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202 Posts
I am getting the Deep Blue 3g and would like to remove the rim. Any suggestions??
Advice on how to remove rim from a 3g please.
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This, unfortunately. Rims open up possibilities for screened tops for jumpers as well if it has a lip on the rim. Loved the one I made for my 20 tall while I still had it. Perfect for jumpers.
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96 Posts
Every de-rimmed tank is different. My dollar sale 10g came off smooth, and did not have sharp edges, or anything ugly.
They make industrial solvents, cleaners to remove the extra silicone.
If you are not planning to clean up the rim, and buff/polish it a little
then yes, it could look sloppy.
Take your time, I broke a 2.5g removing the last piece of trim. whoops.
As always every DIY project is all risk assumed by the hobbyist.
They make industrial solvents, cleaners to remove the extra silicone.
If you are not planning to clean up the rim, and buff/polish it a little
then yes, it could look sloppy.
Take your time, I broke a 2.5g removing the last piece of trim. whoops.
As always every DIY project is all risk assumed by the hobbyist.
Joined
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4,840 Posts
Getting the actual rim off is easy. The most basic way is taking a box cutter and going back and forth until the rim gets loose. It's much less work to use a planer until you almost hit the glass (go slow and it will be obvious), then use a razor blade or box cuter to get it off.
The really hard part is making it look nice. I would get a 10 pack of razor blades minimum to get the excess silicone off. I only use one for about 3-5 minutes before switching to a new one. I save them because they are still good for general use but you need them at their sharpest on the glass. I won't go into detail as it's been posted many times but you basically use rubbing alcohol as a lubricant and go back and forth with the razor blade.
Then you need to finish the top edges, most likely as they will be sharp, and not totally even. I use a sanding block with about 300 grit to start, moving up to anywhere from 600 to 2000, depending on what I have on hand.
It has taken me about 10-15 hours per tank (only have done 2) to get it right. Some members have used various power tools to speed up the process, something I was just too scared to do. That seems really long but I have always done it during a dry start so do an hour here, and hour there, not a problem. I may be exaggerating the time but to make it look like a rim was never there, it takes time.
The really hard part is making it look nice. I would get a 10 pack of razor blades minimum to get the excess silicone off. I only use one for about 3-5 minutes before switching to a new one. I save them because they are still good for general use but you need them at their sharpest on the glass. I won't go into detail as it's been posted many times but you basically use rubbing alcohol as a lubricant and go back and forth with the razor blade.
Then you need to finish the top edges, most likely as they will be sharp, and not totally even. I use a sanding block with about 300 grit to start, moving up to anywhere from 600 to 2000, depending on what I have on hand.
It has taken me about 10-15 hours per tank (only have done 2) to get it right. Some members have used various power tools to speed up the process, something I was just too scared to do. That seems really long but I have always done it during a dry start so do an hour here, and hour there, not a problem. I may be exaggerating the time but to make it look like a rim was never there, it takes time.
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202 Posts
Thanks for the info. Its a pretty cool 18"x8"x7" tank. Think it'll look pretty sharp rimless. Gonna take my time with it as I intend on making some concrete hills throughout the tank. However, gonna take some time to leach the ammonia out of the concrete. So, I have aton of patience.
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