[elkman97462]

Hi!

I have been dragging my feet for a long time because I am not quite happy with the idea of putting an overflow box on my tank. It is a 135 gal. all glass tank probably between 10 to 20 years old. I had a glass shop come out to drill it and they scared my wife saying if it broke, too bad so they left. Has anyone had a side of their tank break? Can it be replaced and be trustworthy if it does break? I have had everything sitting there for months and it is time to go forward. If there is a way to tell tempered from non I would be interested, but don't recall every reading that here. I have a 30 gal. sump that won't fit in the wooden stand that came with the tank, so before I tear the stand apart to place the sump, I need to know what I am doing with the tank.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Mike

[stephaniesquires]

I am going to say that being that old it may not be tempered - and it will break if drilled. Glass will eventually leak also and needs to be perfectly level. Check out e-bay for a tank the same size - I got a 90 gallon acrylic, predrilled, with stand canopy and lights for $300. It will save you lots of peace of mind to know that your 'new' tank wont leak...

[ozzy_200769]

As far as your sump goes, I
had to take out and then put back in the brace running front to back on
my stand in order to use my sump.
I have a 75g reef w/ a 30g long tank
I made into a sump/refug.

[pogodzib]

Most old tanks are not tempered, so drilling them usually isn't a problem. In fact, most new tanks still only use tempered glass on the bottom. If the glass does break, of which it won't if done correctly, you can replace it with a new glass panel of the same thickness. Replacing a glass side requires getting a new glass panel of the same size, cleaning off the old silicone, and resiliconing the new panel in place. The top plastic brace can usually be removed by cutting the silicone between the plastic and glass that is holding it in place. On a tank that old, it wouldn't hurt to resilicone the joints anyway, esp. if the tank has sat empty for a while since the silicone dries out much quicker when exposed to air. Old, dry silicone is not a good thing when dealing with aquariums. Resiliconing a tank isn't too hard and can save a major leak from happening later. Do a quick google search and you should find some good DIY sites on how to resilicone a tank, or even replacing a glass panel for that matter.

BTW - If I recall correctly, AGA used to use a white label on some tanks and a green label on other tanks. One color meant that the bottom was tempered, the other meant that it wasn't. I don't recall which is which. Another way to tell is by looking at the glass through polarized glasses in the sunlight. If there is a rainbow like wave in the glass its tempered.

BTW2 - Larger tanks are easier to drill than small tanks. Since the glass is thicker, there is a lower chance that it will break due to the added pressure caused during drilling.

[elkman97462]

Thank you for the input. I have a friend who is very skilled with cabinets coming over to see whether it would be easier to remove one of the braces between the three doors, or the back. I don't want to effect the weight bearing capacity of the stand. I appreciate the sunshine thought, although it is a rare occasion here in the land of slugs, and rust until about August. But then I have waited this long and appreciate the wisdom of patience with this hobby. I appreciate the idea of a new tank and have drolled over a new all glass 210 gal I ssaw, but I live in a fairly new manufactured home and am not sure if the floor joists would support the extra weight. Haven't really looked at Plexi/acrylic, and maybe I should. I have the pumps, light, skimmer and most evrything else that would support a larger tank. I plan to go mainly into the corals as a fore-reef se-up with a few fish.

Thank you!!

[NATIVEVAMAN]

If your 135 is as I suspect (and I know something about old things lol)It is six feet long which should spread its weight out nicely over your floor.Most manufactured homes have 2x6 floor joists on 12 inch centers with 3/4 inch plywood sheeting which should be more than adequate to support the weight of your tank as long as you set it up across the joists.As for drilling the tank,any number of people from this forum have done it themselves without incedent.Some older tanks have tempered bottoms so the best plan is to drill the back.If you can get the tank to an lfs most can drill them.Or myself and a few others can guide you thru doing it yorself.Dont let them scare you.

[Jeremy0322]

I am finally drilling mine this weekend, and will let you know how it goes. There is no indication of the sides being tempered, but there was a sticker on the bottom that said dont drill the bottom because it was tempered, it was a white sticker that said dont drill though, so i dont know if that will help. And if the tank breaks then that gives me an excuse to buy a predrilled 75 instead of drilling my 55, so that is a plus if i mess this up somehow. Get on youtube and watch the drilling videos, it will ease your mind a little bit.