drilling back glass.....

turboex901

New member
hey guys, has anyone drilled the back glass on an already setup tank? i figured you could maybe drain 50% of the tank and when drilling the back glass spray it with a constant stream of salt water as if you were refilling the tank after a water change. can it be done and anyone willing to come do it for a fee? i wish i wouldve bought my 125 drilled but i couldnt pass up the deal i got on it. overflow boxes scare me! lemme know youre thoughts everyone!<~~steve
 
I've seen it done once in a thread. I'll try and find it. The display was much smaller than yours though, i'm thinking it was a 50. Keeping your drill bit cool while drilling an established 125 inside your home sounds ridiculous to me steve. Is a lifereef overflow really as scary as that? I'm still trying to relate to that one man...
 
I agree with DJ. It takes a lot of water to keep that glass cool. I would get some trash cans, we all have them, and hold everything in it. I have drilled a couple of tanks. Make sure of your glass type.

Rob
 
Drilling into an already set up tank would be difficult, but it has been done (rcmike dremeled in an external overflow into his 120 without removing anything aside from a little water, but he is a daredevil;)).. I would recommend breaking it apart to drill it, though (much easier to do if you can get it on it's side and drill down rather than into it). I'd also recommend going as far down as possible for the drain line so that you can get as much durso in there as possible for the noise. I drilled a 75's back glass once, but only went 6 inches down from the top. I was able to fit a durso, but it wasn't the most functional. It was fine once it hit equilibrium, but needed some time to hit equilibrium... I've got diamond bits, too, so let me know what you want to do...
 
yikes! rcmike, if youre reading this you have more courage than me man.
gary- if we drilled a few holes who would make the overflow boxes and how long would they need to cure before water goes back in? also would it be better to do one hole on each end or could i cram two holes into one center or one corner overflow? also the million dollar question.....whats youre labor going for these days? :)

anyone have direct experience with lifereef boxes? i know theyre very good but i have the "if it can go wrong, it will and become a huge disaster" luck when it comes to previous overflow boxes. my last 3 tanks have been drilled from the factory and i never slept better. thanks for the input everyone and it like to keep this thread going!<~~steve
 
I don't know how RCMike comes in a room with testes that big. Man I would be peeing all over myself if I did it that way. I was nervous just cutting holes for bulkheads much less the top of the tank.

Rob
 
Steve- I had thought about drilling the 46 bow I got from you, but have been very worried about the best way to build the overflow and make sure it won't leak should the return pump stop or get turned off for any reason. The siphon overflows make me nervous, but I started thinking it might be more reliable than my ability to build an overflow. So... I'd be interested in seeing how you and others accomplish the job and I'd also be interested in hearing people's experience with different siphon overflows.
 
It would be my first time to do something that large... I put two holes in the 75 with the dremel (one drain and one return). I would recommend going with two separate overflows either in the corners or near the corners. Standard AGA overflows (not the corner type) take up about 10" x 6" of real estate, but they ensure good flow through both ends of the tank. Someone locally makes overflow boxes for internal overflows that look pretty nice. I saw some at the Critter months ago when they had the GC tanks on display. Sealing them is no big deal. Just get a bunch of silicone. The hardest part is finding somethign to help wedge them in place so they don't try to pull away from the silicone under their own weight. Wood blocks work well, though. I coated the entire inside with a thick bead for the trash can overflow I had on the 75 and a thinner bead on the outside (which later turned into a much thicker bead when I added the DIY durso and tore it loose from the tank...). No leaks.
 
im not quite decided yet what ill do, my only reason for having a sump would be for a refugium. im still entertaining the idea of a hang on to sustain a second mandarin. ever since we sold our mated pair of spotted mandarins my wife has been on me to find a compatible male for her new female. i trust 125 gallons to one, but not two without supplementation. do those large hang on refugiums benefit the system much? also how much weight will be pulling on the back glass? the weight of the thing was my primary concern. thanks for all the responses so far everyone!<~~steve
 
Steve- I have the large CPR fuge on the back of the 46. They are definitely heavy (and some days it makes me nervous) but I've had mine on a 29 as well... and haven't had any issues. Honestly though, I'm less concerned about the tank supporting the weight than I am concerned with the "legs" that attach the fuge to the tank.

It definitely does a pretty good job of growing pods for me and honestly is probably pretty darn close to the total volume of the fuge on my 90 (once you figure the amount of volume that my skimmer and return take up in my 30L sump)

That said, overall I haven't been 100% pleased with the fuge. Here's a list of problems I've had that you should at least be aware of before you buy one:

1) The pump that came with it was junk and would continuously not start back up after a power outage or being unplugged. That small of a volume of water doesn't take long to stagnate.

2) If I use a pump that puts as much water through the fuge as I'd like I get a big time flushing sound out of the return (causing a microbubble problem). I've thought of ways to fix it, but they don't use a standard tube size so rigging some kind of durso-like return won't be easy.

3) When you turn the pump off, the fuge will siphon via the pump hose back into the display. This has never caused an overflow, but if you then do a water change out of the display, it will continue to siphon water out of the fuge until it's dry. This was easily fixed by drilling a very small hole toward the top of the pump tube, but was annoying nonetheless.

4) Make sure you get one with a black side toward the tank (or paint it before you set it up) because the fuge light will bleed into the main tank big time. If you want to run a reverse cycle or keep the fuge on all the time, the bleed over is annoying. I would argue that even with the black side it will be a little annoying, but if you can get the light mounted low enough, it's not a big deal.

Just wanted to let you know my experience... they work fairly well for what they are and are a much easier solution to your current problem than drilling the tank. They just have a few issues that I would have liked to have known about before I bought one.
 
brian, thanks for the heads up. youve been a big help! despite the drawbacks its still not as scary as cracking the tank and having livestock living in buckets :) im gonna see if theres a model big enough to do what i want it to. <~~~steve
 
I just started a thread with almost an identical topic in another forum. I have an AGA 125 with a tempered bottom that I would like to have overflows in too.

My problem is I cant find anyone in the area I can trust to drill the tank without breaking it. I heard heard some people its so easy to do that its scary. But they do all say the same thing about keeping the glass wet.

I am in the process of building the stand and waiting on the sump to be finished so the tank is dry. Can you guys recommend anyone to drill it?

Here is a link of a setup that looked nice I found on the web.

Here
 
Here's a link for drilling a tank. You guys may or may not have read some of the stuff on there. Ton of good stuff. Doesn't help the drilling the tank while still set-up issue, but gives some good stuff on getting the hole in the tank.

If anyone is going to drill a tank any time in the near future, please let me know because I'd like to watch/help so that I might have the courage to do it myself.
 
ive seen it done probably 10 plus times and its quite smooth the prob is i dont know how feasible it would be for me to drain the tank/store the water, rock, and fish and punch a hole in it. breaking the tank is the least of my worries, relocating the livestock for 24+ for the silcone on the overflow box to cure is the primary concern.<~~~steve
 
Steve,

If you've got some rubbermaid tubs and several heaters and powerheads, they'd likely be fine. I've had to move things and keep them in tubs for days without loses. Actually, I've got a 150 gallon tub I could let you borrow if you have a place to put it (it's pretty big). Run a heater with several powerheads and move everything in. Just an idea. It would be a lot of work to break it all down, I'm sure.

I think we could do a drilling demonstration, too, at a meeting. There isn't much to it, but patience. I usually use some masking tape to try to dissipate a little heat and have a spray bottle handy. When I dremeled holes, Jenn sprayed from the spray bottle every couple of seconds just to be safe on heat. The worst part is feeling like you're never going to finish it, even though it only take 15 minutes or so with a diamond hole saw. Anyone got a Frankenstein they want to offer up for experimentation?
 
Thank you for the welcome doc. :)

I am so tempted to drill the tank at this point but I'm still scared. Guess if I broke it, it would be a good excuse to buy a reef tank! hehe
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8596140#post8596140 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by drfdisk
Thank you for the welcome doc. :)

I am so tempted to drill the tank at this point but I'm still scared. Guess if I broke it, it would be a good excuse to buy a reef tank! hehe

if youre commited enough anything becomes a tank. you know bathtubs make awesome look-down tanks for clams ..... :)
 
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