Potenetial Tempered Glass Disaster

[jslaney]

I bought a used 70 gal BF Drilled tank that has a sticker on the bottom that clearly states that it is made from tempered glass. The hole in the bottom looks more ground out then drilled.

I keep hearing that tempered tanks cannot be drilled but mine is. I was wondering if the tank is likely to have a catastrophic failure one day due to this?

Any advise would be great.

PS. As a newbie planning his first tank I love this site and really appreciate all help and info everyone gives.

Jon.

[Veng68]

I think the glass can be drilled be for it is tempered. I'll ask my brother in law, he is in the glazing business.

Cheers,
Vic[veng68]

[BC564]

I also have a 72 gal tank that has a tempered bottom and has been drilled....I have never worried about it.......

[Jason McK]

typically if you attempt to drill tempared glass it will blow up in to little pieces during the drilling process. Odds are it was drilled before it was tempared

J

[Matt]

Tempered glass cannot be drilled, so if your tank bottom is drilled, either it was done before it was tempered (very likely) or it isn't tempered glass despite what the label says. Typically all shaping, sizing, and drilling is done before the final product is tempered.

Theoretically, I think You can anneal the glass and drill it, then re-temper it, but I've never seen or heard of anyone actually doing that.

Every once in a while, someone claims that they've succeeded in drilling or cutting tempered glass, but it seems a diminishingly small number of claims compared to the huge numbers of failures.

Either way, if it IS drilled, and didn't shatter in the process, you should be fine.

[Delphinus]

^^ what Matt (and Jason, and others) said. The hole was drilled before the glass was tempered. And the drilling itself on the glass now that the glass is tempered does not mean the glass is compromised.

[jslaney]

Thanks for all the responses everyone. Now I will be able to sleep at night when its filled with water.

Jon