Should I be worried? Silicone question

[Saltwaternewbie12]

Got this 150 gallon cube on marketplace and have it set up outside for water test.... I’m noticing these white lines and bubbles in the silicon between the glass panels. Is this ok? Or is it a big risk? Hubby says he can take apart and redo all the silicone if he HAS to, but he doesn’t wanna.  Also glass is 3/8 thick. Can I totally remove the top plastic frame with no issues to make it have a rimless look? 

[Christopher Marks]

They look like normal silicone seam micro bubbles to me, I don't think there's any need to worry. It would be very labor intensive to rebuild this tank, removing old silicone is the hardest part. As far as removing the top rim goes, it's hard to be certain, but if there's no cross brace originally present, it's probably safe to remove. It could be a lot of trouble though.

[growsomething]

I de-rimmed a 6 gal shallow flugal with 3/16 or 1/4" glass and got a little bit of deflection in the front panel when full.  With that tall of a tank de-rimming seems really risky, but I know why you consider it, it is a nicer look ;)

 

[Elizabeth94]

I agree. Bubbles look normal to me. Something that probably happened in production. 
 

I personally wouldn’t take the rim off. 150gals is a lot of water to have on the floor if it failed. And that looks like a 150 high. Probably needs that support. I would just worry constantly. 
 

* if you do be careful. Sometimes the edge underneath is not finished. Could get a nasty cut. 

[Saltwaternewbie12]

5 hours ago, growsomething said:

I de-rimmed a 6 gal shallow flugal with 3/16 or 1/4" glass and got a little bit of deflection in the front panel when full.  With that tall of a tank de-rimming seems really risky, but I know why you consider it, it is a nicer look ;)

 

Yes it definitely looks better! When we got it the rim was partially off so we pulled it the rest of the way off. It looked so nice. But it did make us nervous- especially since that “white line” shows in the glass when it is full of water. The rim is now back on

[Saltwaternewbie12]

5 hours ago, Elizabeth94 said:

I agree. Bubbles look normal to me. Something that probably happened in production. 
 

I personally wouldn’t take the rim off. 150gals is a lot of water to have on the floor if it failed. And that looks like a 150 high. Probably needs that support. I would just worry constantly. 
 

* if you do be careful. Sometimes the edge underneath is not finished. Could get a nasty cut. 

The rim was already partially off- but we repaired it and put it back on. The glass under was beveled and it has such a clean look as rimless but it made us nervous so we put it all back on. The tank is actually a 150 cube- 36x36x 27

Now that it seems that the white lines and bubbles are ok- how long should we water test before we move it inside? 

[Tamberav]

Instead of the black rim you could get glass cut and sanded and eurobrace it for a cleaner look.

 

It is tall so no way I would go rimless though.