Is my Aquarium Tempered?

zeblisik

New member
I have 4 aquariums I want to drill however I bought them all used and am not sure if they were made with tempered glass.


Two of them are AGA w/ black trim, a 30 gal long and 20 gal long, they have the little tabs w/ the persons name on them.

The other two have the dark brown funky trim. one is a 30 gal long, its pretty old, its got a little fish sticker on the bottom corner that says O'Dell ... the other is a 20 gal, it has a sticker on the inside w/ a anchor icon and beside it says Apr 2004 for built by A.H. which im thinking was the person not the company.

So according to this site http://www.alysta.com/books/fishtank.htm
and the AGA flyer they wouldnt be tempered, atleast the ones from AGA.

Is there any reliable way to tell, from inspecting the tank, if it is tempered?

Any thoughts?
 
Last edited:
And why's that? I mean, AGAs current flyer states that their tanks in these sizes are no tempered.

Why are they most likely tempered then?
 
Well i can't say for sure but from what i was told most tanks the bottom is tempered.My friend owns a lfs and he says most likely
 
Bottoms for smaller tanks don't need to be tempered so most aren't. Larger commercial tanks used tempered bottoms because they can get away with using cheaper 1/4" glass for the bottom if they temper it.

For smaller tanks, I would say go ahead and try to drill it. If it busts, replace the pane. Its not that expensive.
 
You can use two polarized lenses one on each side of the glass in question, rotate them until they turn dark. If the glass is tempered you should be able to see streaks or a light and dark pattern if it's tempered, if not it will be uniformly dark. This works best in bright sunlight. Try it on a side window in your car that glass is tempered and you'll see what should happen. As a disclaimer I will say I don't know if there are exceptions to this rule. Maybe somebody else knows more:cool:
 
hllywd.... polarized lenses? lol .... i dont even have a car.. but hmm.. where does one get polarized lenses? is it something one is likely to have laying around the house, part of some device?
 
I used a 62mm photographic polarized filter and my Maui Jim sunglasses. You'd be better off with two filters. Camera shops have them.
 
Back
Top