Can I drill it?

[Darknes]

I would like to get a sump/fuge on my tank, but I don't have enough faith in the hang on overflows.

Is it possible to drill a tank while it is full? I was thinking that I could drain about a third of the water from the tank, and drill towards the top, using something to collect any glass debris. Would this work, or would there be too much heat and a risk of getting glass shards in the tank?

I really don't know if it would be worth it to tear down the whole tank so that I could drill it outdoors.

 

[calvin415]

You can drill it, but you'd also want to install an overflow box and that will require the tank to be drained so the silicone can cure... If you want just a bulkhead drain it's possible but not very effective for surface skimming or appearance. The hardest part is that you need to try to drill it from the outside so if the tank is against a wall it needs to also be moved...

HTH

 

[Darknes]

Ok, thanks for the good information. I would use a bulkhead to drain down to the sump, but there would be an overflow box inside the tank around the bulkhead, with some type of durso to reduce noise.

Drilling from the outside might be a problem, as I only have 9-inches behind the tank. However, I could drill the back-left side of the tank since I have 2 feet of clearance there.

So would there be any issue with the glass getting too warm and heating up the tank water?

 

[calvin415]

Nope, drills pretty easy and quick... Murfman and I each have a glass hole saw for a 1" bulkhead. The lower the water level the better so there is less stress on the glass but it can be done.

 

[Darknes]

Cool, I'm going to have to look into this. It might take me a little longer, since this is 3/8" thick glass I'd be drilling through. I'd also have to make sure this isn't tempered glass for some reason.

How much does a glass hole saw cost?

 

[calvin415]

5-10 bucks on ebay from Hong Kong

 

[murfman]

you can drill it with water in it. You can build an overflow for the corner of the tank, like mine. it is only 4 1/2" tall and is placed in the top corner with a 1" bulkhead and durso down to the sump/fuge. By using the smaller OF box, it allows you to keep space for live rock and not reduce the useable space in the tank. You could also make an external overflow box, if you have the space.

 

[prplfirefish]

We drilled our 90 with water in it. We just took it down below where we were drilling the wholes. Put a rag below the whole to catch as much of the glass scrap. It did get some glass in the tank but it just blended into the sand. We also had to grind the wholes out a little bit do to the chips. But all came out well.
Good luck
Trac

 

[Darknes]

Sounds like it's doable, but I'm just worried I'm going to shatter my tank, and water will be everywhere!

Murph, do you have any pictures of your overflow you did? I remember seeing a thread on it a while back, and that's where I got the idea.

 

[rbursek]

Make sure it is not temperd glass, you can not drill temperd, check with the compamny thaat makes it, my AG is temperd.
Bob

 

[murfman]

Dark, its in here somewhere;

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=961691

 

[Thurge]

Usually in a tempered glass tank only the bottom piece of glass is tempered.