Removing 75 Gallon Top Frame

T

theamish

AC Members
Jul 27, 2008
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Hey Everyone,
I have gone nuts over the past few weeks trying to figure a way around this but thinking about it last night it is the only logical way to have my vivarium come out right!

So I am attempting a fairly complicated landscape in my 1st vivarium(my first mistake, but once I set my mind there's no fighting it!) and I have run into a wall(otherwise known as my center brace), I have already divided the background eggcrate into 2 peices that fit perfectly which I insert on an angle but no matter what I do I cannot attach the wanted "accessories" to these walls and still get them back into the tank due to that center brace.

I posted a while ago on about just cutting the center brace out because I will only have about 5 or 6 inches of water(which comes out to a max of 18.7g) in a 75g tank(48x18x22), everyone told me not to. So my next option and my real question is what do you all think about removing the entire top frame doing my work and then putting it back at the end of the build.

Has anybody done this with success, I cant find any sort of how-to on the net for installing or removing the frame. I know it cant be more then cutting some silicone but I don't want to bust it.

Secondly, on cutting out the center brace, what if I were to silicone or JB weld a peice of plexi or something back into place when I was finished? Would that suffice rather then taking apart my tank?

I am desperate for help here, my build is at a stand still and I am getting really frustrated..... Please Help!!!

Sorry about the long post all, just wanted to be clear.
 
If you're only going to put 6" of water in it, I would just cut out the center brace. Just be aware that after that is done, you won't be able to fill the tank all the way up again unless you replace the whole frame, so make sure this is something you're going to stick with.

Its possible to pop the whole top frame off, but its a lot harder on a newer tank with good silicone. Take a razor blade and run it up between the tank and the frame, inside and out. Be careful not to hurt the silicone sealing the glass. It will still take some effort to lift the frame off, and it will probably crack at some point because its siliconed at the top too and there's no way to get at that part to cut the silicone first.
 
Thanks for the reply, thats pretty much what I figured when trying to remove the whole frame..... maybe I'll just cut the brace because with my luck I will end up snapping the entire frame in half!!
 
I don't understand why anyone would tell you not to cut the center brace if you only want to put 6 inches or so of water in it. If your tank is about 140 pounds empty then you have thick glass that can handle, dare I say, maybe a half tank full of water.

I am with the other fellas. Go for it.

Q
 
I would just cut off the center brace too. But make sure to sand it, you may be reaching into your vivarium and getting scraped up on the jagged plastic.

What kind of animals are you putting in the vivarium?
 
I opted to cut it off last night.... and yes I already scraped myself while I was aweing(is that a word) at the new found freedom it granted me, so I will be sanding it down some!

FBT's, possibly a betta(or some other fish, haven't looked too much into the fish aspect yet) and maybe a few ghost shrimp, been doing loooooots of research before everybody jumps on me for mixing things.
 
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