Drilling?

[gabew]

I want to set up a new aquarium but this would require the drilling of some holes in the tank. I don't think it is possible to drill through glass (corrections if I am wrong) so I was thinking acrylic. However acrylic seems much more expensive as far as I can see. The tank is going to be 55g. Anyone want to give me some advice?

[2Addicted]

You can drill glass as long as you have the right tools, some patience, and the glass you are drilling cant be tempered.

[JoeRonda]

You can drill the 55, or have your local glass shop drill it as long as it is not TEMPERED. Usually all Aqueon, All Glass, Aqua Culture, Marineland, etc. are going to have a tag on the bottom that says do not drill, this means that it is a tempered panel. To determine if the panel you want the hole in is tempered, get some polarized sunglasses and look at the bottom panel that has the do not drill label, it should have dark spots through the glasses. Now look at the back panel, you might have to turn your head at a certain angle to see it but if it is tempered it will have the same dark spots. Just like a windshield on some cars you see on the road when your wearing your sun glasses and the windshields look spotted. If the panel is tempered you will shatter it trying to drill it, no matter how hard you try. Acrylic is expensive, and once it's scratched it's ugly. Check a local fish store and see if they have a used tank that is already drilled that they will sell you. Sometimes you can luck out and the LFS has tanks in the back room that they don't even need. Good Luck !!!

[gabew]

Great thanks!
The glass is not tempered so drilling is possible then

[SNAKEMANVET]

Drilling glass is pretty easy,just take your time.Go to youtube and look up drilling glass tanks.I drill all my tanks.

[skud]

you can get some good cheap drill bits on ebay,they come from hongkong.drilling is easy, use heaps of water and very lite presure it can take a few minutes to get through 6mm glass.quarter inch