drilling thru typical aquarium glass

how hard is this and how much is the equipment?

It's not too hard. You need a diamond bit for your drill, and plenty of patience. Don't press too hard or things will start to crack. Drill bits are pretty cheap.

so i take it they don't use tempered glass in these things. i'm pretty sure that would crackle and die immediately.

Some tanks do use tempered glass. My All-Glass Corner 54 came with a big sticker on the bottom saying 'Tempered Glass DO NOT DRILL.'. Might want to check with the Manufacturer if you don't know for sure.

I believe if tempered glass needs to be drilled it is done in the 'raw' state and then tempered..... cant be done afterwards

ClownPleco wrote;

Tempered glass will be marked in one of the cornors of the glass with a burned in 'tempered tag'..................Frank

Knowing what brand of tank and the size would help in answering your question. Most tanks that use tempered glass is mainly going to be the bottom panel, but its not a sure thing. Best bet if you know its not tempered is to use a diamond coated hole saw of appropriate size. They can be had off ebay and other sources for under $10 for the most commonly used sizes......ANother approach is a dremel tool with diamond coated burrs that are available in most big box stores, Make a dam of putty or tape a piece of plastic solo cup around the desired location so yu can keep a good supply of water applied to the hole area your drilling, Its also a good idea to place rangs etc on the inside of the tank, as well as a strip of duct tape under the location of the hole so the piece doe snot drop out and hit the tank on the opposite side or bottom......Its easy to do. Just make sure you have your bulkhead or whatever your planning to run through that hole before you drill so you can make sure you are making the correct sized hole.....Its much harder to enlarge a hole than it is to make it right to begin with.

On Mon, 28 Nov 2005 20:13:40 -0800, 'billb'

A 46 gallon bowfront aquarium that a friend gave me has a tempered glass sticker on the bottom. It's the first one I've seen on an aquarium, but I've never owned one larger than about 60 gallons. It seems like the tempered glass panel would be the curved one. Any ideas about that?

I am not sure. My 55 gallon has the sticker on the bottom. My guess is that the bottom piece has to hold the most pressure so it is strengthened. Some stands do not have solid tops for the tank to sit on(iron stand) so the glass itself would need to be reinforced. I haven't seen the bottom of my 46 gallon bowfront in so long I can't remember if it has the sticker or not. I imagine it would be for the bottom piece as well, but maybe you are right about the bowed part.

I would be very hesitant to drill if you do not know if its tempered glass. I know the tanks that i sell at my store are all tempered glass panels if you drill threw it you will destroy the tank. if it is a newer tank (5 years or less) its probaly all tempered glass!

Thanks for that information. It could help somebody avoid a disaster.

Is tempered glass tinted?

Because I cleaned out an old 55 yesterday and noticed that the bottom pane was tinted.

Never really gave it any though till y'all were discussing it...

The tempered glass on the bottom of my bowfront aquarium was not tinted. The tint in your tank could be related to the aquarium manufacturing process. In the old days, aquariums had slate bottoms, and I once had a ten gallon tank with a stainless steel bottom -- none of which has anything to do with tempered or tinted glass.