Drilling and glass thickness?

[Son Of Skyline]

I was talking to J&L today about having a 90gal (48x18x24) drilled for an overflow. They kept mentioning that they'd replace whichever pane of glass that's being drilled with a thicker pane. So if I wanted a hole drilled in the back, they'd replace the whole back pane of glass with a thicker piece. Is this necessary if all I need is a single 1" hole drilled in the back upper corner of a 90gal tank? In theory, shouldn't it just cost like $20-$30 extra to buy a tank with a hole in the back, instead of the $100+ increase they quoted me? Thanks in advance.

[DJ88]

Mason,

as soon as you drill your tank it does weaken the pane of glass. Having a thicker piece put in is a good idea. I did it on my tanks. All of them. Piece of mind. You don't have to but....

[Jacoda]

Just take your tank to Crystal Glass in Burnaby, they did my 50G tank for only $10, the hole size was 1 and 5/8", the guys there were very confident about drilling tanks, the hole turned out to be perfect too. :D

FYI Seastar wants an arm and a leg for a drilled tank. as well as the markup added by J & L.

[ 09 June 2002, 11:06: Message edited by: Ace ]

[Jayson]

If your glass is 3/8 or thicker you do not need to worry about it breaking, if the person drilling the hole knows what they are doing. Just keep it at least 2 inches from the edges.