Drilling A Tank

[amstar15]

I have a us 75 gallon tank. I will be moving it to my new house with in the next two-three weeks. Right now I have a hang on over-flow box. I was wondering how hard is it to drill the tank (its glass), how do you do it, and where do you put the holes, and what size hole

 

[bobf]

I have a us 75 gallon tank. I will be moving it to my new house with in the next two-three weeks. Right now I have a hang on over-flow box. I was wondering how hard is it to drill the tank (its glass), how do you do it, and where do you put the holes, and what size hole

There's a guide on here somewhere - think it was Andywg? Video too - looks pretty simple if you can hold a drill straight*

*(Use a guide if you can't)

 

[andywg]

I did a picture guide, another member did a video IIRC.

I should be drilling my 100 gallon tank in the next week to 10 days (finally getting around to it now the rugger season is finished) so Can have a go at filming that, though it is pretty boring for the most part.

Just be sure the bottom is not tempered glass. I am not aware of many (if any) UK tempered glass bottoms but they are common in the US.

 

[enjoiskater158]

yeah thatfishplace failed to specify that my 90 i bought from them was tempered

 

[amstar15]

how do you know if its tempered? what type of drill bit do you need? what size holes should you make?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

You need a diamond drill bit, Ian's been planning on drilling our tank and he's explained it to me a bit. he was gonna put a piece of wood on each side of the glass and clamp it all together then drill through, just holds it more secure so less chance of breakages.

 

[bobf]

You need a diamond drill bit, Ian's been planning on drilling our tank and he's explained it to me a bit. he was gonna put a piece of wood on each side of the glass and clamp it all together then drill through, just holds it more secure so less chance of breakages.

If he's going to do that then I'd suggest drilling the hole in the wood for the outside of the 'sandwich' first - that way your diamond hole cutter will have a 360 deg guide, and the cutting edge won't get clogged up with wood along the way. As soon as you have any 'bite' in the glass surface take the outer bit of wood off as this will add to heat being created otherwise.

I think those diamond cutters do need cooling along the way and/ or water or some such liquid being used to take the cut bits of glass away from the cutting edge as you go. See if you can find andywg's guide, or similar.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yeah he said something about lubricating it come to think of it

that's just my rubbish interpretation of what he said, he's a builder so he knows what he's doing with stuff like this (she say's hopefully bearing in mind he's re-building my house )

 

[bobf]

yeah he said something about lubricating it come to think of it

that's just my rubbish interpretation of what he said, he's a builder so he knows what he's doing with stuff like this (she say's hopefully bearing in mind he's re-building my house )

Yeah, that's it.

here you go;

Superman's video

THE andywg guide!

(Think these two are worth stickyfying, by the way!)

 

[amstar15]

is there any other way to do this if you have a tempered bottom? can you drill the back wall of the tank? what accessories or kits do you need to buy? My tank has a hang on overflor box right now?

 

[andywg]

You can indeed drill the back. Drill higher up and just put a mini wier on and it will work fine. I have 3 tanks done on this principle.

If you look on ebay there is a guy called something like Lau** who sells the drill bits from Hong Kong for about $5-10 a piece. I got all my bits from there and are very happy. OTher than the bit you need a normal drill, a bulkehad and some sealant (you can tighten the bulkhead onto gaskets, but I prefer the safety of sealing the bulkhead in.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

we looked for drill bits for aquariums on fleabay and a few other sites and i have to say they seem massivley overpriced, we saw some in B&Q for half the price the other day. Is there any real reason they're overpriced or is it just the usual rubbish overpricing cos it say's 'aquarium' on the packaging

 

[andywg]

Hmm, 6 drill bits, (28, 30, 32, 35, 38 and 40mm) for US$23 with US$10 for shipping doesn't seem that bad to me...

From Lau***

As well as being so cheap that the bits work out $5.50 (£2.75 at today's exchange rate) each, the guy who sends them is great at getting them to you quickly and always informs if there will be a problem (such as him having a couple of days off over Xmas).

You are probably looking at more heavy duty bits, or industrial ones (not to mention the inflation that the word "aquarium" has on prices).

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Hmm, 6 drill bits, (28, 30, 32, 35, 38 and 40mm) for US$23 with US$10 for shipping doesn't seem that bad to me...

From Lau***

As well as being so cheap that the bits work out $5.50 (£2.75 at today's exchange rate) each, the guy who sends them is great at getting them to you quickly and always informs if there will be a problem (such as him having a couple of days off over Xmas).

You are probably looking at more heavy duty bits, or industrial ones (not to mention the inflation that the word "aquarium" has on prices).

maybe it's just the sellers we found, don't think we looked at the one you linked, they just seemed disproportonally pricey. i'll keep hold of that link anyway for when we're ready to drill ours.

what i was getting at though is there's not anything special you need in a diamond drill bit for dirlling aquariums is there? any half decent quality one from a hardware store would do it?

 

[bobf]

Hmm, 6 drill bits, (28, 30, 32, 35, 38 and 40mm) for US$23 with US$10 for shipping doesn't seem that bad to me...

From Lau***

As well as being so cheap that the bits work out $5.50 (£2.75 at today's exchange rate) each, the guy who sends them is great at getting them to you quickly and always informs if there will be a problem (such as him having a couple of days off over Xmas).

You are probably looking at more heavy duty bits, or industrial ones (not to mention the inflation that the word "aquarium" has on prices).

maybe it's just the sellers we found, don't think we looked at the one you linked, they just seemed disproportonally pricey. i'll keep hold of that link anyway for when we're ready to drill ours.

what i was getting at though is there's not anything special you need in a diamond drill bit for dirlling aquariums is there? any half decent quality one from a hardware store would do it?

Like Mrs bobf says ... "...any old diamond will do"