ChrisBetta Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Hey everybody, During the last 4 days i have been practicing drilling 6mm holes through 4mm glass, after 4 days using only a NORMAL drill tip(not a diamond tipped designed for this)i have managed to successfully drill 8 holes, only cracking the 1st one i attempted. Along side of doing this i also start to remove silicone on existing tanks so i can remove rear panel, drill drip overflows, re silicone and eventually have my 47 random tanks set up in a full sumped / top drip overflow sytem with ea tank filtered by a sponge all hooked up to one air pump.... now my question to you guys is this, Being i only have a cert 2 in building and construction which i obtained 7 years ago im not what you would class as a "tradesmen" but i am going to photo document/write down everything i did as i go through this, so my question to you guys is: Would it be worth while me documenting this and doing a diary on this site as i go so any1 else without alot of money can use the same basis of idea, or am i better of not bothering? I ask as i dont want to flood the forum with stuff you dont need or are not interested in. Let me know Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briztoon Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 I say do it. The more knowledge shared the better. You're diary might help others, give others ideas, or people may offer advice to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBetta Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 sweet just wanted to check as i assume by the end of it the thread would be pretty pic heavy, i could use the feedback/advice also so i shall do it :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fletch Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Please do it. Love watching these sort of projects. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNgo2006 Posted July 6, 2012 Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 Yes go for it, as long as it is knowledgeable, we can never have enough as different ppl do things differently. I would love to see how you tackle this project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBetta Posted July 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2012 no worries thanks heaps guys and remember, when it starts your help is just as welcome to the project :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melbournebetta Posted July 8, 2012 Report Share Posted July 8, 2012 we <3 DIY. me espeshally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
afr3178 Posted July 9, 2012 Report Share Posted July 9, 2012 I'm looking forward to this as I have a couple of tanks that I would love to circulate the water through. There are 6, 6 litre tanks all glass. I didn't even know you could drill glass, but now I'm excited to see your results :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBetta Posted July 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 (edited) Right, just an update for all you DIY nuts out there. First things first, had alot of fun (not) trying to locate an aquarium safe silicone, i found this bad boy at bunnings for under $13. Also at the same bunning for under $14 i picked up myself a cheap diamond tip drilled bit NOW TO GIVE IT A GO!, decided to try with small first to avoid major issues. so i chose one of the single holding/grow out tanks. Started by removing the plastic corner covers but gentle running a razor blade between glass and plastic to remove silicone. Once thats done Gently and slowly scrape the silicone from the inside join of the back glass panel, and also inbetween sheets of glass ( no pro so this part took me like 10 minutes as i didnt want to risk breaking glass/forcing things between glass) but either way we got there! NOW FOR THE FUN PART: taking some styrofoam as a base (stops sliding glass/gives the glass some play when putting downwards pressure on it) i placed my glass panel on top, chose wich corner i was going to drill and measured a dot 2cm in and 2cm down from corner point. Now after marking out lines i went and filled a 2L milk bottle with water (as you need it to pour over glass as you drill to minimize glass dust/ so on and so on), and using almost NO downwards pressure on the lowest drill setting, i then started to drill from the front side(please note lowest setting isnt slow enough, you may/will need to control speed by using finger pressure on drill trigger, after a few minutes, i picked up and looked at the glass side on, i could see (on side view) a white tunnel forming through the glass where i had been drilling, i then flipped glass over, lined up from the other side and drilled towards the other sides hole, still drilling slowly and repeating to turn glass over and over while drilling so hole from both sides meets in the middle and doesnt crack your glass:D. after a good 20-25 mins of SLOWLY going at it( being my first time) SUCCESS!!!D Being that the hard part is now done and its for a very small single betta grow out/seperation tank, i then re siliconed along the edge of all glass faces that touch when glass is re inserted, then once silicone was placed i slid glass back in position.... After that i then siliconed the outside edge of the glass and also both sides of ea plastic corner cover and pressed back onto back, once back silicone is covered/excess wiped away i grabbed some masking tape and (tightly/ not to tightly as its glass lol) went around the outside of the tank so it would hold the glass firmly together with rest of the tank. After this all that was left was to silicone the 3 INSIDE edges of the glass i just removed, after making sure it is pushed into the corners/flattened out with plastic..... WE ARE DONE!!!!:D now i what a further 5 days for silicone to cure 100% and test fill! , will update later as i do more tanks/work out shelving and plumbingsorry last 4 pics are links, cant figure this silly image cap thing out lol Edited July 10, 2012 by Chris the betta boy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNgo2006 Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Nicely done Chris! Looking good! I hate the removing silicone part, it takes sooo long! Couldn't you just use a running hose (trickling) instead of the 2L bottle, that would be easier yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 I'm sure everyone would love to see some video as well. That would NOT be cluttering up the forum. :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisBetta Posted July 10, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 lol Bettarazzi, i have a digital video cam here, dont know why i never thought of that lol thanks heaps!. Chi, yea i could, but im a real tight wad, so did it this way to save costs on water, as i go through alot here between my fish/animals/cleaning .... Also any1 here good at figuring out flow rates/ air rates?......last set up i had i bought already complete never had to calculate/figure any out before :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CNgo2006 Posted July 10, 2012 Report Share Posted July 10, 2012 Watch uarujoey channel on youtube for great DIY projects, I think it was the canister one where he talks about flow rates or was it the eheim filter? Don't remember but it is a great channel! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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