This is what happens when drilling a hole in your tank to fast. BE WARNED!

[HostileYet]

I was drilling out a few holes for my sump in a 20g tank (fortunately a scrap tank I had laying around). It was 1am and I had no patience (should of taken my time for sure) I was drilling and all the sudden there was a loud "POP!" and a huge spiderweb of cracks appeared. The worst part is after 45 mins of drilling I was almost through the 1/8" glass when it happened. Here are pictures and a link to a video. BE WARNED! :blown: GO SLOW NO MATTER HOW LONG IT TAKES! Build a small round wall around the hole you want to drill with some Sculpey (I use Super Sculpey) or other REMOVABLE molding cement and fill it with water to keep the bit and glass cool. I was being stupid and rushed it, I didn't put excess pressure on it but I was going way to fast with my 1 speed drill. You should also probably use a drill with settings on it to make it slower. Here's those pics.

The video is taking a while to upload on Photobucket.com so I'll post the video separately.

May you take joy in my pain :deadhorse:

 

[bugs713]

Are you sure it was not tempered glass? Sure looks like it the way it spider-webbed, regular glass should have just cracked.

 

[HostileYet]

Not completely sure. I can't even remember where I got it from. Though I did have water in it today. When it happened I actually thought it had totally shattered but when I looked down it had just spider webbed.

 

[HostileYet]

Here is the video for the tank. Go to this link.

http://s1200.photobucket.com/albums/bb333/ProjectSB350/?action=view&current=TankCrackVid.mp4

 

[00Warpig00]

That is tempered glass. Tempered glass breaks into a million little pieces. Doesnt matter how slow you would have drilled that hole.

Nick

 

[NEReef]

agreed. There is no way it should have taken 45 mins to get through 1/8" glass.... I've drilled some 1/2" glass and it didnt take that long.

 

[TheGodParticle]

Looks like it should hold water just fine....

 

[kcress]

It's very pretty.

 

[evsalty]

Like the others have stated that was tempered glass. I drilled 8 holes in the bottom of my 40br and that took a little under 1.5 hours.

 

[SurfCastinRI]

1/8" tempered glass on the BACK of an aquarium? Very odd...

 

[NEReef]

1/8" tempered glass on the BACK of an aquarium? Very odd...

maybe he took so long drilling the glass it got hot and with a temperature change like adding fresh cool water it shattered? other then that ya i would say its tempered.

 

[spoonman1979]

That is tempered glass. I tried to drill the side of a 55 gallon assuming only the bottom was tempered, I was wrong... Also, I read where the glass bit is more like grinding in a circular pattern than conventional drilling a hole, therefore a higher speed is desired. This works well for the non-tempered tanks I have drilled, keeping a stream of water on the bit to keep it cool.

 

[Porgy Bait]

Absolutely tempered glass. Always look for a white stamp in the corner of the sheet or little dimples along the edges from the wire racks, in the oven, they use when tempering. If the drill bit is slipping and sliding around or your glass cutter refuses to score a red flag should go up as to the glass being tempered. Yes the bit does grind or abrade the glass. Even when you are "cutting" glass you are just driving fissures down in to the glass and then to break or separate you literally pull the glass apart.

 

[d2mini]

Meh, a little silicone and it will be good as new.

 

[Landsailor]

That looks like actual safety glass, not just "tempered"!

Perhaps it's just being held together by the force from the trim, but if it was just tempered it would be falling apart and the hole "slug" would have pushed it out and the rest would be crumbling.

Push on it to see if the plastic, sticky core of laminated safety glass is there.

 

[thegrun]

Meh, a little silicone and it will be good as new.

I would use a black plastic trash bag on the inside to ensure it holds water and duct tape on the outside...good as new! Sorry for your loss"¦

 

[HostileYet]

Thinking about it further I'm pretty sure it was a used Terrarium. That would explain it a little bit, other then that I have no idea why it would be tempered or safety glass. Though I would like to find out, it would of been a disaster if It was actually holding water. And yeah I was drilling another piece of glass on a 10g tank and it cracked (but just a few small cracks) but didn't do this (of coarse that was my first drill attempt ever =P) Lets hope it goes better on my next tank (Sump)

 

[BlueCorn]

That is tempered glass. Tempered glass breaks into a million little pieces. Doesnt matter how slow you would have drilled that hole.

This

 

[HostileYet]

I would use a black plastic trash bag on the inside to ensure it holds water and duct tape on the outside...good as new! Sorry for your loss"¦

I might just use the black garbage bag as the new tank :hmm3: Set it on the inside of that tank with the shattered glass, I see no future problems :fish2:

 

[HostileYet]

I would use a black plastic trash bag on the inside to ensure it holds water and duct tape on the outside...good as new! Sorry for your loss"¦

I might just use that black garbage bag as the new tank :hmm3: Set it on the inside of that tank with the shattered glass, I see no future problems :fish2: