can I drill this hole?

[latazyo]

well I finally can post some pics of my new tank

it is a custom made (by reefmania) 1/2" acrylic

24x18x18 are the dims

here is a shot of the tank along with the heater inside a garbage bag, the quietone return pump (may be a closed loop since I just found out its not self priming...is it a problem if my return pump is not self priming? (it will be submerged)???), and some miscellaneous plumbing from the previous owner

here is a shot of inside the overflow....I photoshopped the black since it was reflecting all over the place and it looked bigger than it actually was...the hole was drilled for a 1" drain, it is a standard size 1 7/8" hole to accomodate a 1" bulkhead...since the quietone has a 1" outlet it would be phenominal if I could run the return line up through the bottom and drill an additional hole inside the overflow to accomodate a 1 1/4" bulkhead for a larger drain....given the dimensions (inside box measurements) provided, do you think I can safely drill a 2 3/8" hole to accomodate a 1 1/4" drain or am I bound to just the one hole?

 

[hotrod122]

hmm.. you need to take into account the size of the bulkheads.. not just the hole..

 

[Pbrown3701]

if your pump is submerged, it doesn't matter if it is self priming or not. That just means that if you mount it higher than the water level in the sump, then it won't suck the air out of the line and begin pumping.

 

[latazyo]

awesome news pbrown...thanks...I am beginning to think that there is not enough room for an additional hole in the overflow

I am concerned that the quietone 4000 will be too much for a 1" drain and my sump (30g tank)

 

[Pbrown3701]

I think you'll be ok with the 4000. I was running a 6000 through a 1.25" bulkhead for a while and it wasn't too close to it's max flow. I would try it - if it doesn't work, then drill the existing hole out to a 1.5 or 2" if it makes you feel better (rather than adding another hole).

 

[SteveOhh]

Run a ball valve after your QO 4000...................this way you can control the flow of the pump......

Steve

 

[30mini]

I don't think you'll be able to drill the hole you want. You need to account for the total lip on each bulkhead. That will add another 1/4" for eac one, adding a total of 1/2" touching. So, you would really need about 1" or more room to drill the hole that you want.

 

[latazyo]

thats what I thought....oh well

I think Im going to change the q1 4000 to closed loop anyways now

are mags self priming?

 

[30mini]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7891138#post7891138 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Pbrown3701
if your pump is submerged, it doesn't matter if it is self priming or not. That just means that if you mount it higher than the water level in the sump, then it won't suck the air out of the line and begin pumping.

This was said earlier. You don't need a self priming pump if it is submerged!

 

[latazyo]

I just re-read pbrown's post about drilling the hole out

I think that is the obvious solution

I can drill the drain out larger, use the QO4000 for the return and split that into 4 returns and then not have to worry about closed loop

thsi is a slow but sure process here...thanks for the advice