Rimless 20gl at PetSmart

[DogFish]

I saw a Marineland Rimless 20gl at PetSmart today, I believe it's was a tank/stand combo.

>>> Good News Rimless going main stream retail.
>>> Bad New very sloppy silicone work

The glass seemed to be the same thickness as a regular rimmed 20gl tank???

[radioman]

I'm glad I'm not the only one that noticed that. We got one in that had silicone smeared all over the glass, the glass had small chips all over the top edge, and it wasn't lined up right. The stands are all uneven too.

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

I saw this as well as a 25 rimless cube at petco, both with sloppy silicone jobs and uneven glass panels. This is what made me bite the bullet and buy a new 20L to derim! I figure if they sell rimless tanks that crappy I will not have any problems with a 20L with better looking silicone. These companies really lack quality control!

[talontsiawd]

That's good to know, even if it has sloppy silicone. I still would have bought one with sloppy silicone over de rimming mine (I only did the top as well). Hopefully the glass is finished decently on top. I know a few other companies make them but they are not readily available nationwide and I would never buy a brand I have never seen in person by mail, especially at a premium.

[DogFish]

I will say a DIYer will some basic skills could clean it up. pretty easily..

When I was ewswaeching my Rimless DIY build last year I looked at tanks at several PetSmartCos and found very few eommed tanks that had perfect;y square edges.

That general sloppiness is reflected in the price like anything we big. Those low-end tanks create the Market for Mr. Aqua, ADA and Custom shops.

[DogFish]

Originally Posted by talontsiawd

That's good to know, even if it has sloppy silicone. I still would have bought one with sloppy silicone over de rimming mine (I only did the top as well). Hopefully the glass is finished decently on top....

So how bad was the top edge of the glass when you de-rimmed that tank? I'm thinking of a top de-rim on a PetCo 40 if get one on $1 a gl it would become a riparium.

[Warlock]

sloppy.. $200 plus..

think it was marineland led double bright.. and lid..

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Originally Posted by DogFish

So how bad was the top edge of the glass when you de-rimmed that tank? I'm thinking of a top de-rim on a PetCo 40 if get one on $1 a gl it would become a riparium.

The glass on the 20L I took the rim off of was fine. Square edges but not sharp. I still plan on giving them a slight bevel with sand paper though.

[talontsiawd]

Originally Posted by DogFish

So how bad was the top edge of the glass when you de-rimmed that tank? I'm thinking of a top de-rim on a PetCo 40 if get one on $1 a gl it would become a riparium.

It's not the glass that is the hard part. It's removing the silicone. It usually only takes me about 20-30 min to get the rim off but up to 5-10 hours to get the silicone off, depending how perfect I want it. I don't do it all at once, I usually have just worked on it while dry starting. To be honest, I get most of it off in about 1-2 hours, it's just how much of a perfectionist you are.

I also do everything by hand, from the silicone to the edges. Some people use power tools and that would take less time but more room for error. I could get decent results in about 3 hours if I didn't mind some flaws.

If you are using razor blades and rubbing alcohol, like I do, let me give you one tip (besides using a bunch of fresh razor blades). Once you start getting the big parts of silicone off, take some 150 grit and bevel the edges slightly. It's not to put a bevel in the glass for looks. It prevents you from getting a bunch of tiny chips in the glass. If you don't, you get all these minor chips that can sand out by hand, but add a lot of time to the process.



It's not that hard, and a big reason it takes me so long is that I just do an hour per night or so.