Smashing the front of a Vertical tank and replacing with a sliding door?

what are you putting in the 30 dave?

From my experience with glass tanks (making one out of two broken ones) the glass in the frame is going to be the hardest. all the other sides easily come off with sharp blade but the frame is most fragile and tends to warp and break if not careful. But I think its possible but I would suggest a strip of glass about an inch or two on the top inside the frame to keep the structural stability of the tank.

Would it be possible to just remove the silicone on the edges that is keeping that side attached with a razorblade or something? I think the biggest potential problem wouldn't be cleaning up the pieces, put potentially shattering the whole tank.

I'm hoping that when I smash it, I won't affect the other sides. I was thinking of using the dremel to cut the one side of the frame and then remove the glass and silicone. It should be easier to clean out the frame to slide the new glass into. Hmmmm?

I agree with hypostatic. I think it would be much easier to try and cut/scrape the silicone away with a razor blade. I would be worried about damaging the other panels of glass.

Rusty_Shackleford said:

I agree with hypostatic. I think it would be much easier to try and cut/scrape the silicone away with a razor blade. I would be worried about damaging the other panels of glass.

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That's what I meant. Don't smash it you can reuse it as the lid

It is very easy to remove the frame and panels of glass. I did this on a 115 gallon without any problems. I got the front panel cut so it fit for the top and a 12 inch piece in the front. Here is my thread if you want to see the process i did for a slider door.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/61126-so-begins-125gallon-saga.html

Ed Parker

Wow Ed. Thats an amazing sight. Amazing tank.
It looks great with the doors and really allows for easier planting. I hope my trim is as easy to remove.

How are the varaderos doing? Any youngin's?

Mantellaprince20 said:

It is very easy to remove the frame and panels of glass. I did this on a 115 gallon without any problems. I got the front panel cut so it fit for the top and a 12 inch piece in the front. Here is my thread if you want to see the process i did for a slider door.

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/members-frogs-vivariums/61126-so-begins-125gallon-saga.html

Ed Parker

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Just use a razor blade as others have stated. Ive done this to turn my 75 gallon into a "turtle" tank with a filter hanging off the backside. Hardest part of that broject is getting e channel, which can only be found online from my experience.


Also- quick tip- silicone does not adhere to silicone. So make sure you have a nice strong bead or youll be scraping it all off and starting again (the parts that need to be water tight of course.)

kgb said:

Just use a razor blade as others have stated. Ive done this to turn my 75 gallon into a "turtle" tank with a filter hanging off the backside. Hardest part of that broject is getting e channel, which can only be found online from my experience.


Also- quick tip- silicone does not adhere to silicone. So make sure you have a nice strong bead or youll be scraping it all off and starting again (the parts that need to be water tight of course.)

Click to expand...

Here is a link to the Tutorial that I did where I used front glass of the tank to make a sliding glass front.

Sliding glass front

So i finally got the guts to tackle the removal of the front glass. It took some working but I managed to get it off. I did embed a razor blade in my finger but otherwise, all went smooth.
I cut the glass for the front riser. I attached a H channel over the lip and trimmed it so its flush with the side walls. This will hold a solid panel of glass to slide open and closed. Im going with the single sheet because I dont like the seam in the middle of the tank. The door will slide out to the side for trimming, feeding and cleaning.