To drill or not to drill... that is the question.

[superjohnny]

I'm working on setting up a 29g reef and am trying to decide whether or not to drill the tank.
Drilling pro's & cons:
Pro: overall cleaner look when finished
Con: chance I could break tank or jeopardize integrity of glass and be up a creek
Con: much more DIY work

HOB pro's & cons:
Pro: many good HOB's out there right now that offer ability to stop siphon if water gets to a certain level so no floods
Con: clumsy looking
Con: expensive (only one I can find is ~$100!)
Con: higher failure rate (that's a question I guess)

Questions:
What is a good HOB unit?
Which is more quiet?
If I drill I need to set up some kind of over-flow with teeth correct?

Does anyone have any good links to people drilling their own tanks & installing an overflow? Can you add to my list of pro's & cons?

Thanks much
Johnny

[impur]

DRILL!!! I have a DIY 29gal, check out my thread.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=44814

[superjohnny]

Oh NO! You're way too far gone for me impur!

I'm looking for something more *cough* simple.

you do have a spectacular 29g though. Part of the reason I'm going to start with my 29g and not go straight to something bigger.

[Wynter]

I've just completed setting up 2 29g tanks side by side, using the same sump. The most reliable way is to have the tank drilled. You don't need to have teeth someplace to make it happen. A simply bulkhead is installed in the hole. From there I have a PVC elbow and a strainer pressed inside. The elbow can be adjusted up and down to whatever level of water I want to keep in the tank. I love it, it's great!

However, I used a dremel tool to cut the holes. 1st tank went great! 2nd tank waited until I was almost completely through to the otherside with the initial hole only to "POP!" shatter. I was told later that it was tempered glass. So it took me a week through my local reefers group to come up with a used replacement tank. Being brave I tried dremelling that one too... with success.

Only way I know to REALLY know if your glass is tempered or not is to use 2 polarizing camera filter with the glass you want to test sandwiched inbetween them. Rotate the top lens filter while looking through all three (top lens filter, aquarium glass, bottom lens filter). If you see what appears to be a dark cross forming in the lens, then it's tempered. If the lens pretty much fades completely into darkness as you rotate it... then the glass is normal and can be drilled.

I didn't have 2 polarized lens. I just took a chance.

Don Vs. Drilled Aquarium
2 - 1

[VWD]

Originally Posted by impur

DRILL!!! I have a DIY 29gal, check out my thread.

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=44814

Impur I checked out Your tread and You did a great job on posting Your progress as You went along on the tank, Great info and pictures.


Vince

[impur]

Thanks! I just hope it helps a few ppl when they plan their tanks out.

Miles

[RobinsonFam1]

i was thinking about doing the same as impur on a 90 gal but i am a bit more nervous being a 90 with all that pressure.

[superjohnny]

Ok, i'm going to drill the tank. I'd like to add a an over-flow and return so it'll need 2 holes. What size holes should I drill and where should I drill them?

In the end I envision something like a a 20 gallon long sump in the stand with a Mag 5 return. The sump will have a built in refugium. I'd like to have a skimmer in the sump (non-HOB skimmer). I'm still trying to figure out how large my stand needs to be to house all this. My tank is 30" Long x 12" Wide x 18" High (29g).

I'll probably progress in a few stages.
#1. build the stand & drill the tank
#2. set up RO/DI system & cycle tank
#3. build the sump & install a skimmer
#4. stock with inverts & later on a clown & anemone

Sound like a plan? Any suggestions are more than welcome

[RobinsonFam1]

are you sure you really need to drill the return?
i would run the return over the side of the glass, why? you ask: if there is a power failure then i can break siphon and not drain too much water, that i can control.
if you have a bulkhead for the return then you have one more place for water to drain and overflow the sump or drain the tank too much and have corals exposed to air too long.
i did drill for returns on a tank and ended up plugging them and plumbing over the top.
think long and hard about it, once you drill it you cant put the glass back.

[impur]

There are things you can do to limit the water draining in the event of a power outage. Check valves, siphon breaks. It all depends on where you drill the holes but those types of floods can easily be prevented.

superjohnny - i would drill one hole for the drain. 1.5" in the back glass up towards the top in the middle. I'd use an elbow pointed up to drain and a durso behind the tank. The returns could be over the tank or if you want to drill for them i'd put 1 in each corner 3/4" toward the top. Then you could use a locline Y to split it off and have 4 return nozzles. This would give you virtually no dead spots with a decent pump. Anyway, thats the way I'd do it if i was in your shoes right now. HTH!