Pros cons/presence of a rimless vs euro
 

Hey there

Looking to get a build on a tank here possibly.
Thinking it will be 5 or 6 ft and about 2x2

Wanting your opinions on a bigger tank build and how you would do it/what you believe to be the pros and cons of a rimless or euro style tank

Thanks!

A Eurobraced tank well allow you 2 stick with 5/8 thick glass as a minimum and you have peace of mind that the Euro bracing adds the extra strength and stability not only on the corners but also on the long stretch of the glass. Glasses really good at taking compression but not so good with tension. And when you apply water pressure on one side of the glass, which is significant with the tank of that size, it pushes the glass out that's creating tension. Because it's pulling on the corners of the glass. And the glass can only handle Bowing as such to as high as its own thickness before it becomes detrimental.

Now if you decide to go rimless you will be forced to go with very thick glass. Which will drive your cost up. Also if you are not using starphire glass then you will also be affecting the visibility of the inside of your tank. Since high iron glass has a green tinge to it that green tinge starts becoming more and more visible the thicker the glass is.

From my experience here's my recommendation. Rimless is fine on tanks that are shorter than 4 feet. Any longer than 4 feet though I strongly recommend that you use eurobracing. Even if it's only on the front and the back of the tank. Which by the way, reduces the cost of your bracing a lot. if you use a strip on the front and strip on the back.

I went rimless on my last system after only having euro braced tanks . While I think the rimless "looks" cleaner I would avoid it , as my boxfish love to spit water in the air and my glass needs cleaning everyday . When I had euro brace I never needed to worry . So for me Im going back to euro brace .

One piece eurobrace for the win!! If you enjoy constantly cleaning the front pane of your tank and water splashing cause your pump is too strong then go for it...as far as the clean look, by the time the mesh cover goes on top it pretty much the same look as a euro brace so....

My next tank will be eurobraced, preferably one piece depending on if a center brace is required. My current 48 x 18 x 16 is about as large as I would feel comfortable, long term, rimless. Else that is a lot of pressure on a 5/8 - 3/4 wedge of silicone.

I like the look of rimless, but honestly I put a lid on it anyway, and have to watch the wave action, or turn off my return while my arms are moving around else the potential for splashy splashy down the front.

I have an 8' long 280 gallon Rimless tank. Its starfire glass built by concept. You wont see very many tanks like it so everyone that has seen it thinks its Beautiful. Only down side is while cleaning glass, there is some splashing...I have a euro brace as well (210 gallon) and IMO Rimless looks better but euro is better for cleanliness as well as saving fish that wanna jump.

I agree, the biggest issue is splashing. My display tanks always had Eurobraces and it always kept the water in. Both my frag tanks were rimless and they always had salt creep and splashing everywhere on the sides. It was really annoying to clean constantly. If you like waves or pulsing current as well, it dosn't work well with most rimless tanks unless the overflow is built a little lower.

I know you are thinking glass, but for a 6x2x2 tank I would look into acrylic as well. It should be cheaper than glass, would give you better visibility, and it would be much lighter. Only thing you would have to be a little more cognizant of are scratches, but those are really easy to get rid of on acrylic. Glass, not so much.

I don't know where you're getting quotes from, but I have never seen a quality acrylic tank cheaper than a glass in that size.

for my display i wanted rimless because looks so purdy!

but i just imagined water splashing on the floor more and tons of salt creep to clean in order to maintain the sharp look rimless offers.

i went with eurobrace and am happy with it.
(have never had rimless or eurobrace before)