Drillin my tanks

[toasty23]

Hello i have more questions.

Were can i go to get my tanks drilled and what size and were on my tanks. i have two 55 gal's

thanks

toasty

 

[toasty23]

i also just got the coralife super skimmer and what can i use to replace the rio 1200. cuz i heard that they have tons of problems. plus its huge and bulky!

 

[Konadog]

toasty, check with your LFS and glass shops to see if they will drill them. As to where to drill, that my friend depends on what you want to do with the holes.

If you don't know if the bottom is tempered glass, then only drill the back of the tank.

 

[toasty23]

how bigs shoul i make the holes. i just want to make a sump to put my things in.

 

[Konadog]

That's just it, what holes, for what?

If your talking about a drain, I would go with 1 1/2". That means if you want to use 1 1/2" pipe, the hole will be much bigger. You need to look at bulkheads for 1 1/2" before drilling your tank.

Now if you want to drill your tank for a closed loop, you need one suction hole, and two or more return holes. The amount of holes and the size of these holes depends on what pump you are going to use, then size accordingly. Just remember, get your bulkheads first so you know what size holes to drill.

 

[toasty23]

what would you recommend to do . i want to get away from the over flow box. what are the advantages of having a closed loop. this is for my 55gal. i want to have a drain on the side and then have a return with a pump like a mag 9 or something like that i think. well the best choice would be made when i get info from you guys bc i want to know what you have and if you like it or what would ou do and how.

thanks guys with out you (RC) i would have never gone into sw.

 

[DaveAngie79]

i would not drill i have known people to have that done and only caused probs

 

[toasty23]

what would you recomm then ? im gonna have them done prof.

 

[Konadog]

There's nothing wrong with drilling your tank if done correctly. Be sure you install your bulkheads properly and things shouldn't leak.

On my new 225, I have three 1 1/2" holes for my closed loop (one suction, two returns) and a 2" hole for my drain line. The return holes are 4" from the top of the tank, and the suction hole is 6" from the bottom of the tank.

A closed loop provides extra flow without running all the water thru the sump, and it also keeps powerheads out of the tank.

Here's a bad picture of what I'm talking about, this is the left side of the tank.