Drilled Tank - questions

[regener8]

More newbie questions....hehe sorry
Ok been doing some research about Overflow's, but also been reading on Drilled Tanks. Is there that much of a difference ?
How hard is it to drill your tank and how wide of a hole do you make ?
Also I guess since alot of water will be draining quicker that way you will need quite a large pump for the return ?
Thanks...love this board.
Tam

 

[saltyfish]

I bought my tank used and it was drilled when I got it. I was way green and had the same questions. I don't know about a tank that is not drilled but I actually like that it was drilled.
The first question you need to answer is Is it glass or arcylic? I know that acrylic is way easer then glass because you don't have to worry about cracking the panals. when you drill you have to do several things to it. I'll email you a diagram that I used to build mine Its pretty compleate and you can ajust what you want. Its too big to post here unfortunatly.Basicly you need to drain the water to a sump or pump (weather you are going to use a sump or not ) and a way to put the water back in. I ran 4" plastic dranage pipe that was black because the back wall of my tank is black. I cut it in half and drilled a hole at the bottom because the holes in the tank were there when I got it and they were in the middle of the bottom. if I were to drill it I would have put them toward the back so when I silaconed the half tubes in the holes would be right there. Then you could go strait down though a water tight buld head. It really doesn't matter how big the drainage tubes are unless you have a massive pump. you don't need one with too gph to make this work. the reason is because in the water return line you will go just as high as the water line and with a sphion break the water will only empty so far. so what ever the gph you use to pump the water in should be the same as out. I know that this is just scratching the surface but I can help with further info if you want to go that rought.

 

[thomas712]

Tam - What size tank are we talking about drilling? Do you have one yet. You have to find out if the bottom is of tempered glass or sides. This is not worth the risk if it is tempered. The size of the tank will detrermin what size holes you will need for drain and return or whether you will need one or two overflows. Normally special drillbits are used and can be very expensive I have seen them for over $100.00 and some as little as $25.00. The bigger the tank or thicker the glass the easier it will be to drill the smaller say a 10 gallon can shake or cavitate to the point of shattering.
Thomas

 

[von_rahvin]

i have a drilled tank and i will never ever get a non drilled. how serious? i am thinking about selling my 135 reef so i can get a drilled tank.
about the bigger pump for a whole. the drilled tank has baffels that are near the surface so only as much water that is pumped into the tank is returned to the sump. better way. . . . the water lvl in the tank is constant. only by adding more water to it does the overflow work. your return pump determines how much "extra" water is pumped into the tank.