tempered glass?

the maggot

New member
I'd like to drill my tank for a sump but not sure if I can. It's a marineland and has a tag on the bottom pane saying tempered do not drill.
Now is that just the bottom pane or all panes?
Is there a way to tell if glass is tempered?
 
I'm in the same boat as you. I have a 75g that I'm wanting to drill and I believe it is a Marineland too. I'm not 100% sure though, it might be an AllGlass Aquarim. Mine doesn't have a sticker anywhere on the bottom, all my other tanks do. I bought it new several (4-5) years back, but can't recall the brand for sure.

I've heard of people having meters that read stress lines in glass that can tell you if it is tempered or not. Unfortunately I do not have one.
 
i heard that you can take a laptop screen and put it behind the glass and if you see a rainbow color in the glass then it is tempered.
Now this is something i read here on RC so dont hold me to anything.
 
Get yourself a pair of polorized glasses and look at it. If its tempered you will see a "colidascope" type of look on the glass, if it is not tembered it just looks clear. If you wear polarized glasses and look at the side windows on your car and youve thought they look funky when you are wearing your glasses, thats caunse the side windows in cars are tempered.

HTH

Good luck
 
Usually the sticker would say Do Not Drill All panels Tampered Glass. If it just says what you stated it should just be the bottom panel. I would do the polarized glasses trick or contact Marineland.
 
it should be just the bottom panel tats tempered normally tank is just tempered on bottom panel not all 5 sides
 
it should be just the bottom panel tats tempered normally tank is just tempered on bottom panel not all 5 sides

IMHO it's risky at best to make assumptions like this. Most big manufacturers that have been doing this for any length of time have switched their designs around from time to time (or even customer to customer) so generalizations are risky, at best. For instance, some manufacturers will sell 55's with only the bottom tempered to small-volume retailers (i.e. your local fish store) vs. selling 55's with all panels tempered to big volume retailers (i.e. Wal-Mart).

So, unless you have a foolproof method of checking, or have a 100% guarantee from the builder of the tank, you're taking a risk.
 
Thanks for the help. FWIW on marinelands site they have a pdf file that tells you which tank size has tempered panels. Turns out its just the bottom on mine and it looks like there is only one 55 that has all tempered panels.
 
Lucky me!! I have one of the ones with all panels tampered!! Of course that is why I got it free from a member of my local club! He was giving me the sand out of it and uncovered the sticker that said all panels tampered, so he said he couldn't use it to take it! It will be my QT tank for corals.
 
Back
Top