Fish Room Beginnings.....

[Chad Hughes]

OK, so for those of you that have experience drilling glass tanks, I need some input. I have drilled tanks in the past without problems, so I'm not new to drilling glass. Tonight I started to drill the last three tanks for the left side of the fish room and cracked two in a row. I've cracked tanks slightly in the past, but these CRACKED!! A lot!

Anyway, I'm not sure if it's because I was a bit tired and was just trying to knock these last three out or what, but I'm pretty pissed at myself right now for blowing $60 on two brand new tanks. LOL!

I've attached some photos of my setup so you can see how I drill. It's pretty simple. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Best wishes!

[Chad Hughes]

And this is where those tanks are supposed to go. LOL! Guess I'll have to get some more tomorrow.

[Darren's Discus]

Chad,
looking fantastic,keep up the great work and updates.


cheers

[David Rose]

Chad,

I've been following your post and your project is really coming along. Don't get discouraged though over a couple of tanks compared to all the other great success you've had in pulling your fish room together. Before long you'll be sitting back to enjoy it completed and will laugh at the bumps in the road. It won't be long.

Maybe you can turn your cracked aquariums into painted mosaic terrariums....LOL. Probably not, but I've always heard "you should accentuate the negatives into a selling positive".

Take care and best of luck going forward!

[MostlyDiscus]

Hi chad,

I dont know how I missed this thread, All I can say is be careful of what you wish for. With all those tanks comes all the cleaning. The biggest problem being slime/protein build up on the glass.


I drill a hole in the wood block that is close to the diamond bit size. Easy to start and easy to finish the hole. Osolate your drill ever so slightly as you drill down. When you get close to the end you will see water seeping through that way and know you are close to the end. I am assuming that you are using water over the bit as you go. When you see the water comming through on the other side its time to slow down. I have found that two things crack the glass, to much pressure as the bit goes through the glass and the result is the drill striking the glass and or the bit binds due to the fact that the hole is too tight. Rotating the bit in a circler motion should make the edges of the hole a bit bigger.

Everything looks great M8. Looks like your doing a great job. I cant wait to see the finished project.

Ed

[Chad Hughes]

Chad,
looking fantastic,keep up the great work and updates.


cheers

Thanks so much!

Chad,

I've been following your post and your project is really coming along. Don't get discouraged though over a couple of tanks compared to all the other great success you've had in pulling your fish room together. Before long you'll be sitting back to enjoy it completed and will laugh at the bumps in the road. It won't be long.

Maybe you can turn your cracked aquariums into painted mosaic terrariums....LOL. Probably not, but I've always heard "you should accentuate the negatives into a selling positive".

Take care and best of luck going forward!

Thanks for the pick me up. LOL! I think I was tired last night when I was doing all of this. I had several other things going on at one time. Never multi task when drilling glass. LOL!

Hi chad,

I dont know how I missed this thread, All I can say is be careful of what you wish for. With all those tanks comes all the cleaning. The biggest problem being slime/protein build up on the glass.


I drill a hole in the wood block that is close to the diamond bit size. Easy to start and easy to finish the hole. Osolate your drill ever so slightly as you drill down. When you get close to the end you will see water seeping through that way and know you are close to the end. I am assuming that you are using water over the bit as you go. When you see the water comming through on the other side its time to slow down. I have found that two things crack the glass, to much pressure as the bit goes through the glass and the result is the drill striking the glass and or the bit binds due to the fact that the hole is too tight. Rotating the bit in a circler motion should make the edges of the hole a bit bigger.

Everything looks great M8. Looks like your doing a great job. I cant wait to see the finished project.

Ed

Ed,

Great input on the cutting techniques. I'll give it a shot this afternoon.

I've been dealing with 10 tanks off a central system for some time now and I can relate to the build up that you are speaking of. I am willing to deal with that. With everything on central, water changes and overall water cleanliness should be way easier. I spend about 3 hours in the fish room daily, not counting feedings.

Thanks again for the help Ed!

[Ibanez540r]

OK, so for those of you that have experience drilling glass tanks, I need some input. I have drilled tanks in the past without problems, so I'm not new to drilling glass. Tonight I started to drill the last three tanks for the left side of the fish room and cracked two in a row. I've cracked tanks slightly in the past, but these CRACKED!! A lot!

Anyway, I'm not sure if it's because I was a bit tired and was just trying to knock these last three out or what, but I'm pretty pissed at myself right now for blowing $60 on two brand new tanks. LOL!

I've attached some photos of my setup so you can see how I drill. It's pretty simple. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Best wishes!

Hey Chad, you may want to check with the brand of tanks (Mine were Marineland). The past few brand new tanks I have got are using tempered glass on all sides and bottom, compared to just on the bottom with older tanks. Could be your problem? ..

[Chad Hughes]

Hey Chad, you may want to check with the brand of tanks (Mine were Marineland). The past few brand new tanks I have got are using tempered glass on all sides and bottom, compared to just on the bottom with older tanks. Could be your problem? ..

These tanks are made by Visio. I was sure to check for tempered glass. Not the case though. In the past few days I've drilled 7 tanks and no issues, but those two didn't go well. LOL!

Thanks for the input!

[hedut]

looking good Chad, can't wait when is done with the fish in them

[D!NGO]

You said you've cut 7 tanks already so maybe the bit is a little dull? These bits last about 10-15 holes IMO. Did you used water to cool the bit with the previous 7 tanks? If not could be that it's worn prematurely. HTH

[Chad Hughes]

looking good Chad, can't wait when is done with the fish in them

Thanks! I can't wait until it's done either. LOL! It's a lot of work to pull off on your own!

You said you've cut 7 tanks already so maybe the bit is a little dull? These bits last about 10-15 holes IMO. Did you used water to cool the bit with the previous 7 tanks? If not could be that it's worn prematurely. HTH

I am certain the bit is dull. I cut through the first 6 with ease. the 7th was a *******! Today it took me 45 minutes on each tank to get a cut without breaking the tank. The bit was water cooled through a pump to constantly trickle water and it never got hot. I followed all the rules to a "T". LOL! The drill bit is a premium bit from Jehmco. I tild them that I was going to drill 40 holes and this is the bit thet recommended. Hmmmm...

Thanks for all the input!

[Eddie]

Eddie,

See if you can get the AF to buy off on getting you a BEQ room that you can pimp out in to a nice fish room! What will they know?

Hope you have a safe trip brother!

Best wishes!

LOL, yeah....I could see it now. Where is all this water/electricity usage coming from! LOL

Take care man....all in good time. For now, I'll hold my little piece of a fish room here in Okinawa.

Later bro,
Eddie

[Scribbles]

I don't know how I missed this thread Chad. Your fish room is looking good, well organized and tidy. What pairs do you have? I hope that you get pairs from your contest fish. I am so jealous. I need to find more room for tanks.

Chris

[Elite Aquaria]

Chad,

The rack is looking fantastic...Now I have an excuse to come out west for a vacation...

Regarding the drilling I do a few things differently. First I add a 50% water to 50% antifreeze solution to cool the bit...Use play-doh and make a rim on the outside of the tank that you can fill with the solution (about 2 inches deep). I drill from the inside of the tank to the outside, since I drilled mine on the bottom. Not sure if you can do this with the size tanks you are drilling.

I Use a 2 x 4 and drill a hole to about 2"....place this support on the bottom of the tank so that when you cut through the tank your bit does not hit the wood...this jerking can cause the tank to crack...

I also apply very little pressure and let the diamond bit do all the work...I will have my cell all day give me a call if you want me to explain this over the phone...

Not sure what kind of bit you have but mine cut over 100 tanks. The key is to use the antifreeze.

[Chad Hughes]

LOL, yeah....I could see it now. Where is all this water/electricity usage coming from! LOL

Take care man....all in good time. For now, I'll hold my little piece of a fish room here in Okinawa.

Later bro,
Eddie

Do you really think they would look? I know back in the day they didn't care, but with budgets being looked at so closely today, it wuoldn't surprise me. Good working holding it down in Oki!

I don't know how I missed this thread Chad. Your fish room is looking good, well organized and tidy. What pairs do you have? I hope that you get pairs from your contest fish. I am so jealous. I need to find more room for tanks.

Chris

Hey Chris!

Things are moving along slow but sure. LOL! Now that the left side is done, I can move over to the right. The room is so small that I have to work in stages to have room to work. It's definately a custom job!

I too hope to get at least one pair out of the contest fish. Should be interesting! The 4 pairs that I have right now are few and they are not really pairs that I would want to have in a breeding program.

Chad,

The rack is looking fantastic...Now I have an excuse to come out west for a vacation...

Regarding the drilling I do a few things differently. First I add a 50% water to 50% antifreeze solution to cool the bit...Use play-doh and make a rim on the outside of the tank that you can fill with the solution (about 2 inches deep). I drill from the inside of the tank to the outside, since I drilled mine on the bottom. Not sure if you can do this with the size tanks you are drilling.

I Use a 2 x 4 and drill a hole to about 2"....place this support on the bottom of the tank so that when you cut through the tank your bit does not hit the wood...this jerking can cause the tank to crack...

I also apply very little pressure and let the diamond bit do all the work...I will have my cell all day give me a call if you want me to explain this over the phone...

Not sure what kind of bit you have but mine cut over 100 tanks. The key is to use the antifreeze.

Thanks for all the great advice Dan! I think the biggest thing that you do different from what I do is the antifreeze. I think I read in one spot that this was a good technique, but most advocate just using water.

The way I set things up was to use poplar boards. The board on top has the "V" notch in it which gives me perfect alignment to place every hole in every tank in the exact same spot. The board below provides support during break through and keeps the glass from flexing. I pump water to the "V" notch and it floods. Seemed to work pretty well for the first 6 or 7 tanks. Last night it took me the better part of 40 minutes on each tank just to get two holes done. Hmmmm... LOL!

Something that I did notice that may have contributed to the cracked tanks was the fact that the poplar boards that I was using during the first day of drilling were beginning to warp. I think by using warped boards on day two to brace the glass probably put too much stress on the glass. I am using 2X4 now without issues.

I'll give your recommendations a shot on the next go round and let you know how it goes. Thanks for the great input Dan!

Best wishes!