Be careful drilling 55 gal. tanks

[adapted]

First of all, no discus were harmed in the making of this disaster, so for that we can be thankful.

Anyway, I was doing what I though was a pretty slow, steady, and careful job drilling a 5-year old Perfecto/Topfin 55g tank (cheap) when disaster struck.

I was taking a break after having drilled about 1/8" with a new bit. In other words, I was just sitting there not even touching the tank when there is a loud bang and 10 pounds of shattered glass and 30 gallons of H2O are projected out and down onto the hardwood.

Of course the tank may have had some invisible damage from before, which would make my experience not that universally applicable.

I guess I'm just saying be careful.

(I have had no trouble drilling any number of thicker-walled tanks with the same or similar hardware.).

[jeep]

10 pounds of shattered glass and 30 gallons of H2O are projected out and down onto the hardwood.


I wouldn't suggest leaving water in the tank while drilling. The slightest imperfection while drilling will have your same result :)

[adapted]

The cheap diamond hole saw set on ebay for $55 or so is not a bargain if you have more than a couple of each size to drill. I was barely able to drill two holes with each bit before it was useless. Pretty cheap stuff, quality-wise

[aggie_67]

What size pieces were the broken glass pieces? Sounds like you may have tried to drill a tempered glass tank. Tempered glass would break into hundreds of small pieces (cubes.) IMO regular glass would just crack.

[adapted]

I believe it was just some sort of safety glass, but tempered glass would certainly explain my disaster; seems like I have seen other tanks break that way. I am certainly no expert.

There was a sticker on the botomm that something like THIS BOTTOM IS TEMPERED GLASS which would leave one to believe the rest wasn't.

If you know of a way to definitely tell is glass pieces are tempered or not I would be happy to look into for the common good.

Thanks

[ronrca]

Sorry to hear about the tank. :( We actually just had a topic about tempered glass.

http://forum.simplydiscus.com//index.php?board=19;action=display;threadid=21036

;) HTH!

[aggie_67]

After the fact, it is easy to tell if the tank side was tempered. What kind of pieces did it break into? Did the whole side break into these pieces?

[susankay1]

Perfecto 55s are tempered on all panes....I just got through drilling 8-75 gallon perfectos and they turned out better than I could have hoped for. Sorry for your disaster. Glad no fish were harmed.

[adapted]

Well that settles it then. Thanks for the authoritative info.

I have actually already bought a 75 to replace the 55, so it's good to know they're drillable...

By the way. is it just my imagination or is some glass harder than other glass. I just drilled an Oceanic Systems and a similarly thick Top Fin and could swear the Oceanic Systems took three times as long. It seems liike a much better quality unit overall, so I'm guessing that use a better, more scratch-resistant glass.


What are you doing with 8 75's?

[susankay1]

Good luck on drilling the 75. It took us nearly 20 minutes drilling each one. And we are using them for fish....and back up hot tubs...lol.Come on by and check em out!!!

[jeep]

I have actually already bought a 75 to replace the 55,


Another happy ending ;)

[Denny]

I watched another hobbiest drill his tanks a few months ago. He did OK with the 20 gallon tanks, but when he got to his new 55 gallon all-glass, he found out half way through what temered glass does when drilled lol. I never knew they used tempered glass for the sidewalls until that moment when it went pop. Of course, right after that we saw the tag on the bottom that stated clearly that the side panels were tempered and to not drill. :-X ;D

[Cosmo]

I always thought you COULDN'T drill thru tempered glass ?? Oceanic, at least the one I have, was marked.. tempered glass, do not drill ?
JIm

[adapted]

Jim-

I have three Oceanics and have drilled them all.

The sticker on the bottom says "This bottom is tempereed glass...do not drill."

The bottom of the Perfecto deos reference the bottom.


MIke

[Jean]

;D I've drilled over 20 tanks from 20s to 75s and have not broke one. A majority were All Glass tanks. Some may have been either Perfecto or Great Lakes tanks.
U have to keep the glass cool and go slowly.
I have a thread over on DAAH (Discus As A Hobby) as to how I do mine, if you are interested.


Jean ;D 8)