Drilling a 5.5

[a-t-m]

Has anyone on here drilled a 5.5 before? There would be more than one hole.

 

I'm trying to break the mold of picos and test my own abilities and creativity.

[TRIP23]

i think i might have seen one on here before.....The glass is very thin i think it might be hard to drill without breaking.....

[thermosts]

Been there, done that. Above tank 5.5 gal Fuge.

 

 

I didn't drill it with a standard diamond hole saw, I used a diamond bit for a dremel to make the holes. I made a slightly smaller hole with a lead in and lead out. I smoothed out the tit and worked my way out to the size I needed for the bulkhead. You need to be VERY careful when you attach the plumbing.

[franklypre]

+1 to dremels diamond bit, 5 bucks for the set at walmart. Might take 30min or so but I wouldn't even think of using a hole saw bit for it. you can get a "rotary device=dremmel" at harbor freight for cheap. Just FYI

[rolltide21]

I have been looking into this myself. I found a guy who had somehow drilled a 2.5, despite the thin glass. He used a Dremel just like thermosts said. Let me know if this works out for you.

[cptbjorn]

I don't see a problem with drilling with a normal diamond hole saw, I've used my cheap ebay china special hole saws to cut circles out of regular single strength window glass and never shattered anything, and the 5.5s are even thicker glass.

 

i'd be more scared to be scraping the tank or reaching behind for a cord or whatever and bumping the plumbing/bulkhead and shatter it then while its fully stocked...

[a-t-m]

I'll definitely check out the set from walmart. I'm trying to do some sort of crazy closed loop contraption. It might not be in the immediate future, but i'll definitely make a build thread and post back here about how the drilling went.

[ulver982]

Like someone said in the beginning, be careful because the glass is thin. I drilled a minibow 7 which has thin glass. I was able to drill it and hook up the plumbing. I did a water test overnight and woke up to a crack along the back of the tank. I'm thinking I had too much pressure on the hole with the plumbing.