How many holes shouli I have drilled?

[DrHank]

I have a 200 gallon tank (96'X24"X 21"tall). I had some problems with the center and one end cross brace coming loose. I decided the best thing to do would be to eurobrace the top of the tank. When I took the top trim off, I found that the glass was not even (had a bevel in it). A local glass shop says that they can fix it for me so I think that is the way I'm going to go.

Since I have to take the tank to their shop, I decided to have them drill it too. Right now it has a large hole drilled in the bottom to accommodate a single 2" bulkhead. I plan on covering it with a 3/8" glass patch. I'd rather have two 1 1/2" bulkheads with strainers for overflows and two 1" bulkheads for returns. I'm thinking of placement at about 2" below the top lip.

I'm using a MAG 18 for my return pump. I'm also thinking of possibly adding a closed loop system for circulation. Would having additional holes drilled in the back weaken the glass too much? I'm using a Korallia pump #3 in my 110 and it works well. Would I be better off to just have the four holes drilled in the back and use a pair of Korallia pump#4s for circulation?

Your opinions and ideas would be appreciated. This is hopefully, the only time that the tank will be down for repair/modification.

[Mr James]

Which do you plan to do, a closed loop or powerheads like Tunze or similar?? If you're going to do a closed loop, get some additional holes drilled in the back, depending on your closed loop pump and it's requirements. I highly recommend a Sequence Dart or two, even coupled with an OM 4 or 8. On the other hand, a pair of Tunze Streams would really do the trick.

Anybody else??