Drilling a 20g tall tank?

[skinz78]

I have been thinking of making a frag tank out of an old 20g tall tank that I have lying around and I am wondering if it is OK to drill the side panel for a 1.5" bulkhead? If so where should I look for a drill bit to drill it with?

 

[LitlBailey]

I got all my bits off of ebay

 

[MoneyPit]

Drilling depends if the glass is tempered, check out this YouTube video YouTube - tempered glass drilling demo..
Check out a couple of videos that were sucessful while your there. :smile:
If you still want to drill, try ebay, it appears that you have to search in millimeters 1.5" = 38.1 mm
Search for "38 diamond hole saw"
I am going to give it a shot myself here soon. :bigsmile:

 

[gilmour01]

take your time and let the bit do the work. i always use the plumbers putty method.

 

[dnejdl]

like gilmour said take your time nice and easy.... spray water on it when u due it.

 

[nixer]

like gilmour said take your time nice and easy.... spray water on it when u due it.

plumbers putty works way better than spraying it as you drill.
i would also like to add that you put some tape on the inside 2-3 layers to prevent breakout and to hold the water till the hole is completely drilled

 

[skinz78]

What is the plumbers putty method?

 

[milkman]

You take the plumbers putty and roll it into a rope about 1/4" + in diameter and form a circle around the hole you are drilling about half again larger than the hole size. Fill with water and drill away. I have used a 3/4" thick wood block with a hole the size of the glass bit to use as a guide to keep the bit from skipping across the glass as you get it started. After you get the groove established, you can get rid of the block to prevent binding.

I just finished drilling the bottom of eight 20 gal high for a breeding setup with no losses. Don't worry about tempered glass with a 20 gal as they usually are not tempered until they get to 75 gals or so and then usually only the bottom. You can't tell unless it's marked as tempered.

 

[skinz78]

Thanks Milkman, I'll give it a try!