135 rimless DIY

[misu]

I got this 135 from a member here and the trim is not in the best shape so I started thinking about making it a rimless.
it's a 6ft oceanic with 1/2" glass and that huge glass center brace that I plan on leaving intact. The sides and back wall should get some extra resistance from the 2 overflows and I may have to glue a couple of small triangels in the front, we'll see.
Pics on how it's looking now plus a screenshot of the safety calculator I found online.

Chris@Fiscales gave me the OK
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[grouper therapy]

Did you check out the edge yet? sometimes the edges were not polished and are pretty rough. But I think it will hold fine. that is one of the older oceanic and they were built like a "tank". haha

 

[misu]

edges are super nice, guess they don't make tanks like that anymore.

What can I use to get a polished edge on the top and not cut myself? will regular sandpaper (fine) work?

Updated pic below, filling it back with water to check
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[porpoiseaquatics]

misu;528469 wrote: edges are super nice, guess they don't make tanks like that anymore.

What can I use to get a polished edge on the top and not cut myself? will regular sandpaper (fine) work?

Updated pic below, filling it back with water to check

You'll want emory cloth. It's very fine. You may even be able to get away with using extremely fine wet sandpaper like used in automotive work. You can probably buy it for a power sander. Run it along the outside edge at a bevel and that'll give you a very nice edge. Looks like it's holding!
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[rbredding]

use wet dry sandpaper like purp. noted above..

and use a tool do to the "honing" of the edge..

some kind of "grouper gloves" or other hand protection would be advised also.

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[misu]

1500 grit wet sandpaper did it, barely visible but at least I don't cut my fingers
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[misu]

Yeah tank is cleaning up really nice plus I have this thing for rimless and I'm glad it's suitable for it

Let me know when you have a pump for me, got some bulkheads from tim yesterday but I need some pump before I start buying more plumbing parts

The stand on the other hand is a total loss, I started fixing it but the entire base is bad. Sent a pm to grouper for a quote on a new one
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[misu]

Yeah tank is cleaning up really nice plus I have this thing for rimless and I'm glad it's suitable for it

Let me know when you have a pump for me, got some bulkheads from tim yesterday but I need some pump before I start buying more plumbing parts

The stand on the other hand is a total loss, I started fixing it but the entire base is bad. Sent a pm to grouper for a quote on a new one
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[fish scales2]

I have the impellor if needed. Pump is fine but impellor is trash.
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[misu]

the old pump was around 1000 gph how big is yours?
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[gixxer600]

Misu how difficult was it to get the top trim off? Was it a one piece trim or seperate pieces? Looking to do the same on a tank that i have in the future so any helpful input would be great.
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[misu]

It was fairly easy, 4 pieces that came off once I cut a bit of silicone at one end. It's harder to get all the remaining silicone but not too bad
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[misu]

just removed the bottom trim, looks even better. I'll leave it filled with water for a while
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[weaglereefer]

Just wondering, what's the point in going rimless if you have that center brace? That would bug me to no end.

 

[misu]

well I'm debating if I should take that off too, based on all the calculators I should be fine, Chris any thoughts on this? My guess is oceanic put it there to support the glass tops only.

Also this is an old-ish tank so there's a lot of water stains on it, any tips on how to clean them? That center brace will leave a mark for sure.

 

[misu]

if I put it on a tall stand it will be barely visible but I'll take it off in no time if the experts think I'll be ok

 

[acroholic]

Just a bit of advice in owning a rimless tank from my own experience with a 100 gallon rimless cube. Unless you are planning on covering it with mesh or some type of top, you should know that you will get jumpers, particularly wrasses.

Rimless tanks should come with a warning on them saying: "This tank will severely limit your choice of fish unless you want to cover it and make it look like it has trim on it again."

Also, rimless tanks son't do well with wavemakers and a lot of surface turbulence. No trim to stop water from slopping over the top if you decide to make a standing wave with your Vortechs or Tunzes.

 

[misu]

good advice, I thought about jumpers too

I have some vortechs I plan on using, I was thinking to drill the overflows a bit lower to prevent some of the problems with that, I have a rimless aquapod with no jumpers for now but I see where you're going with the aggressive waves

 

[brianjfinn]

I bet you'd be ok removing the center brace if you added euro bracing. You could also set the euro bracing a quarter inch or so below the top edge, allowing for a place to lay the mesh top, making it look less like having trim.

Chris, you'd be the expert on this, so let me know if I'm wrong.

 

[acroholic]

I really like the look of a rimless, but didn't think about the jumpers, etc, when I bought mine. I ended up covering mine with a mesh top.

You can use Vortechs no problem, but in a rimless you might have to place them deeper than you would in a trimmed tank in you want to use them full blast. I had to do that with the two MP40ws I had in there, in addition to throttling them down a bit. This may not be as much of a issue for you, however, since your tank is longer than mine was.