Tempered Glass And Sumps?

[penguinpimp1990]

i have a glass 75 gallon tank with a tempered bottom, and we have plans to build it into the wall. since its going to be inside the wall i dont want things like heaters, filters and all that other stuff inside the tank making it look messy. A sump filter would be great because it could hide everything right inside the sump and make my chiclid tank look good. Since this tank is tempered and i dont want skimmer boxes (because of the chance of leakage) the only way would be to drill it, but id never try this myself. Do you think if i took it to a glass plate company they could make the holes in it? Any other suggestions?

 

[windsor-aquatic]

If the base is tempered then you can forget about drilling it, because you can't. Your only other options are either drilling the back or one of the side panels, or using a syphon system that doesn't require drilling.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

ive seen drilled tempered glass before, but you need to use a special diamond drill bit or something. if i cant get it drilled, will the sump overflow if the pump fails or does the skimmer box somehow shutoff? also have you ever had a heater crack inside a sump?

 

[windsor-aquatic]

If you have seen tempered glass that has been drilled, it was drilled before being tempered. Any attempt to drill tempered glass will result in thousands of small particles of glass exploding everywhere.

 

[Mr Miagi]

Like said, another option is getting the tank drilled through the back. It wont be visible due to the rocks/decor. Get an aquarium company to do it, far safer than DIY IMO. They do it everyday, for a small fee each hole.

 

[sharp tooth]

buy a pre drilled tank.

or have a sump above the tank, pump water up to it and let gravety return it. if its above you can use a plastic water storage box (like in the loft). so much easyer to drill.