Can you cut the top of an acrylic aquarium?

[JasonL]

I'd rather have an acrylic aquarium than glass, just prefer the look. My main concern, though, is fitting liverock into the rather small opening of a smaller tank - should mention that I'm looking at a 20 or 29 gal tank.

The small strip between the center hole and back opening (for filters) seems pretty worthless. Can I just cut that off? The perimeter of the top should still provide support.... right?

Anyone ever try this? Think it would be okay? Otherwise I guess it's a decision between smaller pieces of liverock or going with glass.

Thanks!

[flyboydave]

I'm not sure exactly which piece you're talking about cutting out, but the pieces of glass/acrylic that go from the front to back of tanks is to keep them from flexing outward when filled with water. My 75g tank gets almost 1/4" wider when it's filled vs. when it's empty, and that's 1/2" glass. I don't think it will hurt to flex the glass, but I added a cross piece, as I was worried about weakening the seams during water changes.

If it's a piece like that, I wouldn't remove it. The builders must have put it in there for some reason, otherwise they could save money on the tanks by not putting it in there.