are aga tanks tempered on the sides ?

no the sides are not tempered, nor the back or front.

the only standard aga tanks that are tempered is the 75E, and that is on the bottom.
hth - jay

Thanks Jay... I was pretty floored at the cost of, what I considered to be a simple, custom sump. Maybe getting a standard tank drilled will be the way to go. Thanks again...

I have the 75E and its bottom tempered but not the sides, I think the E designates the tempered bottom, The predrilled reefready tanks aren't unless they temper them after the drilling.
The 20 long makes a nice sump for up to a 55 and the 40 breeder is a good one for a larger sump/fuge combination. the 30g is nice as well being the 36" long version of the 29g, which is a 20Long but higher

BTW heres their website
http://www.all-glass.com/

Thanks Doug, you've always chimed in on my questions and as a long timer lurker, I value your opinion. My tank has been a long time in the making. An inevitable move kind of slowed the process, but it's up and running now. Just a few more tweaks to go. I'd love to get some pictures posted, but I'm still working on getting the digital camera purchase approved by the boss. I never expected that to be part of the reef "budget". Thanks again and I'll keep you posted.