Glass drilling question

[russ13]

Not as easy as it looks. This happened about 2 seconds into the process. Can anyone tell by how it broke if this was tempered glass?? I’m not sure the make of it. It was a ten gallon I found at a garage sale. Gonna pick another one up at Wallmart and try again this week. Wish me luck

[russ13]

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[billdogg]

It broke because it was tempered glass, although usually it ends up in even tinier pieces.

[mcgyvr]

Yep.. Thats tempered.. Drilling tempered is a no-no..

[ReefMonkey714]

The ones they sell at petco are not tempered and I’ve drilled plenty of them before. I believe the brand is Aqueon.


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[sick1166]

Tempered

[billdogg]

Regardless of the brand or where you buy it, it is imperative that you test the glass before you attempt to drill. It is as easy as putting your laptop or even phone with a white screen inside your tank and looking at it with polarized sunglasses on. First, look at the screen straight on, then turn your head sideways while looking at the screen. If you see any sort of lines/banding, you are not having a flashback - the glass is tempered and cannot be drilled.

There are several youtube clips on how to do this if my explanation wasn't exactly clear.


ALWAYS check first!!!! Drilling a non tempered tank is way easier than cleaning up the huge mess that a shattered glass panel makes.

[russ13]

I went to Wallmart and purchased an aqua culture 10 gallon for 14.99. It wasn’t very hard you just have to take your time, go nice and slow. Use lots of water and let the drill do the work.



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[treesprite]

Originally Posted by ReefMonkey714

The ones they sell at petco are not tempered and I’ve drilled plenty of them before. I believe the brand is Aqueon.


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This is absolutely not correct. It is a known fact that Aqueon sometimes substitutes with tempered glass, even for larger tanks. I recently bought a 75 which turned out to be tempered, but it was not labelled as tempered. Fortunately for me, I had already heard of Aqueon's random substitutions, so I checked the glass before attempting to drill it.

[mcgyvr]

Originally Posted by treesprite

This is absolutely not always correct.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by treesprite

This is absolutely not correct. It is a known fact that Aqueon sometimes substitutes with tempered glass, even for larger tanks. I recently bought a 75 which turned out to be tempered, but it was not labelled as tempered. Fortunately for me, I had already heard of Aqueon's random substitutions, so I checked the glass before attempting to drill it.

Every Aqueon tank above 50 gallon has a tempered glass bottom panel.
The 75 gallon Aqueon tank certainly has.

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[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by russ13

I went to Wallmart and purchased an aqua culture 10 gallon for 14.99. It wasn’t very hard you just have to take your time, go nice and slow. Use lots of water and let the drill do the work.



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I would suggest to put tape (ductape, packaging tape,...) on the opposite surface of the panel you plan to drill, just the area where the drill will come through. Doing so will limit or even eliminate the scalloping you otherwise often get.

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[treesprite]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

Every Aqueon tank above 50 gallon has a tempered glass bottom panel.
The 75 gallon Aqueon tank certainly has.

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Yes they do, but some of the Aqueon tanks also have tempered walls regardless of size.