Derimming 20L. worst idea ever?

[HM3105]

Just wondering how bad of an idea this may be?

 

I was thinking about removimg the top rim on a 20L just to use as a frag tank at swaps and such.

 

I appreciate the input. Thank you.

[seabass]

I feel that's a bad idea (especially if you are going to be moving it frequently).

[da1001]

I originally thought to do this years ago to save on buying a rimless tank....it was long, messy back-breaking work trying to take off just the top of it. I spent a good 3 hours hunched over snapping off tiny bits of plastic top with pliers since it was silicone down too good, then spraying cleaner, slowly scraping away the silicon (it mostly comes off in tiny slivers and gets EVERYWHERE) and then trying and failing to re-bead a new perfect line of silicon to seal it all back together again, it looked like crap when I was done and I don't know if it was water-tight or not. I gave up after the top was finally done and didn't even bother trying on the bottom since it had 3x the silicon on it to work off. I didn't have much patience back then, but even now I wouldn't willingly volunteer to do it again unless there was a cooler full of beer in it for me.

[Smithjm5]

I did it for a sump, the de-rimming part took all of 15 minutes with a heat gun. But the silicone.... That was a whole other story lol. Hours and it still wasn't perfect. The thing with de-rimming cheap tanks like at petco is most of the time the glass isn't finished under the rim so it's sharp and not rounded and a lot of times has little chips. It can be done but it's a pain in the ass lol I'd just get a rimless honestly.

 

Here's mine, it's hard to see but there's a slight glaze all the way around the top from the silicone

 

[seabass]

Smithjm5, I like that you left the bottom. HM, if you do it, leave the bottom alone (it will save you tons of time and it will be stronger).

 

The silicone can get cleaned up pretty good (takes a lot of scraping with sharp razor blades and a magic eraser), but the top corners won' t look completely clean. When I removed the top of one of my tanks, the glass was unfinished and wasn't lined up evenly. You have to sand the top edges so you don't cut yourself on it. While i was doing it, I kept thinking that I should have purchased a rimless tank (less work, better end result, thicker glass, better silicone work on the side seams, and a stronger tank).