Drilling ????s

[chull13]

Alright I am thinking about drilling my JBJ nano cube even though I have heard horror stories of them cracking. I have never had a drilled tank so I need some help. First off, do I still need an overflow if it is drilled?? I am trying to figure out the physics behind this. Wont the water level only go to the top to the drilled hole if there is no overflow? Secondly, what should I use to drill? I have read of using dremels and using drills. Which is better? Anyone with experience in this area please give me some advice.

Thanks, Chris

 

[glxtrix]

personally havnt done it but from the threads Ive seen, people always make a lil pool around the drill site out of putty and fill it with water, the heat from the drill is kinda hot and keeping it cool helps with not cracking. I'ld suggest drilling a different tank to get the hang of it, or take it to cap bay. Good luck.

 

[chull13]

Do you know roughly how much they charge to drill it??

 

[glxtrix]

its cheap, I think like 10-25 a hole. Sorry cant remember the exact price. Shoot them a call.

 

[cameron]

I think someone said Cap Bay does it for $25 a couple weeks ago.

 

[xyzpdq0121]

Nemo does it as well for like $15 a hole..

 

[cameron]

Xyzpdq0121 wrote: Nemo does it as well for like $15 a hole..

That was almost pornographic.

 

[glxtrix]

i wonder why i got excited when I read that, lol.

 

[justonemoretank]

I have drilled a good number of glass tanks with a cordless or corded drill and diamond coated hole bits. Pretty straight forward procedure. I bought all of my bits off Ebay out of Hong Kong... I have used two different Ebayers Lau and someone else I cannot remember the name. I have a long thread in the DIY section of ReefCentral. The only thing that you have to watch out for is you cannot drill Tempered Glass! It will shatter! Not sure about the nano cube... this is acrylic correct? Acrylic should be easier to get a hole in compared to glass. Thin glass tanks are the most challenging to get done without cracking the pane. I guess I should post a step by step here on the ARC site.

 

[pnguye3]

I've drilled a couple tanks w/ a dremmel and diamond coated bits. I had a friend just squirt water at my dremmel tip while I was cutting the hole to reduce the heat, so that It wouldnt crack. I don't remember if the back of a nanocube is acrylic or not. I believe that if it is acrylic, you can just cut through it w/ a normal hole saw; however, if it's glass you're definitely going to need some sort of diamond bit. If you have any questions, just send me a pm and I can give you better details on how I did mine.

 

[chull13]

The back is glass. Thin glass at that. I have read a couple of threads over on nano-reef about guys drilling their cubes and I have heard arguments for both hole saws and dremels but using a diamond bit in both situations is the way to go.