Newbie to sw

[mike31154]

Originally Posted by Kimmi7

well looks like I will be putting this on hold till I find a new tank. Mine looks like tempered glass and dont want to try to see if it isnt by drilling.

Perhaps not, unless you really wish to spend money on a newer, larger tank. IME, tank ends up being least of cost in the hobby in the long run, but every little saving helps, so up to you.

If your 77 is a Hagen, according to the FAQs on their web page, none of their tanks use tempered glass. A way to confirm tempered is to use two polarized filters, one from outside of pane (polarized sunglasses) looking at a polarized LCD screen (like a notebook or even phone) with a white screen. Rotate the screen & if pattern appears on white LCD screen, glass is tempered.

http://faq.hagencrm.com/details.asp?kbfaqid=21880&en

My 77 is a Hagen (company sticker on trim, no center brace) & the width is 16 & 1/8th inches, glass thickness is 3/8 inches. I plan to drill it & use as a sump/refuge when I upgrade display tank some time in future. I've already drilled a used 65 gallon for a sump as well (confirmed non tempered sides with polarized trick), not that difficult, especially when it's empty & sitting around doing nothing. Bottom of the 65 is tempered, & a sticker there says that. I also confirmed this with polarized filter method.