The great debate: Is it a ‘rimless’ or a ‘braceless’ reef aquarium?

On 02.19.10, In Design, by Curvball

Ever since the whole Japanese trend of reef aquariums rolled into the west, we’ve been seeing a large amount of hobbyists opting for what is currently reffered to as a ‘rimless’ aquarium. And this trend is affected all parts of the hobby, nano reefs, 100g-200g reefs and even some larger systems. I’m sure we can all see the visual benefits of such aquariums especially when coupled with low iron glass aka starfire, a minimalist aquascape topped off with a sleek low profile hanging lighting system.

There is an amazing thread(s) on Reef Central, Rimless Aquarium Club, (Part 1 & part 2) which showcases a variety of beautiful systems including the following, which happen to be some of my personal favourites:

: JGross4’s Elos 70 reef with starboard base

: Altikesimoglu shows how the Turkish reefs do it

: invincible569 250g – perhaps one of the most famous of the ‘rimless’ reefs.

: reefkoi’s 9g hang on the wall reef

: Tswifty 34g acrylic reef

Surely ‘braceless aquarium’ is the correct term?

But, there is always a but, why have they all be deemed ‘rimless’ aquariums? They all have a rim, an edge, don’t they or am I missing something here? None of the tanks are braced though. Perhaps the term ‘open topped’ gets thrown around too, but I’m having a hard time understanding why these tank are known as ‘rimless’.

Is it just a cool sound term for great looking aquariums? Was something lost in translation? Does the term really convey the true idea behind this style of aquarium?

I for one will refer to my new system, the ZEOnano6012, as a braceless aquarium – calling it rimless just doesn’t sound right.

Credit: Photos in this post are from the threads mentioned in this post and belong to the user who is mentioned in the caption

Curvball

A designer who loves the ocean and the challenge of replicating this stunning and vibrant environment in a small box. SPS corals have always been high on the priority list since going 'reef' almost 8 years back.

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2 Responses

James Weir

02.19.10

Braceless and rimless are different. You can have a braceless and rimless tank. I always thought braceless was simply a tank with no added glass or supports, held together simply by the glass wall and base joints. Rimless is were the top of the glass has no trim or support that is added to be both decorative and functional. Rimless to me always conjured thoughts of water to the very brim.