I have 4 or 5 tanks in my basement I would love to drill. They are made by all glass aquariums. Two of the 75 gallon tanks are labeled tempered do not drill, the other tanks say nothing at all. After reading about drilling tanks it seems that many tanks are only tempered on the bottom panel. I would want to drill on any side but the bottom. Any thoughts? Anyone know if all glass aquariums are typically just tempered on the bottom?
Tank Drilling
- Thread starter nayotte
- Start date
RandyStacyE
New member
Not all are the same. Some have only tempered bottoms. Some aren't tempered at all. Some even have tempered backs. It's something that can be determined by contacting the dealer or manufacturer ... much of the time there's not markings or manufacturer name on the tank.
I'm about to drill the back of my 75 and I have no way of knowing if it's tempered. I did my best to track down the manufacturer and the live fish store (where I bought the tank) is a JOKE so no luck there.
There are ways to test to see if the pane is tempered and I'm sure others will post some soon.
I'm about to drill the back of my 75 and I have no way of knowing if it's tempered. I did my best to track down the manufacturer and the live fish store (where I bought the tank) is a JOKE so no luck there.
There are ways to test to see if the pane is tempered and I'm sure others will post some soon.
draleigh
New member
I found this online - Take two photographic polarizing filters.
Sandwich them together. Rotate one of the filters. Light transmitted
through the filters will fade from lighter to completely blacked out as the
planes of the polarized material crosses through each other's axis. Now, try
the same thing with the piece of glass sandwiched between the two filters,
and rotate one of the filters. If the glass in untempered, the light
transmitted through the filters will act the same way, fading from lighter to
blacked out. If the glass IS tempered, an interesting phenomena will occur:
as the filters are rotated, a black cross will form through the filters.
It's an unmistakable sign: if the cross is there, the glass is tempered
I have drilled several of my tanks. Ranging from 20 gallon longs to 180 gallon tanks. The smaller ones i drilled in the back, the large one i drilled on the bottom.
Go slow, keep the bit wet and GO SLOW
Sandwich them together. Rotate one of the filters. Light transmitted
through the filters will fade from lighter to completely blacked out as the
planes of the polarized material crosses through each other's axis. Now, try
the same thing with the piece of glass sandwiched between the two filters,
and rotate one of the filters. If the glass in untempered, the light
transmitted through the filters will act the same way, fading from lighter to
blacked out. If the glass IS tempered, an interesting phenomena will occur:
as the filters are rotated, a black cross will form through the filters.
It's an unmistakable sign: if the cross is there, the glass is tempered
I have drilled several of my tanks. Ranging from 20 gallon longs to 180 gallon tanks. The smaller ones i drilled in the back, the large one i drilled on the bottom.
Go slow, keep the bit wet and GO SLOW
I also read the same piece about looking at the glass with a lens.
I ended up calling all glass aquariums, new company now. They told me that all their standard tanks come with tempered glass only on the bottom. Their smaller tanks having no tempered glass at all. So those that want to drill any side other than the bottom should be okay.
I ended up calling all glass aquariums, new company now. They told me that all their standard tanks come with tempered glass only on the bottom. Their smaller tanks having no tempered glass at all. So those that want to drill any side other than the bottom should be okay.
I've got a buddy who owns a LFS and I was looking through his catalouges and found a perfecto data sheet which listed all of their tanks and which panes were tempered.
Just about everything that Perfecto makes 55g and under is tempered on all sides (except for the 20 I think). With smaller tanks they can use thinner glass and just temper it which saves on cost of the glass and shipping weight. Over 55g they have to use thicker glass anyway so they don't bother to temper them.
Anyway, don't know if any of this will help, but maybe you're LFS might have an All-Glass tech sheet...
Just about everything that Perfecto makes 55g and under is tempered on all sides (except for the 20 I think). With smaller tanks they can use thinner glass and just temper it which saves on cost of the glass and shipping weight. Over 55g they have to use thicker glass anyway so they don't bother to temper them.
Anyway, don't know if any of this will help, but maybe you're LFS might have an All-Glass tech sheet...
centraloandp
New member
Very few tanks are tempered on anything but the bottom. Some are tempered on sides, but it is rare. It simply costs more $$$.
Actually, more and more tanks are being tempered. The process is becoming cheaper and more cost effective. Especially on smaller tanks where they can get away with thinner glass which saves them a ton of money on shipping when you consider the volume of tanks that are produced. Like I said pretty much all Perfecto 10g and 55g are tempered on ALL sides.
I just would hesitate before I said it was rare for backs and sides to be tempered...better to be safe than sorry.
I just would hesitate before I said it was rare for backs and sides to be tempered...better to be safe than sorry.
