How many holes in a 15 gallon?

[fishieness]

Hey everyone,
I have a 10 gallon right now but am planning to "upgrade" to a 15 gallon. I know it's not a lot. But I have the tank in a dorm room and have to move it every few months so it has to be small. Tanks over 10 gallons aren't allowed, but I figure no one checking the rooms would know what they were seeing, exactly.
But with my upgrade, I'm planning on making 2 closed loops instead of having powerheads. That would give me a hole for siphon, return, and at least 3 holes for the closed loop (one for intake and two for outlet). All holes will be 3/4 inches.
Does this sound okay, or will it jepordize the structural integrity too much? The problem would be they will all be nearing to top of the tank. I'll have the intake of the closed loop on the bottom, but the top will just be 4 holes.

[THE ROOK]

Sounds like alot of holes. Those small tanks use pretty thin glass.

Could go with the new Vortech MP10 instead of the CL.

[fishieness]

I thought of that, but don't have the 200 bucks at the moment to spend. :/
I also like the idea of having two closed loops so I could put the pumps on timers or a wavemaker to get more random current instead of just one direction all the time.
I know it'll weaken it a lot more, but I'm just wondering if anyone has done something like it. The main thing I'm worrying about is moving it. It'll break MUCH easier and I'll be picking it up all the time.

[fishieness]

bump please.

[MikeFisher1972]

i have a 10 g with 4 holes.
after you pay for the bulk heads and pvc and pumps you will be pretty close to some of the smaller pumps that would fit in there like Hydor Koralia 1 you can get them for about 25.00
I have not looked at bulkheads in some time but if i remember right they were like 10.00 or more.
so in just bulkheads that is 60.00 + pvc + pumps for the closed loops
i wouldnt do it. you have to worry about the bulkheads leaking or the pvc breaking when you move or hitting the pvc when moving the tank.
get two Hydor Koralia 1.
that is just my .02

[fishieness]

Thanks for the reply. That is probably what I'm going to end up doing. I already have one on my current 10 gallon anyways and it would just be easier. That way, I can also adjust them without nozzels or anything.
And getting bulkheads and fittings is no problem for me, since all the holes in the tanks of the store I work at are 3/4"

[Entropy]

How about swapping out the back panel for thicker glass? You should be able to re-silicone a 15g pretty inexpensively and reuse the same top and bottom trim. You could have a glass shop drill the holes for you in the single sheet and then add it to the tank. In theory you would only have to redo the back panel silicone and just be generous in the two back bottom corners.

[james3370]

go over the top for the intake & returns....that's the way i'm doing the closed loop on my 29 build

* retains the structural integredity of the tank
* easy to change plumbing/flow layout
* easy to service pump
* no need for bulkheads, unions, ball valves
* no holes in tank = better resale when you upgrade again ;)

i took the inspiration for mine from the following 2 pages & then modified them to what i wanted to do

http://www.melevsreef.com/closedloop.html
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2003/short.htm