Has anyone ever drilled a regular old 10 gallon tank? I keep reading it's not wise to do because of how thin the glass is and even if it didn't break during the cutting there's a chance just nudging the plumbing cracks it. I was playing around with the idea of getting rid of my hob stuff and giving my nano a sump. I'm not really committed to the idea but thought I'd ask around for anyone's experiences.
Drilled 10 gallon
- Thread starter dbk07
- Start date
http://www.aqueonproducts.com/education/faq/
Sounds like you may be okay to drill the back if it isn't/wasn't labeled tempered.
Sounds like you may be okay to drill the back if it isn't/wasn't labeled tempered.
I've drilled a few tanks in my day but never a 10 gallon aquarium. I had a friend that used a 10 gallon aquarium to practice drilling a hole. He succeeded but never used it for anything other than practice. If the return was hard lined, the slightest bump would pop the glass do to the leverage/torque being applied to that return bulkhead. At minimum use a flexible/pliable/soft return line to reduce the stress on the return bulkhead.
def. don't hard plumb the drain.........bulkhead, 90 elbow, flexible hose for the drain and glue them up! Then just do another 90 in the display....don't glue that 90 so that your able to rotate that a lil to control water level a little bit and to silent the drain noise down a little bit. Its only 10 gallons so no need for a large pump. Slow to med flow through the sump isn't always bad. If the tank breaks, you have to buy a new one! breaking rules is was makes this hobby fun. Just take it slow with even pressure perpendicular to the glass with the clutch on the drill set low to break torque incase you get hung up. If the clutch is set too high and it catches......you will break the glass. I like to use a Styrofoam template to start my hole while steadily pouring(water/ position the garden hose running steadily on the templet)preventing the hole saw from walking on you when you initially have to start drilling. Once its etched in descent enough....use putty to create your water reservoir to hold water while drilling from there.
