Updated: December 01 2019
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Aquarium with the water drained and fish removed. The empty aquarium weighs about 600 pounds and is constructed of 5/8" thick(thin?) glass held together with silicone sealer. | |
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Friends(8 of them!) help move the aquarium and stand away from the wall and lower the aquarium to the floor. I bought 10 suction handles from Harbor Freight to make this task easier. | |
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The aquarium is resting on 4 2x4 pieces of wood to keep it off the carpet and make working on it easier. |  |
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The corner nearest the camera lens is the area that failed. The glass didn't break though. The silicone adhesive holding it together simply came apart. I've had several aquariums do this! Notice the lack of bracing around the aquarium top. This is unusual for a large aquarium. | |
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The molding around the top of the aquarium is held in place by silicone sealer. I'm working a 1" putty knife behind the molding to separate the molding from the glass. This has to be done carefully because I'm planning on reusing the molding. | |
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After the molding was removed from the top and bottom of the aquarium, I began separating the rest of the glass. I clamped a single-edge razor blade in some Vice-Grips and went to work. | |
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I'm removing the silicone fillets from the inside corners of the aquarium. | |
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Working from top to bottom, I slowly and carefully pushed the blade into the seam. I had to make several passes to completely separate the glass. |  |
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Holding the glass apart while working with the razor blade is easy with a corner clamp flipped upside-down. It also prevents the glass from falling when the last bit of silicone is trimmed away. |  |
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Here's what the aquarium looks like with the front glass removed. Take a close look at how the factory installed the bottom of this aquarium (right pic). |  |
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Here's a closer look at the aquarium bottom. Notice the bottom is positioned inside of the four sides. The bottom must support the entire weight of the water and contents. Most large aquariums are not designed/built this way. I'm going to replace the bottom with a new piece of(thicker) glass. The sides will rest on top of the new bottom-- where they should! |
