# 65 gallon Oceanic tank, is this tempered glass



## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

I have a 65 gallon oceanic tank that I want to upgrade and am wondering if the glass on the bottom is tempered or not so I could possibly drill it. Thanks for any help if you know for CERTAIN.


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## lizardstowe (Sep 6, 2005)

David, 
Going on what I learned from a supplier I would say yes. I had a hard time finding out the truth. I talked to many retailers that only sell tanks and each one had a different story. I then called the manufacturer of my tank and they told me that any tank over 30 gal had a tempered bottom. I'm not sure if that's true or if that's a money scam but you may try calling the manufacturer of your tanks. I noticed the other day when I went to petsmart and bought a 15gal that the larger tanks had a sticker in the bottom that said they were tempered.


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

David,

Call Oceanic. They make a lot of reef related equipment and many reefers want untempered bottoms. To get around this they may just use thicker glass on the bottom.
I know that you can special order tanks from Allglass with thick glass bottoms instead of tempered bottoms. My 75 gallon Allglass reef is constructed in this way.

Cheers,
Chris


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

Thanks everyone. Here is the website for them if anyone else needs it. I will give them a call and post.

http://www.oceanicsystems.com/


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

Customer service replied and said all their tanks have tempered glass unless you custom order.


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

David,
Can you go through the bottom of the back pane? With a 65 you should have room for a good size false bottom, and you could periodically flush the tank by adding a few gallons of water all at once.


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

Yes I have a huge false bottom now and I am pumping in and out through the top and its worked for eight years like this. I was just hoping to get rid of the hassel with the hose on top and make it cleaner looking. 

My understanding from customer service is the whole tank is tempered, so I dont think I can drill out the back. Here is the email I got from them.



> David,
> Thank you for your email! All Oceanic aquariums are built with tempered glass, unless requested differently. If you have any further questions, please let me know!
> 
> Kindest Regards,
> Sabrina Stafford


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

I emailed her again to clarify if this is bottom and sides.

Customer Service did email me back and said that ONLY the bottoms are tempered glass and the sides are never tempered. I guess this sounds pretty standard proceedure with tanks.


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## Guest (Oct 7, 2005)

From what i remember of Oceanic they do temper the bottoms, but personally, i think drilling the bottom would be a mistake as your going to have problems with stands and things. If you drill the side youll be able to out it on any table. This may not seem like such a big problem, but when you come to moove a tank that you cant just sit on the base because of the blukhead poking out youll be glad you put it in the side.

Besides, your flow rates are going to be so small compared to a fish tank, i really wouldn't see any advantage to using the base.


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

If you drill the side you can add a barbed fitting on the inside and attach a length of tubing so that it touches the bottom. When you drain the tank a siphon will start and you will be able to get almost all of the water out.


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

Forget about that previous post. I doesn’t work the way I was thinking it would. I thought it was a good idea until I set it up my self. Duhh!


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

It works if the bulkhead is under the water....

Ed


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## Grassypeak (Jun 14, 2005)

Yes Ed, you are right. If the bulkhead is under water and you have a valve on the tubing then when you open the valve a siphon will start, but I was thinking that it would start with the bulkhead only partially under water. After beginning to set such a system up, I realized my error and left the internal tube out. I didn’t want anyone who was watching this post to try out my idea and then have it not work for them.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

But the advantage of such a setup provided that the bulkhead is under water is that having the L close to the bottom of the tank is that it will then siphon a lot of the water out of the system (more than if it was just the bulkhead). 

Ed


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