blainep
May 18th 2010, 08:21 PM
Ok, for those who follow along with my crazy little aquarium adventures, you knew eventually I'd get here. :wink:
For the marine tank crowd, a drilled tank is the only way to go, a drilled tank can be a great thing in freshwater aquariums as well.
No unsightly equipment mucking up the view in your tank, you can put it all in the sump and close the cabinet door on it.
So, to find out just what a mystery drilling glass was, I bought three cheapo diamond coated hole saws off Ebay.
$5.00 each, including shipping from Hong Kong.
Today a little package arrived in the mail, so I decided to try them out.
There are several 'How To' videos on Youtube, and following the instructions there, I proceeded.
About 5 minutes later I had three holes drilled thru a piece of scrap glass.
Drilling glass is EASY ! Don't be intimidated by the thought of it.
For the test, I used my cordless drill, a Rubbermade tub, a small piece of wood and a scrap of glass.
I used the wood to support the glass while drilling.
I put the wood and glass in the tub and added just enough water to cover them.
Then, I supported the drill at a 45 degree angle with my hand and began drilling.
As the drill cut into the glass, I slowly straightened the drill and kept going.
It's important not to push on the drill, just use the weight of the drill.
About 30 seconds later, I had my first hole drilled !
I drilled 2 more holes, just to make sure the first one wasn't beginners luck. :err:
They went just as easy as the first one !
The new hole saws.
2108
The drill with the saw I used.
2109
The glass 'plugs' from drilling.
2110
The glass with the holes and a test fit bulkhead.
2111
Don't wiggle at me like that, you JUST had dinner !
2112
So when you're staring at those siphon overflows in the stores and wondering if they really work, just remember, for about 10% of the cost and minimal effort, you can just drill the tank.
Really, it's easy !
The caveats of drilling glass !
Do not attempt to drill tempered glass, tempered glass WILL shatter into a billion pieces !
How do you know if your tank has tempered glass ? Most commercial aquariums with tempered glass will have some sort of mark or tag indicating there is tempered glass.
Most aquariums that have tempered glass, only the bottom pane of glass is tempered.
Here are a couple of links that might help as well.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5759804_tell-glass-tempered.html
http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?t=9542
Today scrap glass, tomorrow .... the 125 gallon tank ! :swoon:
For the marine tank crowd, a drilled tank is the only way to go, a drilled tank can be a great thing in freshwater aquariums as well.
No unsightly equipment mucking up the view in your tank, you can put it all in the sump and close the cabinet door on it.
So, to find out just what a mystery drilling glass was, I bought three cheapo diamond coated hole saws off Ebay.
$5.00 each, including shipping from Hong Kong.
Today a little package arrived in the mail, so I decided to try them out.
There are several 'How To' videos on Youtube, and following the instructions there, I proceeded.
About 5 minutes later I had three holes drilled thru a piece of scrap glass.
Drilling glass is EASY ! Don't be intimidated by the thought of it.
For the test, I used my cordless drill, a Rubbermade tub, a small piece of wood and a scrap of glass.
I used the wood to support the glass while drilling.
I put the wood and glass in the tub and added just enough water to cover them.
Then, I supported the drill at a 45 degree angle with my hand and began drilling.
As the drill cut into the glass, I slowly straightened the drill and kept going.
It's important not to push on the drill, just use the weight of the drill.
About 30 seconds later, I had my first hole drilled !
I drilled 2 more holes, just to make sure the first one wasn't beginners luck. :err:
They went just as easy as the first one !
The new hole saws.
2108
The drill with the saw I used.
2109
The glass 'plugs' from drilling.
2110
The glass with the holes and a test fit bulkhead.
2111
Don't wiggle at me like that, you JUST had dinner !
2112
So when you're staring at those siphon overflows in the stores and wondering if they really work, just remember, for about 10% of the cost and minimal effort, you can just drill the tank.
Really, it's easy !
The caveats of drilling glass !
Do not attempt to drill tempered glass, tempered glass WILL shatter into a billion pieces !
How do you know if your tank has tempered glass ? Most commercial aquariums with tempered glass will have some sort of mark or tag indicating there is tempered glass.
Most aquariums that have tempered glass, only the bottom pane of glass is tempered.
Here are a couple of links that might help as well.
http://www.ehow.com/how_5759804_tell-glass-tempered.html
http://www.salt-city.org/showthread.php?t=9542
Today scrap glass, tomorrow .... the 125 gallon tank ! :swoon: