Tempered Glass?

[dwall174]

Is there any way to be sure a tank can be drilled? I have a 135 gal tank I bought used & the original owner doesn’t remember who manufactured it. I plan to drill the back side which I’ve hardly ever heard of being tempered & there’s no etching or stamp that would otherwise indicate the glass is tempered!

[Arrowheadb95]

There is a way to tell if the glass is tempered. I can't remember exactly what the test is. It's something like shining a light through the glass and see how it reflects. I'm sure if you search you can find something.

I've only heard of the bottoms being tempered in standard tanks.

[dwall174]

Originally Posted by Arrowheadb95

I've only heard of the bottoms being tempered in standard tanks.

Yea that's what I've read also! Plus the side glass is 1/2" thick! If it was made from 1/2" tempered glass it would cost big $$$$

[Jasontkd]

that isn't always true. I bought a 55 gallon last weekend, and thought I was getting an all-glass tank, but when they loaded it, it was perfecto. I didn't pay attention to the labels, and I started drilling the side panel and it exploded. Luckily because the LFS made the mistake they replaced it with an all glass aquarium that only had a tempered bottom. I know at least perfecto tanks have all tempered panels. However, All glass, has only tempered bottoms I believe.

[Arrowheadb95]

Originally Posted by Jasontkd

perfecto tanks have all tempered panels.

Interesting, didn't know that. I've never had a perfecto tank. Did it cost more than the standard all glass tank?

[tims]

i just got off the phone with perfecto.
the 55g is tempered, shoudl have been marked.
the 10g is tempered only if mark ( all sides)
55g and up are mostly tempered glass only on the bottom. surpising the 110 and 150 are not temered at all..
after checking wiht AGA and perfecto if it is a large tank the bottom is tempered..

[Kent E.]

Call the manufacturer and ask

[Loverotties]

Take it to a glass company they'll be able to tell you.

[oscar51]

just had a 10 gal perfecto blow out while drilling it today i was drilling the back panel it was definatley tempered so i went to the local lfs to get an aga 10gal he told me that as of now all aga tanks are tempered regardless of size and that includes side panels he said its there way of making sure you don,t drill them tempered glass has to be drilled before its tempered that way u have to special order with an addtional fee for custom work he also went on to tell me that perfecto tanks in the smaller size are hit or miss some are some are not tempered 2nd one i got today drilled fine no problems thats 1 out of 3

[dwall174]

Originally Posted by Kent Emirbayer

Call the manufacturer and ask

Yea that would be the best way! However I bought it used & the original owner wasn't sure who made it, And of course there’s no manufactures tag on it!

Originally Posted by Loverotties

Take it to a glass company they'll be able to tell you.

I have thought of doing that & just having them drill it also! This tank 135gal 72" x 18" x 25" is made out of 1/2" glass & weighs well over 200lbs so I don't want to be moving it anymore than needed!

Well after doing some checking I managed to find this article on Tempered Glass http://www.alumaxbath.com/tech/tgp.htm It explains how to check for the glass being tempered! My tank passes all three tests so I’m confident that it’s not tempered. BTW using polarized sun glasses made for fishing, shows an almost 100% sign that the glass is tempered like the article describes. I borrowed my brothers fishing glasses & went to my LFS, from 20 feet away I could tell which tanks were tempered & which ones were not!