To Drill Or Not To Drill That Is The Question

[newreef06]

Im doing my basement over as we speak. I was thinking of buying a new 120g drilled reef ready tank. Its going to cost about 625.00 with plumbing kit. I was thinking of buying a kit off of glass-holes.com. and drilling it my self to save money. i can get a used 120g for a few hundred used. has anyone drilled there tank before. i seen the video. It doesnt look hard

[James77]

Alot of people have, and I have done well over a dozen myself. Its easy as anything, and I have never had a problem. There is also a thread on RC about it, some good pointers in there.

[James77]

oh- I dont know if the video said to or not, but make a template from wood/carboard to guide the drill bit so it doesn't jump around.

[RealFish]

Things will go well if you invest in the proper equipment (or borrow) and move forward patiently.

My recommendation would be to invest in a good quality drill bit and a drill guide, make sure you use a water dam to cool the glass and go slowly. I believe bulkreefsupply.com has a video that shows you how to do it.

[Jackie Blue]

I was in your shoes two weeks ago, though I had to drill so not quite in your shoes. If you get the kits from glass-holes.com it comes with almost everything you need with the exception of silicone plumbers grease, and plumbers putty. They are a very good company you will be happy dealing with them. It really is easy as pie just follow the instructions and watch their videos a couple times and you hammer it out in no time.

[billdogg]

+1 for glass-holes. do yourself a HUGE favor and go at least one size larger than you think you'll need. IMO, you should use at least a 1.5" bulkhead for your drain (2" would be better), and even then, as someone put it on another thread - a single drain is just a flood that has not happened yet - use 2!!! return can be over the top if you like (thats how mine are - easier IMO) the "reefready" tanks you but predrilled usually have just a 1" bulkhead for a drain, which is pretty much worthless (350gph max safely, regardless of what ANYONE might tell you)

[byrdman81]

i drilled my 75 a few months ago from glass holes. It was very easy and kit was great. It will be worth it in the long run to drill IMO

[dbuesking]

Drill it. You will be glad you did. if that doesn't work out you could always

[NewMelee]

Go ahead and drill it, I had no previous experience on drilling glass and drilled 7 holes in my 180. Enough for drains, returns and closed loop. Went great, I ordered my hole saws from Richon tools cheap. Used playdoh for a water dam. Worked like a charm.

[drparker]

I've drilled 14 or so holes in different tanks. Three most important things: Keep the bit cool by using a water dam, go slow, let the drill do the work- do not apply pressure.

[KevinYates]

drilling is easy, and very cheap, honestly you can spend a lot of money buying all these special things for drilling, however ive done all my tanks very easy and simple using Ebay dimond hole saws (12$) (would give you enough live to drill the 125 a few times if you wanted).

what i did is made a template out of wood, just took a wood hole saw and made the same hole as the dimond hole saw, so it fit snuck inside the piece of wood, then i duct tapped the piece of wood/ template to the back of my tank, taped a water hose beside it and turned it on low, and started drilling at about 2-3 rotations a second. it works flawlessly, just dont press to hard at all maybe even the weight of your drill would be all it needs, expecially dont press when your about to cut through, youll snap a chunk out of it before it breaks.

[THE ROOK]

The other good thing is the gl*******s kit won't take up that valuable real estate that the factory bottom drilled tanks do.

One thing to make sure is that back glass is not tempered.

[Fazulka]

I see you are from Massachusetts. Try posing on boston reefers and see if anyone will help you.

[KevinYates]

good one. yes make sure its not tempered, and im betting its not, but youll ruin your tank if it is.

Tempered glass is a lot stronger than regular glass so when its on aquariums its a lot thinner, for a 125 i cant remember, im not at home looking at mine now but they are made with 3/8 or 1/2'' if its temperd it will be a lot thinner than this, and more than likley your bottom is going to be tempered, enless is an older tank.

[Serk]

Make sure it's not tempered and if not, drill it...

It's a LOT easier to do it now rather than wishing you had down the road!

[newreef06]

How will I know If its tempered

[THE ROOK]

Easy way would probably be to get the name of the tank & check with the members on here. Seen tons of drilled 120's on here.

I believe you could also stop by a glass shop with the tank. They may have the equipment to tell.

[newreef06]

You have a link where I could find the numbers on the website

[Sisterlimonpot]

Originally posted by newreef06
How will I know If its tempered

An experienced person dealing with glass can tap the glass and tell by the ping but a more scientific way would be using two photographic polarizing filters. although drilling tempered is possible the success rate is very very low.

[demonboy369]

not hijacking the thread here but i have a 20gallon (fairly old) that has a wierd piece of glass on the bottom. i dont know what its made out of and just figured id ask you.

Instead of it being clear smooth glass its really rough and kinda looks like the plastic sheets used to cover flourescent light fixtures in store ceilings.... any ideas? safe to drill? probably not but figure i would ask.

[loosecannon]

Drill!

[sminker]

+1 to drill.

[IMM3DOORSDOWN]

+ another 1 drill.

i would say definatly drill if your planning to start reefin.

if you ever change your mind you can always cap the holes

[alextheromanian]

i drilled mine too and im new to the hobby. after 8 holes i cracked the glass on the last one...because i forced the pvc trough...not from the actual drilling. since then i learned not to force glass lol.


i can honestly say my ONLY bad experience...is drilling during the winter ...in my tub. the bathroom was small and it became very loud.

doing it outside however is a piece of cake.

[drparker]

Originally posted by demonboy369
not hijacking the thread here but i have a 20gallon (fairly old) that has a wierd piece of glass on the bottom. i dont know what its made out of and just figured id ask you.

Instead of it being clear smooth glass its really rough and kinda looks like the plastic sheets used to cover flourescent light fixtures in store ceilings.... any ideas? safe to drill? probably not but figure i would ask.

On a 20 it's a toss up. But a lot of tanks have tempered bottoms and regular sides.