First Salt Tank - Drilling 40 Aqueon Breeder

[FirstTimer101]

Hello All, This is my first saltwater tank (have kept planted tanks for many years) and my first post on this forum.

Recently purchased a Aqueon 40 Breeder and plan to attempt to drill this weekend. I’ve read countless threads of how it’s a gamble with these side panels being tempered or not (at Aqueons discretion)

My tank has the “Do not drill” sticker on the bottom panel…and the bottom panel is marked tempered.

I did the LCD Polarized Glasses test…and I think the back panel is good to drill…but the true test will be this weekend when I get after it with a drill bit.

Will Post my results to help any others in this situation. Wish me luck

 

[Asm481]

Good luck. Go slow with light even pressure and plenty of water. Be as stable with no rocking and a fairly good speed on the drill. toward the end as you break through keep the drill spinning even faster so it doesn't catch. It is easier than you would think.

 

[Kraig]

Good luck! I drilled mine about a year ago. I tried doing the polarized glasses test and really could not tell if it passed or not. I did not have the tempered glass sticker on the bottom. I decided I was just going to go for it and am thankful that it worked out. Slow and steady wins the race!

And welcome!

 

[dstockwell]

Good luck with your build.

Welcome to the Reef

 

[william Lutman]

Hello All, This is my first saltwater tank (have kept planted tanks for many years) and my first post on this forum.

Recently purchased a Aqueon 40 Breeder and plan to attempt to drill this weekend. I’ve read countless threads of how it’s a gamble with these side panels being tempered or not (at Aqueons discretion)

My tank has the “Do not drill” sticker on the bottom panel…and the bottom panel is marked tempered.

I did the LCD Polarized Glasses test…and I think the back panel is good to drill…but the true test will be this weekend when I get after it with a drill bit.

Will Post my results to help any others in this situation. Wish me luck

Should be fine, I think only bottom is tempered

 

[FirstTimer101]

Appreciate the replies and words of encouragement!

Had a successful drill over the weekend! This hole will be for a return…as I’m still selecting my overflow. Didn’t want to get too deep into the project without knowing whether this tank was going to be viable or not (depending on whether it had tempered glass).

For those in a similar situation; when testing with LCD/Polarized lenses…both tempered and non tempered panels appeared to make the screen black upon rotation. The key for me was seeing the wavy striations across the screen when viewing through the tempered pane. Having a blue background on the LCD screen seemingly helped make those wavy lines more pronounced.

Will likely start a build thread to track my progress. Thanks again to all those in this thread!

 

[92Miata]

Appreciate the replies and words of encouragement!

Had a successful drill over the weekend! This hole will be for a return…as I’m still selecting my overflow. Didn’t want to get too deep into the project without knowing whether this tank was going to be viable or not (depending on whether it had tempered glass).

For those in a similar situation; when testing with LCD/Polarized lenses…both tempered and non tempered panels appeared to make the screen black upon rotation. The key for me was seeing the wavy striations across the screen when viewing through the tempered pane. Having a blue background on the LCD screen seemingly helped make those wavy lines more pronounced.

Will likely start a build thread to track my progress. Thanks again to all those in this thread!

Yeah, I don't know what people are getting at with this test - I have polarized sunglasses and an LED-LCD screen phone (which is also tempered/polarized) and just rotating the phone means the screen goes black. This test with the glass between isn't telling you anything.


You need one or the other (polarized sun glasses, or an LED based screen), not both.

 

[Arthur_Dent]

Just send it. My reco is to clamp a guide on the outside, and a solid bit of wood on the inside, and either build a dam from plumbers putty, or just run a stream from a hose across it the whole time.

I drilled one about a year ago. It was stressful, but not difficult. I just kept reminding myself that worst case, I'm out 50 bucks...

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Good luck, I remember my first hole like it was yesterday, I recommend a practice hole first.

Edit: you should be fine I've drilled that same tank a few years ago unless the manufacturer has changed panels

 

[Desert Sea]

Aqueon’s specs for the 40 breeder indicate that there is no tempered glass in them. But since yours is labeled as having been tempered, they may have changed their material selection. Given the material market issues going on currently, especially in the glass market, they may have had to go to a thinner glass and temper it for strength. You can not cut tempered glass, so if they build a tank out of it, the panels would have to be cut and later tempered to that specific size.

Glad that you were able to drill the side panel. Now on to your build!