgeous, but they only ship the smaller ones.
-Jane


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## vancat

Hi Jane, how's the light working?


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## fwfan

this may be a litlle late if you already have the glass, but go for "starfire" (that's a brand name, the generic term is "low iron") It's clearer than regular glass without the green tint. Thiner glass isn't too bad, but there's a noticable difference when you get into 3/8 and thicker.

Everything I've read on building tanks says to put the 4 sides on top of the bottom pane. I have a 125 that I built this way and no issues with the silicone holding. keep in mind that it is not just the silicone shear strength that is holding it in place, at each corner you have an entire seam holing that pane in place.

Lastly, I would reccomend havin all your edges polished. I originally thoght this would give less holding strength but after building it I think it actually increases it because of the nooks it give the silicone to hold onto


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## dmf326

tokyo said:


> The only challenges were keeping air bubbles out of the silicone and working within the curing timeframe.


this guy doesn't seem to have a problem with the curing timeframe.


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