so im sick of the green haze from the thick glass on my 600gal and i want to replace the front pane with starfire so its more clear!!! anyone else do this?? it has a middle glass brace that i want to replace to so the lights arent going thru the greenie glass so another question too is say if i lay the tank on its back side and i cut the front off will the tank be ok to just free stand on the floor with the back / floor and 2 sides remaining
replacing front panel on 600gal???
- Thread starter slednex11
- Start date
well you could just remove the silicone with acetone then remove the glass then silicone in some new
well i was meaning id use wire inbetween the the glass to cut away the silicone im more worried about getting it to seal again and if the tank will self support its self on its back with no front pane of glass
I am in the same situation. My glass tank just cracked from top to bottom on the front panel. My question is, are glass and acrylic panels compatible. Has anyone replaced a glass panel with acrylic or does anyone know of someone who has. By the way the dimensions are 60x24x18
I agree the tank should be fine, as long as no one goes kicking at it while you're workin on it. As for the wire to cut the silicone holding the front pane in place, if it works go for it -however- once it's off i would strongly recommend using acetone to clean all of the old silicone off before applying the new silicone to seal the starfire. As an industrial painter/mechanic i can assure you that if it's not completely clean when you apply new silicone, it will leak. If not from the start, then a few months or years later, you'll get a nasty surprise.
Good luck
keep us in the loop with photos and descriptions of your process. Hope it all goes well!
Justo
Good luck
keep us in the loop with photos and descriptions of your process. Hope it all goes well!Justo
ya id be sure to remove all old silicone!! it does a 2 ft wide support brace thats centered my dimensions are 8ftx4ft x 32",
Piano wire will cut silicone yes. Sometimes if the seam is too tight to fit the wire through some very careful prying is necessary. a lubricant like WD-40 is helpful too. Be prepared to spend a whole day - it may not actually take that long, but don't try to rush it, it can be tricky.
Razor blades (changing out often), wire brushes and scotch pads (carefully so as not to scratch the glass), and acetone will take the silicone off but this is a big job not to be taken lightly. Getting old silicone off is a PITA, and again it is likely to take you longer than you expect it to. If you don't get all the old silicone off, the new silicone will not stick, and that's not a chance you want to take with a big tank like that!
Whenever I build or rebuild a tank I use DOW 732 or 832 to put it back together. It is several times stronger than regular hardware store silicone. The extra strength is really not required but it's nice to know that if you miss any spots getting old silicone off, or have a wide gap to fill that there's a significant insurance factor there with your seams.
Obviously you must provide pics if you do this!
Razor blades (changing out often), wire brushes and scotch pads (carefully so as not to scratch the glass), and acetone will take the silicone off but this is a big job not to be taken lightly. Getting old silicone off is a PITA, and again it is likely to take you longer than you expect it to. If you don't get all the old silicone off, the new silicone will not stick, and that's not a chance you want to take with a big tank like that!
Whenever I build or rebuild a tank I use DOW 732 or 832 to put it back together. It is several times stronger than regular hardware store silicone. The extra strength is really not required but it's nice to know that if you miss any spots getting old silicone off, or have a wide gap to fill that there's a significant insurance factor there with your seams.
Obviously you must provide pics if you do this!
