Hello new to SW, Can i drill temperd glass ?

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NYCfishguy

New Member
Hello everyone, I have been caring for FW fish for many years. I am slowly evolving into SW. I have a RSM 130 D thats sits dry because i thought i was moving when i bought it and now a year later it still sits dry. It will eventually get filled and will be my mini reef tank. My question today however is about my 54 gallon corner aquarium. I purchased this tank 10 years ago as a FW community with the thought of evolving into SW. I have decided to donate the messy FW convicts and transform it into a FOWLR set up. Filtration is my major issue. When i purchased this set up i bought as much equipment as i could that could be used for both FW and SW setups. I am currently running the ehiem 2227 wet/dry canister for biological only, and a magnum 350 for mechanical /chemical. I would like to use what i have for my FOWLR setup however i read that canister filters are suddenly not good for healthy water? I also have a new Rena XL canister that i was going to replace the noisey magnum with , and then i thought maybe i should drill it and get a sump setup. Here is the problem, the bottom panel has a sticker that reads " tempered glass do not drill " . My local fish store says it will fracture if drilled. Because a corner tank has barely enough clearence from the wall i can't hang anything off the back. I like the "clean look " of a sump set up but not sure if its safe. So would you A) run it with the ehiem wet/dry canister and the rena xl canister or B) attempt to drill the tempered glass to run a sump. ? Please dont say buy a new tank, this is one of five and thats my limit. Thanks...
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
Tempered glass is notorious for shattering when drilled. Don't try it. If you don't want to buy a new tank, then pull it away from the wall a couple inches for an overflow. You could always hide the equipment by running some wood trim up the side and create a faux built in look.
 
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DaveK

Well-Known Member
The sticker on the tank and your LFS are correct. If you attempt to drill tempered glass, it will shatter into a mess of small little pieces of glass and be a pain to clean up. Do not attempt it.

You options are -

Use your existing Eheim wet/dry.

Get an external overflow box and use a sump.

Sell the existing tank(s) and get a new one.
 
reefguy

reefguy

Member
Go to YouTube and type in drilled temper glass tanks.. That's what will happen.

Get a new tank or use a overflow box. A lot of tanks the side is not tempered, only the bottom so u can drill the bottom of the side panel and burry the pipe under the sand and have it come up in the middle like mine :) once again search YouTube you will find some great ideas.
 
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NYCfishguy

New Member
How do over flows work ? in other words if the power fails does it continue to flow out ? Drill the side hum...I will ckeck those youtube videos. My reason for thinking sump is the need for protien skimming, or can i get away with the wet/dry can and a second can for mech/chemical ?
 
theplantman

theplantman

Active Member
overflows work off a siphon, if the power goes out, the siphon will break when air enters the line. most use a lifter pump to maintain the siphon. when the power comes back on and the excess water is pumped back into the tank from your sump, the siphon should resume. make sure you have enough free board in the sump to hold the drainage from your display in the event of a power failure.
 
SubRosa

SubRosa

Well-Known Member
There is no way to drill glass after it's tempered. Any piece of tempered glass you see that has a hole drilled in it was tempered after the hole was drilled.
 
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