Petco 29g side panel is tempered!!

[User]

Hi guys-

Just had this happen-

Which is frustrating since I’d just drilled another 29 on a long side and got this-

Beyond frustrated right now. Nothing I read said anything about the short edge being tempered.

F@$&

 

[Maggie321]

Look up on YouTube how to check if class is tempered. You'll use a LCD screen and polarized sunglasses. It will save you some heartache one day.

 

[Larry L]

how to check if class is tempered

Sorry to see that breakage, super frustrating... Agree with Maggie, best bet is to always check for yourself.

Also, never trust anything you read about whether certain panels of certain sizes of certain brands of tanks are tempered, because the manufacturers can (and do) change it up. The Aqueon site has some fine print on it saying that depending of what's available during manufacturing they may substitute tempered and non-tempered panels at times.

 

[Toosalty]

I have drilled many 29g Petco tanks and they were never tempered. They probably used the wrong piece of glass when building it at the manufacture.

 

[User]

Yeah- I’m working on my test equipment (a laptop with a dead battery and a filter from my camera kit bag. Did you know ipads, and iPhones don’t work with this test...thanks Jobs)

Confirmed positive with my car side window, then the laptop died. Now I just need to find the cable...

Took 10 mins to drill the first two...

 

[User]

Ok-

Tempered test- toshiba and a polarized filter for my camera.

Positive control- car window. Result- visible white ‘tension stripes’ seen through car window.

Negative control- kitchen window. Result- screen darkens as expected and no visible white lines.

Test-

Petco 29g #1- no tempered panels. This is the one I drilled successfully on a long side this morning. Had plans to do a short side, but proceeded to use same bit on petco 29g #2 instead of switching bits. See next. As a result of this test- I will be drilling a short edge next week. Tom made this tank in December 2017.

Petco 29 #2- ALL 5 panels are tempered. Apparently ‘lisa’ made this tank in February 2018. Thanks Lisa.

Petco 20l- no panel tempered. YAY! I can drill for my little mangrove coastal biotope.

Petco 40b- bought last year. Don’t plan to drill but checked any way. NO tempered panels.

Marineland 125 bought last year. I already know the back panel is not tempered since I put 2 holes in it a week before we found out we were moving to ATL. Side panels are not tempered; bottom panel IS tempered as expected.

Marineland 180- bought 4 months ago, drilled short end successfully. Bottom panel IS tempered, sides are NOT.

So there you have it. Apparently I picked an odd ball tank at petco and just hit unlucky.

Going to go back and see if they let me pick up s new one. I’ll take my test kit with me!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sleepydoc]

I have drilled many 29g Petco tanks and they were never tempered. They probably used the wrong piece of glass when building it at the manufacture.

I’ve read scattered reports that some tanks purchased at the big retailers are tempered, some not. I think it just depends on what supplier they happen to use. My takeaway is that you can’t assume and have to check for yourself.

 

[NS Mike D]

there was another thread on this, aqueon (which is what petco carries) will use tempered glass when supply and demand warrant. they put a sticker on the bottom of these.

so - most aqueon tanks will n9t be tempered, but never take that for granted

 

[User]

there was another thread on this, aqueon (which is what petco carries) will use tempered glass when supply and demand warrant. they put a sticker on the bottom of these.

so - most aqueon tanks will n9t be tempered, but never take that for granted

Well, they apparently missed the sticker on this one. All 5 panels were tempered.

 

[NS Mike D]

Aqueon Glass Aquariums Tempered vs. Non Tempered: Due to glass availability, Central Aquatics may temporarily substitute regular or non-tempered glass panels with tempered glass panels. Anytime a glass substitution is made, a sticker will be adhered to the aquarium bottom as a precaution to the end user. Please Note: Any aquarium that is altered in any way (i.e. - drilled, attempted to be drilled, the center brace removed) by an individual outside of Central Aquatics, will deem the warranty null and void.


^^^ from aqueon web site

 

[User]

Update- petco honored a straight swap for the last 28g in the store, which I confirmed was non-tempered in the parking lot.

So my plans to drill and build a 29g cryptic fuge can proceed.

 

[Maggie321]

That's great! Quite frankly I'm surprised they swapped it out.

 

[wesman42]

That's great! Quite frankly I'm surprised they swapped it out.

I am too, but after all...the customer is always right! OP got bamboozled on this one

 

[Andy Harrison]

Was recently dealing with the same issue. Although I did check mine first. My iPhone 6 with no screen protector works perfectly fine along with polarized sun glasses. I just open the white calendar app and wave the phone up and down inside the tank to see the dark lines from the rollers when they heated it. I had to go to 6 petco's to find a non tempered 75 gallon. Luckily they had a pallet of them in the back and let me check them all. 3 were tempered and 2 were not. So now I own 2 non tempered 75 tanks. Hahaha. Always check them nodays. They make them out of whatever they want. Even in the same batch on the same shipment.

 

[Rowboman]

Good thing I found this thread. I’ve been playing with the idea of adding a sump to my already established 29 gallon aqueon by only partially draining it before drilling. Just checked my tank with some polarized sunglasses and my kids Nintendo Switch screen and sure enough the side panels are tempered glass but the rest are not. No sticker on the bottom to warn of this either