Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi all,

I want to stand a 55 gal glass aquarium on its end and use it as a gecko enclosure. I need to remove the glass from the small side (which is now the top) and replace it with screen. Does anyone have any suggestions how to manage this? I was thinking it would be easiest just to remove the entire pane, but wouldn't that weaken the structure of the tank too much? The alternative would be to cut a large opening in the pane and leave maybe 1 1/2" of glass all around the edge, but I'm not sure how to do it...do I just score it with a cutting wheel then tap the center?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Chris

This is a lot of work. If you can get the top plastic frame and bottom plastic frame off it would be easy. I did it once with a 10 gallon. I was a lot of work. You may try heating the adhesive with a hair dryer, that might help the frames come off.

I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to do. Sounds like you have a 55 long, and you want to remove one of the narrow side panes...

Sounds like you also have a glass cutter (Which really does just score the glass...

Why don't you try this:
1. scrape off the sealant on the side edges of the pane you want to remove.
2. Score along the top, and bottom edge of the side you want to remove.
3. Tap the pane.

Hopefully, it will then fall out, leaving the plastic top and bottom intact, with thin strips of glass to reinforce the two edges.

Hopefully also, it will be easier than trying to score all four sides, or remove the plastic rims in order to get things working. If it doesn't work, Well, the cuts are all on the pane you want out anyway...

As I said, I'm not too sure what you're really trying to do. I'd have figured a gecko could live in any emptied out aquarium without removing sides and so forth.