Where would you Drill?

[Mnemic]

Ok guys, Getting confused on the best way to go about this.

I'm getting my Tank Drilled here in the next few days... 75 Gallon AGA, Bottom Glass of the tank is tempered.

I'm going to be doing a Closed loop system in the tank, but I'm questioning where I should have the holes drilled. I've seen alot of tanks with Holes in the bottom. thats not possible with the tempered glass bottom I have.

Right now I was just going to have two holes drilled near the top of the tank, and use both of them in an overflow to my sump. But I've seen ALot of people with holes at many diffrent heights in their tanks.

Thinking of a CLS, where would be the most effecitve place to have holes placed?


-Paul

[TimBeR]

I am a little confused by your question are you getting a closed loop or are you just drilling the tank for an overflow to the sump

For a Closed loop ie: water drains from holes to pump then pumps directly back to holes for returns.
then I would drill two holes somewhere above your sandline for drain to pump and drill two holes somewhere near top water line for returns from pump.

if I were drilling for drainage to a sump I would drill the holes above the sandline in each corner of the back wall then put my return line holes up near the top

[oregon_gorge]

If you do not have overflows at the top, how do you remove dust and stuff from the surface. Also, if you take water from the lower part of the tank, and something goes wrong, the water will drain to that level.

If you have overflows at the top, you can skim off the top, and only lose water to the bottom of them. Thats the problem I am having with setting up the 240. The gallons that can drain in the top 3.5 inches would require a monster sump.

The only way I could figure out how to stop that would be to put a bump up in the line to raise the level it can drain too. Any ideas here would be appreciated

Thanks, Chris

[Big Dave]

Hey Chris-

I kind of hae the same problem on my 135. If the power goes out my tank drains about an extra gallon over what my sump can hold.

Two ways I see fixing that kind of problem....
1. Use that 135 you have for your sump! The things you could do with a sump/fuge would awesome in that. The problem is fitting that tank somewhere close to the main tank but out of the way.
OR
2. You can get a overflow box, and basically cement it to the back of your tank in front of your overflow hole. You could have the teeth on the box come down however far you want. You should be able to get it custom made pretty cheap, or DIY too! Acrylic is easier to work with than you would think. That way you could control how much drains out of the tank during a power outage, and the heigth of the water line in your tank.

Does that make sense?

Hope that helps guys!

-Big Dave

[oregon_gorge]

Hey Dave, If I remember right, this is your old tank. I have thought very seriously about putting the 135 in the basement and using it for a display/sump/ref/catchall. I would rather keep it all upstairs I think. I have tried several configs. I really like MM's sump though. Will keep playing with it

Thanks, Chris

[Mnemic]

Sorry TimBeR I didn't word that right.

I meant to phrase that In Addition to the two Overflow Holes, how should I drill holes in the tank specificly for the CLS.

Right now I'm just going with two overflows, with one return from the sump, but Trying to best determine where to place holes for the CLS.

I think I may just end up not drilling for the CLS, and just keep the CLS in the hood. I've seen someone do that here, and I think that was a very good way to do it.

Thanks for everyones comments!

-Paul

[Big Dave]

Well Chris,
If that (my) 240 isn't going to work out for you, I would be 'willing' to trade it straight across for my 135!

Paul - Another idea is to run your return to the area behind your rocks using some sort of T-bar or spray bar config. The thing to remember if you do this is to put a hole in the return line just under the water line to break the syphon. So basically, you would run your return to the area behind your rocks using a spray bar. THe only negative in this is you might lose some flow in the main portion of the tank.

-Big Dave

[oregon_gorge]

Dave, I will master this thing. Just getting everything to mesh is what has me going. I want it to be right and look like some of the pics posted here. Nice straight lines, no salt creep, you know, all the good stuff

Pam says this is our last tank. The poor girl is dilusional. If and when I change the 240, it will be to a 6'x3'x30" tall or maybe like the 400 myreef and mm are building. I really like the rock layout that DSG has with the coves and I cant get that in these darn narrow tanks Now isnt that sick?

Gonna go tackle the beast some more now

[hamburglar]

We just busted out the tempered bottom of my used 70 gallon tank, and replaced it with regular thick glass. This way, I could drill the bottom of the tank so that there are no pipes behind the tank. They all drop neatly into the stand.