Anyone CUT the trims off AGA w/o total destruction?

[BallR]

I want a trimless tank at the trim price.....so im thinkin of takin my dremel: to that ugly black trim and leave it naky baby....got a 20L and i need the vertical space...30x12x12....any comments? advice?...any engineers in the house?>

[1fish2fish]

I've removed the trim from an AGA before so that I could replace a broken panel. Keep in mind that some of the AGA use thin glass compared to other companies. The 4 long 55 gal is an example. This is whyt here is a cros piece on the frame. When the tank is empty the cross piece has some give, but when the tank is full the cross piece is tight. Keep that in mind.

 

The AGA use a pretty good bead of silicone to hold those things in place. if you don't care about what happens to the trim then I would just use the sanding wheel. Sand/grind across the top all the way around. It shouldn't take to o long and in the end you should be able to pull the other pieces free. You may need to gind the corners too so that you can take it off in strips. Good luck.

[unsped]

imho the trim piece is there for a reason on these tanks. taking a aga tank (something designed to be cheap) and removing the rim (something it was never designed to handle) is just playing with fire.

 

with a $20 aga tank, you can be rest assured the tank doesn't have alot of leniency on tolerances. they could have used thicker glass, but your tank wouldn't have cost $20.

 

i would personally look into a custom tank with glass eurobracing rim. it will still have a rim, but its made out of glass.

[MiniMasterFlash]

Word, i am wondering this same question. I think if you take the brace off then you must euro brace somehow. I'm gonna do this and will post my results.

[bladze]

you wouldn't want to do that.

[waynefish]

I've seen trimless tanks before...i think they were made by AGA or Hagen...anyone else seen them? I live in Toronto, Canada...I've seen them at PJ's pets.

[Snazzy]

what about on a 5.5g aga? im thinking if you can remove the rim w/o breaking the glass then you could replace it with some clear acrylic instead of the ugly black. but anyways when my 5.5 is full of water it bows out a 1/4 of an inch on the long side at the top. i found that out the hard way when i tried cutting a piece of acrylic for insulation and evaporation (keep it in my garage ) mabe adding the acrylic wouldnt be a bad thing?

[tinyreef]

the acrylic doesn't stay bonded to the silicone but if you use some glass pieces to create a euro-brace setup i don't see why that couldn't work (if the workmanship is good ). do it empty and let it cure properly.

 

hmm, not often you see a twice-revived thread.

[Snazzy]

whats a euro-brace?

[neanderthalman]

I'll just add on for the newbs who read this. Good call on the twice revived.

 

The trim is partly structural, but big time aesthetic. AGA makes their tanks as cheaply as possible, and as such, their cuts are not as clean as they could be. The top edge of every tank I've seen where trim has been removed has been chipped, uneven, and overall just nasty. It's cheaper for them to put on a plastic trim than it is to cut and assemble the tanks to a higher standard.

 

If you want rimless, you're not going to get the look you want from pulling off the trim from an AGA or perfecto. You need a tank intended to be rimless, typically custom, so that you get the nice ground edges along the top. Custom or not, rimless is going to cost you more, guaranteed, because of the extra skill, facilities, time, and workmanship that goes into making smooth and accurate glass cuts.

[tinyreef]

whats a euro-brace?

it's a tank manufacturing style that doesn't use a opaque top frame but rather overlapping glass (or acrylic if the tank is acrylic) panes that serve the same function as the opaque frame. this allows greater visibility and is actually easier/cheaper to manufacture on the larger tanks (6'+).

 

making a frame for that size is uber-expensive for a cheap piece of plastic. i should know, i'm one of the only people on the east coast that can make something that size in plastic. so i definitely know the design, tooling, and manufacturing costs invloved. but if anyone wants to take a shot at it, i'd be more than happy to take your money, i mean help you out.

 

this is a view from an "under angle". the euro-bracing are the extra panes inside the top edge. altho this tank maker (wetdryfilter.com) still placed an black/opaque edge.

 

some of these makers (wetdry, glasscages, etc.) also make completely rimless tanks though, aka japanese-style tanks. very cool-looking but a bit too scary looking for the larger tanks imo.

[djchristone]

well if you do remove it, that glass is really sharp

 

snazzy, i removed mine on my aga 5.5 and the glass gave me a really nasty and deep cut when i picked it up >.< but yeah, i removed the bottom and top frame and i didn't have any problems with it at all so yeah... but it was only set up for a little while to QT so i'm not so sure about long term success :\

[tinyreef]

i just saw this company's ad today (zeroedge aquarium) in this month's fama magazine and thought of this thread. hth

[Snazzy]

are the sharp edges sharp because they cut them straight or because the pannels dont line up? if the glass is just sharp at its corners then you could just put a piece of tubing that is cut down the middle like a C (im sure thats kinda hard to understand as it is tto explain) or i could make an acrylic molding that fits over the sharp edges

[Helfrichs Chick]

I would have to agree with neander, the edges are probally pretty nasty and I would assume they dont line up. GET AN ADA!!! Yes a little pricey but NOTHING in this hobby is cheap. They are awesome tanks, I LOVE mine and when you think about it, spending $ up front could be well worth it. With an ADA or other rimless made tanks, you will have security. Say you save $100 on taking the frame off of a AGA, way down the road you come home to a broken tank with fish and corals on the floor. Youve just spent at least triple what the ADA or other framless would cost. Just not worth the risk and constant worry IMO.

[neanderthalman]

if you put a peice of acrylic trim on the top to cover up the nasty edges - now you've just got ghetto trim, instead of the clean stock trim. If you make your ghetto trim transparent, so that you don't see it as much as the stock black trim, you can still see the ugly cut edge.

 

pointless......

[Davem]

If you want rimless, you're not going to get the look you want from pulling off the trim from an AGA or perfecto. You need a tank intended to be rimless, typically custom, so that you get the nice ground edges along the top. Custom or not, rimless is going to cost you more, guaranteed, because of the extra skill, facilities, time, and workmanship that goes into making smooth and accurate glass cuts.

 

I've seen these rimless tanks here in Ottawa at the SuperPet. Quite striking really with no trim and black silicone used for the seams. They also sell the undertank closed-cell foam cushions to match each tank. Some unusual sizes and configurations too. I don't remember the actual prices but, I do remember thinking at the time that they were very well priced. I think they were actually less expensive than a comparable sized All Glass or Perfecto.

[rickjg]

After you remove the plastic trim it’s possible to polish the glass edge. I did it a while back on an old 7G tank. I used a razor knife to remove all the silicon, 600 grit wet sand paper to remove the sharp edges, then 2000 grit wet sand paper to polish the edges. It helps if you have a power sander, if not you at least need a sanding block to hold the sand paper. Be careful or you can end up with some nasty cuts.

[syrinx]

I made the mistake of filling a aga 20 long with the trim removed. Funny how a 5 gallon bucket doesn`t catch much of a 30 inch stream of water. Took the tank about 15 seconds to empty max.

[Snazzy]

After you remove the plastic trim it’s possible to polish the glass edge. I did it a while back on an old 7G tank. I used a razor knife to remove all the silicon, 600 grit wet sand paper to remove the sharp edges, then 2000 grit wet sand paper to polish the edges. It helps if you have a power sander, if not you at least need a sanding block to hold the sand paper. Be careful or you can end up with some nasty cuts.

 

what kind of power sander are you refering to? a belt sander, palm sander?

[formerly icyuodd/icyoud2]

i just purchased 2 custom aquariums. ones approx 35 gallons, the other is approx 50. because they have a 2x2 foot print, there are no standard trims to fit these aquariums. instead 4 seperate pieces of trim are used for both the top and bottom.

 

i can slide the trim off one piece at a time, in no way does the plastic trim hold the aquarium together.

 

the 50 is thicker glass than the 35, but both are held together purly by syilicone.

 

now the trim on your aquarium is important for a couple different reasons on a ten g aquarium, but not how you think.

 

its there to protect the top edge of the glass from impacts. it wouldn't take much of a hit with a hardend object (light fixture, piece of rock)to smash the aquarium. considering thousands of people are putting things in these aquariums on a daily basis, an unprotected edge, is an acciedent waiting to happen.

 

the other reason they use the trim, to hide messy workmanship. chances are you remove the trim, you'll find rough,chipped,uneven pains of glass.

 

so ya wont ever get a trimless tank for a trimmed price unless ya buy used, or find a heck of a deal.

 

over the years i've removed the trim from quite a few 2.5-10 aquariums. (usually to fit a custom canopy-so the edge still isnt exposed.

 

one things for sure, you need to pull the trim off perfectly straight. if you dont you can break/chip the glass. ( and if its chipped, it might not let loose till its full)

 

 

[Nyxis]

what kind of power sander are you refering to? a belt sander, palm sander?

 

If you are going to sand glass with any kind of power tool be very careful and use lots of water. If you try to sand dry or put too much pressure on the glass it will heat up and chip/break. Also keep in mind that if you do any kind of sanding your edge won't be prefectly clear like it was to begin with unless you break out the HCl.

[Snazzy]

Also keep in mind that if you do any kind of sanding your edge won't be prefectly clear like it was to begin with unless you break out the HCl.

 

What does the Hydro-Chloric Acid do?

[Snazzy]

i pulled off the plastic on my 5.5 aga and the glass isnt that sharp. there was ALOT of exess silicon i havent tested for leaks yet but i'll let you know if it leaks and il show some pics