New tank questions

[peterp]

Poking around the new 120 Perfecto tank I found a sticker saying
Do Not DrillTempered Glass.

So now for some dufus questions what exactly is tempered glass?
and is having it good, bad on no difference?

The warranty card is next to useless :? It claims a 20 year warranty but when you read all the print on the backside it is only if you buy a perfecto stand at the same time Otherwise it gives a 90 day warranty for "sealant leaks only" if you have tempered glass, and 90 days "leakage and cracks" if it is not tempered.

Why the no crack on tempered glass? Is it more or less likely to break than normal glass.

Sigh too many questions staring at the empty tank, (Slightly unlevel so need to get some shims before filling it)

 

[justDIY]

tempered glass is formed under a special process where the glass is placed under high-stress during it's production.

this high-stress vastly increases the glass's strength... there by allowing "thinner" glass to be used.

so instead of having a 3/4" thick bottom on your new tank of ordinary glass, you have a 1/4 or 3/8" thick piece instead. this allows the tank to be significantly less expensive and a whole lot lighter.

the tradeoff is that tempered glass cannot be drilled with a conventional drill.

I think holes can be cut with a laser into tempered glass, or by some other process, since all-glass offers "pre-drilled" aquariums with tempered glass bottoms.

rest assured your tempered glass bottom will take a lot of abuse before it breaks ... look at a car window is only 1/8" thick but can sometimes take several blows from a baseball bat before it gives.

if you want your tank drilled for external filtration, you can still have the sides drilled, they should be standard glass.

 

[peterp]

Thanks for the explanation on tempered glass!

Think I am happy with it the way it is I'll settle for poking the filter lines over the top of it.

Continuing the questions (I am not used to a tank this big, gonna take a while )
Will the ehime 2217 be able to provide enough bio filtration or should I trade some of the store credit I will get for returning the polo light for an emperor filter with bio-wheels?

Way I figure it is I should be able to get an (emperor 400 or penguin 330), 60 pounds of rift lake gravel mix, a couple of fish and a new 10-15 gal hospital tank for the amazingly high price of that silly perfecto polo lamp

Right now tank is destined for rift lakers, unless wife insists on something else, she has taken over my 33 with her gouramis .

 

[fishfreek]

Also check their website as the 120 probably has a tempered bottom but the sides might be normal glass. If the back is normal glass you can drill the back.

 

[e-cat]

tempered glass startes out as anormal piece of glass and is put into an over at very high tempatures over 800f and there is no way of cutting tempered glass once it has been tempered or it will spider it would have too be pre-drilled before the tempering.

 

[fishfreek]

I found this great website about how they make tempered glass and how its strenght can be calculated.

http://www.alumaxbath.com/tech/tgp.htm

 

[justDIY]

Will the ehime 2217 be able to provide enough bio filtration or should I trade some of the store credit I will get for returning the polo light for an emperor filter with bio-wheels?

Deff go with either a single eheim 2217 or perhaps a pair of eheim 2213's ... you will be cleaning them a lot less often then any hang on back filter.

I have a pair of Whisper 2 filters on my 30g (each filter is rated for 40g tank), but I'm cleaning them weekly, it's a terrible PITA ... I was planning on a sump style filtration for this tank, a lal natural with just more plants in the sump... but I might just get a 2215 instead.

 

[peterp]

Thanks for the explanations!