Quote:
Originally Posted by Lee04
Beautiful! I look forward to seeing how this tank progresses.
What really intrigues me is the background lighting on the tank. I don't see that done very often.
I like guppies too; I have some now. I don't keep them with my shrimp, since they go after the smaller ones.
How do you feel about the structural integrity of the tank without the rim?
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It's actually not back lit which is cool because it saves me some electricity. I was planning on it but the light is so high it just looks like that with the regular light. I will back light it if the effect goes away after lowering the light (assuming I do so). The only thing that kind of sucks is my stand is about 4 inches further out than I would like to accommodate back lighting but if I don't need it, I can't easily move the stand because I had to shim it quite a bit.
I am very confident with the structural integrity of the tank. This one has been derimmed for at least 6 months. I have another 20 long with the top derimmed that has been going for almost 2 years at my girlfriends apartment. Many people have derimmed the entire tank. I have two reasons for not doing so. First, I never took any substrate out of this tank. Second, I was afraid it may end up looking worse with the bottom seems since they are pretty sloppy.
That said, would I do it again, probably not. It's a bunch of work. Getting the actual rim off is not the hard part. It's getting the silicone under it off. On my other 20 long, I did everything as best I could and it took me at least 10-15 hours total. On this, I have only done the front well and that took me 5 hours. I got most of it off the sides and back but it doesn't have a "finished" look to it.
Instead I would buy one that is already rimless. It's quite a bit more, especially if you are comparing it to the Petco $1 per gallon sale but only slightly more than x2 the regular retail of a 20 long. With the amount of work it takes, I would rather just spend the money and have it right than do a bunch of work and still have the sloppy seems on the side, and the bottom if you do the bottom. A member says where he got his here-
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/1773976-post8.html