Un-Gluing Aquarium Glass

I used piano wire once when we had to repair a leaky corner of a fishtank. The wire went through the soft silicone sealant and cut its way down easily. Then we cleaned all edges and reapplied goo.

Your tank is bigger than mine was and probably has metal or wooden corners and probably a tougher sealant. You still might be able to get in there with the same method just not quite as easily. It should work kinda like removing a front windshield from a car.

Drew

Maybe start by asking an aquarium shop what kind of glue they use, and whether it can be softened by heating, which would probably need to be uniform and gradual.

I'm thinking also of using a pipe clamp diagonally across the top to squeeze the shape slowly into a parallelogram, helping to loosen the glue. But be real cautious!

If you can't use the wire Drew K recommended because your tank has a metal frame, you might try slow steady pressure.

Check to find the last piece installed, and make a frame so you can apply slow steady pressure on the glass with a small jack. For sure use a large piece of wood to spread out the pressure from the jack.

THe wooden frame around the tank is off.

The entire thing is just a giant rectangular glass box.

I'll look tomorrow and see if I have any fishing leader wire.....monel probably.

thank you all so far.

You might try 3M's Caulk Remover

http://www.google.com/search?q=3M%E2%84%A2+Caulk+Remover

I use Goof Off, followed by a slow steady knife blade.

This looks promising.

http://homerepair.about.com/od/interiorhomerepair/ss/caulk_removal_2.htm

Oops, sorry pantaz, didn't notice your post and can't delete.

I would sell the aquarium and use the money to buy the glass you need. It seems a shame to ruin a nice aquarium that someone would appreciate.

Its over 22 years old.

The wood frame work rotted away years ago.

I offered it up for $50 , fob my shop. No takers.

The glass pieces cut to spec, are well over $300.

Its going to be made into beautiful sky-lights ( until the next hurricane) Ha ha!

Thank you anyway.

Awesome. Usually those tanks go for a lot more than that new. Glad to see it's going to be reborn into something beautiful. Good luck. Oh by the way the glue used to hold the glass together is usually silicone if that's any help in finding a way to remove it.

Glassman,

Let me get specific. My use of Sky Light is actually a side window, on a stairway over looking our backyard . It will be in a wall, over looking the bamboo and swamp-like back yard. It will simply serve to provide light and possibly a spot where my 2 cats will escape the hound dogs that stay with us or maybe they will just sit and watch the wildlife outside.

If can not be touched by weather ....except if a hurricane took out the carport.

If it shattered into a million bits, it would fall harmless along the wall and onto the ground. If it broke inward, it would just sit on the old wooden stairway steps where a vacuum cleaner would pick it up.

Thank you for the input though and I appreciate the warning. I have no desire to make any holes in my roof...... Andrew, Lilly and Rita did that for me with masive pecan and oak tree limbs harpooned through my roof and ceiling. ha ha !

In the small city where I live there are several glass fabricators with glass cutting capabilities. I have used them to cut mirrors, custom shower doors, and windows. I suspect in your area there are many such places. They have the tools for just such work. I can get a large mirror cut for about $40.00 with bevels. Call up one or two and price out just cutting the corners off the aquarium. It sounds like the safest way unless you need the full dimensions. I have removed windshields with slow pressure just not without some breakage.

I live in a cold climate and even a thick single pane of glass installed on a house would be problematic with frost. In this area of Canada, I would use e thermal glass with argon. Or something that would not frost easily.

I have a place that will cut the glass for me, dirt cheap.

Our cold winter is between 35-40F with an occasional 28-30 for one night.

No issues with frost around here.

Thanks

Assuming the glue is epoxy or polyester resin , I suggest the use of "Attack Glue-Dissolving Compound".meant for softening cured epoxy and polyester resins so you can quickly and easily separate misaligned materials, or clean cured resins from metal, stone, glass, wood and many other materials. The solvent is available at Amazon.

Caution: This is a dilute solution of DMF (Dimethylformamide) and acetone. Be careful as DMF is a known carcinogen

You could try to cut the glued silicone seam with a razor from both sides or try a fine wire to cut the silicone bond.

HEAT! You should be able to heat the glass enough to soften, melt, or burn the the adhesive.

I don't know if a glass shop would be able to cut the glass while it is still assembled as a tank. Cutting glass is usually accomplished by scorring one side to create both a stress concentration and a crack that can propagate, and then bending the sheet of glass at the score. Can't bend a piece that is supported on 3 sides.

I have used wire to try and cut through, but it is difficult.

This week I am going to town and get something like the 3M product to melt it away.

The sides and bottom should come off then......

Use a sharp razor, the thinnest you can get, and work it in the corners, all over. If you do that and get between the glass sheets at the corners, they will come apart without much problems. The silicone can then be scraped off the glass surface with the razor.

We use to have the Old Shaving Razor Blades but I don't know if you can still get something that thin.

Try mineral spirit (paint thinner) to soften the silicone caulking.

Cheers

Vince

Seems to me about $5000 worth of resource so far to solve a $50 problem.

This must be a government aquarium...

Very well put!