to drill or not to drill

[wwace]

Hey guys, I need some advice. I planned on drilling my new tank to feed the sump/PS/refugium etc. I am building a 125 FOWLR (to start), dimensions are 60"long 18"wide 24"deep if I do drill what would the optimum placement be in your opinion? My first thought was to put bulkhead fitting in end of tank(unsightly) about 6 inches up from the bottom/sand so if there was some failure in the plumbing it would leave some water in the DT. But then i figured just drill it in the bottom and put in a standpipe so intake was up some. This would take a bulkhead failure to create a total failure, and keep my plumbing mostly hidden. So am I thinking OK here or should I scrap the whole idea and just rely on a skiimmer/overflow?

 

[grue]

Drill

Check out this thread for a 3rd option
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=319838
Basically he used bulkheads in the back of the tank.
Another option is a west coast Glass all the way or most of the back wall. These can be drilled again on back glass near the top. you have lots of options. If you think your going to have corals in the future perhaps set up an manifold now? Lots of info on this site just gotta dig a bit. Keyword search Manifold, Plumming, west coast overflow, Overflow etc. Good luck
Grue

 

[mr_x]

i'd drill about 4" from the top and use a bulkhead with a 90, and a strainer. it's super easy and you can raise and lower your water level by it. also, if you have a power outtage, it will drain very little. on a 125, i'd probably want 2 drains. one on each side of the back pane. then have my returns come up over the back pane, right in the middle.
alot of tanks these days have tempered bottoms, which cannot be drilled, so a standpipe might be out of the question.

 

[wwace]

OK, Why do I need so many different drains? I am not quite clear on this and want to do it right to the best of my knowledge/abilities the first time. BTW I am building my own tank and am not using any tempered safety. Tempered is fine and dandy till it decides to explode for no reason, unlikely but Ive seen it happen and can't risk that. The tank bottom wil be on styro on a very good flat suface. What size drains would be appropriate? also I was going to use 1" and have some bulkheads and screens this size already. thanks for your help
D

 

[mr_x]

well, i would have 2 drains on a 5' long tank, so i could pull from both sides of the tank. these drains are also to skim the waters' surface. it would also allow you to send more water to the sump faster to filter it.
if you are building it yourself, can you install overflows on the outside of the back pane? this would allow you to have the benefit of overflows, without compromising the space inside.
i'd also drill a single hole somewhere on the back pane for a closed loop. you could run those returns over the sides and eliminate the need for multiple powerheads.

 

[jjs]

Definetly drill the back of the tank. The bottom pane should always be tempered because it's much stronger. If you decide to do the stand pipes anyway I'd suggest taking the tank to a glass shop where they have experience working with tempered glass. Good luck.

 

[wattsupdoc]

DRILL BABBY DRILL!
OK, first off I calculate 112.5 gal. on a 60X18X24. But that's splitting hairs kinda. Definitely drill it if you are building your own. Make the bottom pane nice and thick, and you'll be good to go. You can do 1 drain on that, center drain if you like. But realize you'll only be getting 600gphish out of a 1in standpipe. Personally if it were me doing a build all over, I'd do 3, 1 in holes in the back pane and 2 in the bottom. 2 drains out the bottom for sump/fuge, Then one up top center for return pump. The other 2 would be for a closed loop. Pick it up on one side and supply it back on the other, using a spray bar to distribute it through the tank. Both these down midway, all of it behind a foam/rock wall.

 

[dgirard05]

Here's The Back Of My 125, I Drilled Two Holes For Bulkheads For 1 1/2 Pvc Too 2" To The Sump. It Looks A Littel Involved But It Isn't. It Workes Great It Has Run For 4 Yr. There's A Closed Loop To A Sea Swirl Unit That Did Away With All The Powerheads. It Does a Great Job Moving The Water, It Rock& Roll When The Unit Come's On.
Imho Drill The Holes 4" From The Top.