Dismantling a large tank?
- Thread starter Arrg
- Start date
It's not going to be easy, but a sharp utility knife and bunch of spare blades. Slice the silicone, but go very slow and careful. An extra couple of spare hands to help support the glass panels as they come apart will also be helpful. Be prepared to crack or even drop a panel and make a real mess.
Arrg
New member
okay just wanted to check on how hard it was mainly before I go looking up people to do it professionally. I'm trying to spend as little money as I can on it because I'm in the process of buying a house but it'd look so great in the basement near the bar. 
Tomorrow I'll try contacting someone to take down.
Tomorrow I'll try contacting someone to take down.
davidryder
Claris or Elliot?
There is also a product that loosens caulking... the only problem will be the actual joints... although a 500g tank I'd assume the glass would be able to take quite a jarring before and ill effects were assumed
coralnut99
New member
Larger tanks tend to have slightly thicker silicone between the panels. It's a bit of work, but if you're systematic about it, it shouldn't take long. My son and I dismantled an old 125 in about an hour this past spring.
The key is to remove the inner silicone bead completely That means running a straight edge razor down the two sides that make up each corner. If you go right to the inner corner with each pass you'll remove each silicone bead with two quick passes of a straight razor.
The tough part is seperating the panels. If the silicone between the panels is thick enough to be visible, you should be able to run a utility knife all the way down the seam, albeit with some effort. If it's a very thin seam of silicone between the panels you'll have to be more creative. Some have used thin gauge wire strung between two pairs of pliers and simply forced downward though the seam. Once you manage to force wire, a blade or anything into the very top of the seam, you need to insert something just slightly thicker right behind it in the seam. This makes forcing whatever you've chosen to cut through through the seam, a real breeze.
Also don't be fooled into thinking you can handle one of those panels by yourself. The half inch panels of the 125 I dismantled were quite heavy. The large panels of a 500G should take at least 4 people to handle safely.
Also, I don't know of anyone that you can find to do this for you. I guess you might get an aquarium maintenance company to give it a try, but you'll pay by the hour for sure, and cost you a good penny. Just guessing on this one though. If you do find someone, I'd be curious of who would undertake this.
Finally, I don't know of anything that removes cured silicone. Acetone may do it before it cures, but on an old tank like this, I think it's pretty useless.
The key is to remove the inner silicone bead completely That means running a straight edge razor down the two sides that make up each corner. If you go right to the inner corner with each pass you'll remove each silicone bead with two quick passes of a straight razor.
The tough part is seperating the panels. If the silicone between the panels is thick enough to be visible, you should be able to run a utility knife all the way down the seam, albeit with some effort. If it's a very thin seam of silicone between the panels you'll have to be more creative. Some have used thin gauge wire strung between two pairs of pliers and simply forced downward though the seam. Once you manage to force wire, a blade or anything into the very top of the seam, you need to insert something just slightly thicker right behind it in the seam. This makes forcing whatever you've chosen to cut through through the seam, a real breeze.
Also don't be fooled into thinking you can handle one of those panels by yourself. The half inch panels of the 125 I dismantled were quite heavy. The large panels of a 500G should take at least 4 people to handle safely.
Also, I don't know of anyone that you can find to do this for you. I guess you might get an aquarium maintenance company to give it a try, but you'll pay by the hour for sure, and cost you a good penny. Just guessing on this one though. If you do find someone, I'd be curious of who would undertake this.
Finally, I don't know of anything that removes cured silicone. Acetone may do it before it cures, but on an old tank like this, I think it's pretty useless.
stringcheese
New member
If it's glass I think MEK will cut silicone
coralnut99
New member
I've tried acetone as others have suggested it will remove silicone. It didn't work for me at all. I think the trick is to use it on uncured silicone, in which case I would guess the same would hold true with MEK. Though not 100% sure. If you haven't used MEK or acetone before, you should heed label warnings. If in fact MEK does work on cured silicone and you decide to repair by removing the inner bead, using MEK could compromise the bond between the inner edges of the panels.
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