Cutting Glass, but Not How You Think

[GlassMunky]

It is a huge risk, with a lot of unknowns. One of the issues I faced when I was building the tank out was that I couldn't find who built the tank to ask questions. It does seem over built, but without being able to speak with whoever built it, I don't have insight into the logic they applied when the were building. The glass is fairly soft, so I believe cutting a hole in those panels is possible, but the how and the risks being question marks is a lot to try to process. Ultimately, I'll probably upgrade the lights, and hope for the best. Maybe when I break this tank down for an upgrade, I'll try to cut then, and do testing with less risk. Or not. No idea.

I’m saying everything I said as someone who has worked with glass every day for 15 years. glass is my job.

the chances of it failing when you cut/drill it are very high.
persobally I’d just go get another 90G tank, they are a dime a dozen, and Then you wouldn’t be kept up at night wondering when its going to fail

 

[Pntbll687]

This just sounds like a bad idea and an even more terrible time if anything goes wrong.

IF you do cut it I have a couple of questions
1) Do you have a back up plan if the tank breaks?
2) Are you going to empty the tank to do this?
3) How do plan on stopping the fine particles from entering the tank water?

I would just get another 90g tank. You can find them pretty cheap on facebook and craigslist

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I’m saying everything I said as someone who has worked with glass every day for 15 years. glass is my job.

the chances of it failing when you cut/drill it are very high.
persobally I’d just go get another 90G tank, they are a dime a dozen, and Then you wouldn’t be kept up at night wondering when its going to fail

That's what I'm looking for. Thank you. I've been googling if cutting glass while it was under street was possible, and there is very little information out there. I can see the glass breaking along whatever plane the stress exists, but since I can't map that, and have no practical experience, i have to come here. Could you explain why it would fail, and how?

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

This just sounds like a bad idea and an even more terrible time if anything goes wrong.

IF you do cut it I have a couple of questions
1) Do you have a back up plan if the tank breaks?
2) Are you going to empty the tank to do this?
3) How do plan on stopping the fine particles from entering the tank water?

I would just get another 90g tank. You can find them pretty cheap on facebook and craigslist

IF I was to do this, yes the water level would he quite low. We would brace the top as best we could to relieve any stress. We would put plastic under the work area, above the water to catch glass particles. If the top breaks we would have to reinforce that glass and work on another build out. If the sides crack, then I would have to rehome everything while I built out the 55 corner tank and the 20 nano I have while getting a larger tank arranged. That's all IF I choose to pursue this course of action, which at this point I'm not intending to.

 

[burnetb1]

If you brace the tank during the cutting process you may be successful. The problem is when your remove the bracing you will be introducing all the same stresses anyway. Adding a hole adds a stress concentration and increases the chance for a failure. I'm all for experimentation, but the problem I see here is the failure mode. If the top breaks its likely to cause the front panel to break as well and that will give you a 90 gal aquarium on the floor. And according to Murphy, this will also happen while your gone and someone is watching your tank...
Like Glassmunky said, just get a new tank.
I used glass tops on my tank, but increased the lighting intensity to overcome the par drop. I prefer lids to keep the moisture down.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

I think I have a line on a 125 gallon tank, that is more traditional in its build. The plan is to upgrade out of this tank, and sell it off. That will address the glass on the top of the tank being in the way. I'm still planning on going LED though. Thanks everyone for your input, and discussion on this.

 

[robbyg]

Need some science here....

We don't seem to have any Scientist here, but we are all eager to learn.
Please make a Youtube video of what happens..

 

[eggplantparrot]

hell to the yea, go for it, i want a multi-angle video with HD slomo as well

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

 

[Anchor]

@DirtDiggler2823 First, what a the dims of this tank? Looks like a cube but I cant tell do to the camera parallax..

second, are those 12 inch front to back glass panels glued onto those thin braces and the trim ?

Unless the glass tops are ultra clear, they are not only interfering with par but also with the color of light able to penetrat, especially blue plate glass with all that iron in it..... I would remove them entirely if I could and just have thin strips

If the top dims are under 36 x 24, just pull the glass and use strips. that makes it a 24 high tank.. you should be good if this is all glass and the glass is 3/4 thick ?? 5/8 thick?? is this a standard 18 x 48 inch 90 with rounded glass corners? corners not sealed but formed?


NO, under no circumstances do you want to drill/cut those with water In the tank, you will likely bust em clean if you try, even with trying to relieve the stresses. Done something similar on just a filled 10 gallon and it broke along the length of the tank.

Best bet is to remove them entirely while the tank is half empty at least. and glue in strips. or just remove those panels altogether... if you can. You are looking at 24 to 72 hours waiting on silicon to dry. Is this an acrylic tank with round corners and glass bracing? If yes then silicon isn't going to hold to the acrylic anyway. Only glue I could think to use would be UV cured types.

Sorry I did a lot of typing out loud while I was thinking.

 

[DirtDiggler2823]

@DirtDiggler2823 First, what a the dims of this tank? Looks like a cube but I cant tell do to the camera parallax..

second, are those 12 inch front to back glass panels glued onto those thin braces and the trim ?

Unless the glass tops are ultra clear, they are not only interfering with par but also with the color of light able to penetrat, especially blue plate glass with all that iron in it..... I would remove them entirely if I could and just have thin strips

If the top dims are under 36 x 24, just pull the glass and use strips. that makes it a 24 high tank.. you should be good if this is all glass and the glass is 3/4 thick ?? 5/8 thick?? is this a standard 18 x 48 inch 90 with rounded glass corners? corners not sealed but formed?


NO, under no circumstances do you want to drill/cut those with water In the tank, you will likely bust em clean if you try, even with trying to relieve the stresses. Done something similar on just a filled 10 gallon and it broke along the length of the tank.

Best bet is to remove them entirely while the tank is half empty at least. and glue in strips. or just remove those panels altogether... if you can. You are looking at 24 to 72 hours waiting on silicon to dry. Is this an acrylic tank with round corners and glass bracing? If yes then silicon isn't going to hold to the acrylic anyway. Only glue I could think to use would be UV cured types.

Sorry I did a lot of typing out loud while I was thinking.

Glass tank all around. Decided that cutting those panels is too much of a risk. Going to try to upgrade and go from there.

 

[BestCutter]

I've been googling if cutting glass while it was under stress was possible, and there is very little information out there. I can see the glass breaking along whatever plane the stress exists, but since I can't map that, and have no practical experience, i have to come here. Could you explain why it would fail, and how?

It would most likely fail for the same reason that tempered glass would fail if you cut it. Tempered glass has the stress built-in by rolling through a tempering furnace and then being quickly cooled. This makes what we call "safety glass" that breaks into a thousand pieces when broken but it's about 5 times stronger than un-tempered glass.

I don't know for a fact but I would bet that if you cut that glass under stress it would shatter or break in some way.

It's not going to spill water on my floor so show us what happens.

Good luck either way.

Dennis