drilling tank ??

[sittnon18s]

ok i have a 75 gal all glass tank. just wondering if the back of the tank is tempered glass. i want to drill it to make it an overflow tank. also what size holes do i need and where do i drill them. i have a 750gph pump. any info would be great

[sittnon18s]

anyone??

[sittnon18s]

just found out kinda what i needed to know. one more ?? can i drill the hole with the tank in the upright position. i was thinking just lowering the water a ways and drilling the hole for the overflow. would this work or not. it would save alot from having to take everything out and put it all back in without loosing anything

[OnlyCrimson]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14037522#post14037522 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sittnon18s
just found out kinda what i needed to know. one more ?? can i drill the hole with the tank in the upright position. i was thinking just lowering the water a ways and drilling the hole for the overflow. would this work or not. it would save alot from having to take everything out and put it all back in without loosing anything

Yes, you can do it with water in it. You will need someone spraying it with water to cool it.

[sittnon18s]

im thinking of ordering the 1500gph one from glass-holes.com. is this a pretty good to use on a 75 gal

[jubjub]

how much is your pump ^^ might not need one that large, prob get by with a 950 range drain i would think

[sittnon18s]

if i go with the larger overflow i can always upgrade my pump. the overflow will only flow as much as the pump can push right.

[BodiBuilt]

I agree, put as large of a bulkhead fitting as possible now - even if you do not intend to run the max possible flow through them...
1500GPH is alot of flow to run through a sump. A closed loop would be good with the higher flow, but most sumps would do just fine with 700-900gph or even less.

[sittnon18s]

will it hurt anything if i use my 750gph return pump with a 1500gph overflow

[Pheeshes]

MY 75 from AGA was not tempered on the sides, like everyone said though make sure you keep it cool while you're drilling.

[sittnon18s]

so are all glass ones not tempered on sides and front and back. im pretty sure the bottom is tempered. is there a way to find out if it is tempered cause i dont want to shatter my tank

[Pheeshes]

if you know the tank manufacturer they would be able to tell you or you could look it up. most are that way though tempered bottom and non-tempered sides

[sittnon18s]

i think i will take the chance that my aga tank doesnt have tempered sides according to what everyone says. fingers crossed. also what is a closed loop system

[ganjero]

I would not even think about drilling a filled glass tank, if it cracks you'll have a huge mess. Drilling tanks is not complicated if you do it right, but you are going to be putting pressure on it, the water inside is already putting pressure on it, so the likelihood of cracking becomes higher. Empty it and drill it. Good luck

[sittnon18s]

i was planning on taking out over half of the water should i take out more. can i leave in the live sand and live rock.

[ganjero]

Like I said, you could do it but...... Also, have you read about drilling glass tanks? Are you aware you need to have water at all times cooling the bit and the glass? so you either need a hose running or use plumbers putty and build a "dam" and fill it with water (but if the tank needs to be laying on its side)

[sittnon18s]

i plan on taking out all but 6 inches or so and then drilling it with someone squirting water on the bit as i do. the guys from glass holes say that alot of people drill their tank with it half full

[ganjero]

good luck, and let us know how it goes

[austin93]

I just did exactly what you are saying, but I decided it was a good time to remove the sand and start fresh. I got the 700 gallon kit from glass-holes and it is great. I think the 1500 would have been great, but I don't know of a big benefit running that much water through the sump. I emptied the tank and used plumbers putty. It was very hassle free and I think that is because I went slow and used a lot of water. I don't know how easy it would be to drill it with water in the tank. You could do it with a hose, but a spray by hand would be scary. Good luck!

[sittnon18s]

maybe i will just drain the tank and lay it on its side. if i take all the water out and put the same water back in is my tank going to cycle again cause i have some pretty nice fish and coral that i dont want to die

[pbecot01]

if you keep the rocks and sand wet, you shouldn't have that problem.

[sittnon18s]

well this past sun i succesfully drilled two holes and got the overflow up and running. went rather well. left in about 5 inches of water and most of my rock. took about 3 min to drill each hole and the glass holes 1500gph overflow works great. now with my sump i have a spot that i put sand and rubble in it how much plant matter do i need in it.