Derimming 20 Long

Sup guys. I've been getting awefully tired of staring at the rI'm on my 20 long high tech, so I think I'm gonna attempt to take it off. Problem is its filled with water. No biggie, I'll drain it to about 2 inches of water, but then it still has hardscape. I'll be using a friends blowtorch to melt back the plastic so I can cut the silicone underneath. I'll use a spare Versa Top as a brace in the center, just to be safe. I figure I'll be fine with a brace going across the tank in the middle, it should stop any bowing. Not worried about the silicon giving out. I will only be taking the top rI'm off, will leave the bottom as it doesn't bother me. The other option for bracing is euro bracing, but I'd prefer to avoid that as it doesn't look nearly as good. I *could* go to Lowes and get 1/8 at about 2 inches wide and euro brace with that but again kind of ruins the rimless look IMO. Which do you guys think would be safer?

I just realized with a center cross-brace I should definitely be fine. UNS 60U is 23 long, 14 wide, and 14 tall and only has 6 mm glass which equals 0.23 inches. My 20 long has 1/4 inch glass or 0.25 inches. Plus, the UNS 60U is deeper then the 20 long by 2 inches, which means more pressure. It is not as long, but adding a centerbrace it should be fine. Also it doesn't even have a bottom rim. I'm thinking I'll definitely be fine with a centerbrace.

I will be following this tutorial

Silister Trench I know you've done this before, any pointers?

 

All I can say is good luck and be careful and slow. I have done this once on my cousin's 18g and the results were really good. Also clever idea on the centre brace , I think you'll be fine and it'll turn out great, don't worry too much. Cant wait to see results!

 

All I can say is good luck and be careful and slow. I have done this once on my cousin's 18g and the results were really good. Also clever idea on the centre brace , I think you'll be fine and it'll turn out great, don't worry too much. Cant wait to see results!

You did do this on a tank before? If you don't mind what were the dimensions and glass thickness and how long has it been running? How did you take off the rim?

 

Yep. This was around a year ago so the dimensions won't be spot on but I believe it was around 58 cm long and 12 cm tall and 12 cm deep. The glass was I think 10mm thick - just looked it up on the website as he had it custom built. Its been up since feb last year as we did this as soon as he got it. The tank already had a center brace. I basically took a sharp razor blade and slowly worked my way around the tank. After that I peeled the silicone off that was remaining with a razor blade too. I put the razor blade underneath the rI'm on the outside and pushed it as far as it would go without forcing it - be very careful - and then proceeded to cut around the whole rim. I initially took a paint scraper to weaken the rI'm around the top and then took the razor blades around the tank. With the paint scraper push it until you can feel the silicone on the top. You want to break the silicone and punch through it with the scraper. DO NOT drag the paint scraper across the tank you have to do it section by section, you sometimes may not even be able to drag the razor blade but it shouldn't be a problem if you have a sharp blade. The hardest part is the corners. I took the paint scraper and punctured the corners with it to make it weak. Also you want to pull on the rI'm with your hands upwards but not too hard. After I went around with the razor blade I put my fingers under the rI'm and pulled up, I could tell it was really weak so I just applied a little force and the rI'm came off. I did this corner by corner and each piece was sorta like a 90 degree measuring ruler lol. Anyways, the main thing is to not us it at all. If it's a little hard to get off just go around the rI'm or corners again with the paint scraper or blade.
Good luck!

 

Makes a lot of sense. I think I'll try different ways and figure out which works best, kind of go by ear. From what I've read I need to avoid prying against the glass at all costs, and be careful with the top of the glass.

 

There really are a lot of ways to go about it. Good thinking!