Drilling hole in Exo Terra

**kueluck** · February 19th, 2014

Does anyone know if the bottom glass is tempered or not? I can't seem to find any info on this and Exo Terra has not responded to my request. I know some have drilled the sides, but I want to drill a 1 inch hole on the bottom of the 18x18x24.

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**Heatheranne** · February 20th, 2014

Exo Terra's are glass. I called them last year before I had mine drilled

.

**kueluck** · February 20th, 2014

Thanks Heather, now I'm going to gather all my supplies, hold my breath and drill it myself.

**Heatheranne** · February 20th, 2014

Daring

. Good luck. Just keep it at least 1/2" from any side and support the glass well with foam or another soft surface. I have mine done at the glass shop. Let me know how it turns out

.

**Heatheranne** · February 20th, 2014

Lynn, Bruce and I have all had ours drilled.

**deranged chipmunk** · February 20th, 2014

She'll be fine!! If I could do it, Gail can do it! I have a the faith in the world in you Gail, you can doo eeeeettt!!!

**Mentat** · February 20th, 2014

.

Hi Gail

! Above is a nice and easy tutorial. Go slooooooooow and do not press down on the drill; let the drill weight do the job. Do place a towel inside the enclosure to catch the falling drilled out glass piece. I know of a case where the glass piece fell into the facing glass pane and cracked it

. This next video is a little high tech since it uses a guide; but the narrator (with sleep inducing monotone voice

) includes a few good tips. Good luck

!

**Heatheranne** · February 20th, 2014

Nice vids!

**kueluck** · February 20th, 2014

I have watched hours of glass cutting video, I'm still trying to find a 3/4th inch slip bulkhead. There's an aquarium shop that's open tomorrow so gonna give them a call to see if they have some. Worse case is I break the glass, no biggie, scrape out the silicone and get a new piece installed. I'm also gonna video it when I do it.

**deranged chipmunk** · February 20th, 2014

if you can't find one local, i believe marinedepot.com sells them

**kueluck** · February 21st, 2014

Bill, I've found tons of them on the web, but I like to go local if I can. Here's where I'm going to put the drain hole.

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**deranged chipmunk** · February 21st, 2014

Duh, brain freeze and distractions yesterday. Let me change my response. Check with a reef specialty shop, if you have one in the area. Lol

**deranged chipmunk** · February 21st, 2014

Looks like you are all set, when do you drill?

**kueluck** · February 21st, 2014

hopefully tonight or tomorrow.

**deranged chipmunk** · February 21st, 2014

Yay!!

**kueluck** · February 21st, 2014

WOOT WOOT, found a guy local that will drill it AND they have the bulkhead!! Didn't even ask how much, just giterdone!! But, I'm still gonna get a drill and attempt this on another tank just for GP.

**kueluck** · February 21st, 2014

Bill, what glass drill bit do you recommend? The price range is all over the board on these & I've seen some sets for less than $50.

**deranged chipmunk** · February 21st, 2014

I don't remember the brand I bought. I got it at Home Depot. I believe it was $35 or so. I Wil check the package when I get home.

**Mentat** · February 22nd, 2014

Hi Gail! Met ExoTerra's USA Manager (Steve Sotelo) today and he confirmed none of the ExoTerra enclosures have tempered glass in bottom or anywhere

.

**kueluck** · February 23rd, 2014

I would like to keep this thread active so others can find it easy for those who plan on doing this in the furture.

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