Drilling for Gold

The Gnome

The Gnome

New member
I was wondering if anybody has any experience in drilling 125 g Oceanic tanks ?

I was planning on running a closed loop filtration system in a addition to my regular open loop. I'm going to drill several holes in the backside of the aquarium for intake and outake. I guess I'm mainly wondering if anyone has done this before and what strategy was used.

How many holes should I drill for adequate flow ?
Should I have multiple intake and one outake or vice versa ?
What diameter holes are suggested for the intake & outake ?
Should the holes be positioned in a certain way to maintain the glass's structural integrity ?

I am extremely nervous about drilling this tank, because I nearly broke my back moving it yesterday, not to mention the $$ spent on it would not be easily replaced.

This will be the first step of many with this project, so I want to do it right ! Any input is greatly appreciated !
 
I can't offer you any advice, but I am intersted in seeing how this project turns out for you. I have a diamond hole saw that I keep glancing over at nervously. I plan to drill a 75 as soon as I actually get a 75 to drill.
 
The amount of holes you want will probably depend on how much flow you want through them. What pump will you be using for the CL?

In general I would say 1.5" bulkhead for the intake and 1" for the output. Are you going to be putting an OM squirt or something like that on it?

A lot of people use the dremels to drill their tanks. I believe that's how Waverz drilled his nano and I know that's how glaspie69 drilled his tank.

Overall it's going to depend on how much flow you want for your tank. If I remember right this is going to be an octopus tank? Maybe head over to the ceph. forum on here and do some reading and ask some questions to see how much flow they can handle. Make sure you have a TIGHT fitting lid! They'll crawl out of a VERY SMALL hole!
 
I plan on running an Iwaki 40RLT for the closed loop only, and I am also getting a Blueline 40HD to power my skimmer. That blueline should provide some serious flow through my skimmer, and in adding a closed loop system - there will be plenty of oxygen for the octo. I read somewhere that they have roughly double the oxygen requirements and bioload production than a fish of similar mass. I posted this thread on tonmo.com as well. Check out the responses there by clicking here

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?p=65747#post65747

Waverz and I are going to be working together on this whole project, and I'm pretty sure we're going to be using the same dremel tool that he used on his nano. We just wanted to do research and ask everyone's opinion on how they would do it before we proceed. It's like surgery, always better to be prepared when doing high risk procedures. :smokin:
 
That is a lot of holes, through some pretty thick glass. I would at least consider getting a hole saw to do the job. It might be well worth the $10.
 
If you're drilling more than 1 or 2 holes I think I would buy one of the hong kong holesaws on ebay. Pretty cheap and it will probably go much quicker. Make sure you put some duct tape on the back side of the hole or else when the plug falls out it will hit the front pane of glass and that aint good!

I don't know if I would have Jeremy helping you through the whole project though! :D JK
 
Due to overwheming advice ... I think that I am going to buy a diamond tipped holesaw for like $10 and save myself the heartache of destroying my dreams in one loud shatter.

As far as how many holes will be needed ... no one seems to really know. The Iwaki pump should provide some serious flow, all I should need is 1 outake and 2 intake positioned really far away from each other, so the tank doesn't burst when filled with water. I just don't know about that conclusively though.

If anyone has a suggestion about how many holes I should drill and the positioning I should use, please let me know what you think !
 
I'm too terrified to ever drill a tank ;p When I upgrade my tank I'll get a predrilled with overflow for the setup in the basement. But for now in a few months I plan on getting a dual lifereef overflow. I know you all think I'm gonna be crazy for an icky overflow but at least I don't have to tear down my tank :)
 
i driller my 75 gal. for 2 1.5 bulkheads and they turned out great. i also found out that drilling thinner glass is much harder than drilling thicker glass. i used the holesaw off of ebay and was very easy. if you want to find out more i have a thread that shows how i did it. look up the thread "follow me and my 75 gal" if you can't find it let me know. good luck.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6792291#post6792291 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cabenn
I'm too terrified to ever drill a tank ;p
Click to expand...


I'm a wuss too don't feel bad! :D
 
I was planning on drilling my tank but chickend out. This is how I was going to do it.

I was going to put 1 1.5 Inch bulkhead in the middle of the tank for an intake for the CL pump. Then I was going put 4 1" bulkheads about 4" down from the top spread out along the back of the tank for the output from the CL. Then you could get an OM squirt or something along those lines and alternate the outputs between all 4. Or if you wanted to do that in the future then you could just T everything off and have them all going at the same time. I guess that depends on how much flow you want.

Is this a Reef ready tank or are you going to drill for that too?

When you go to drill then tank please let me know I would love to see it done! Maybe then I'll get a little braver! :D
 
those hole saw bits are a pain to work with so i hear.....just use the dremel its so much easier and honestly you would have to rack the glass with a hammer while your drilling it to get enough pressure on it to break it.....but thats just my 2 cents
 
Jason, how long did it take you to drill yours?
I zipped right through my 24 gallon, alot thinner glass but i was pretty impressed as to how easy it went through..........
 
The drilling will commence on Sunday night, if everything goes as planned. We're going to use the dremel, because I have been reassured time and time again by several authorites on the subject that it will be an adequate tool to do the job.

I'm going to post pictures of the finished product on this thread sometime this week, so cheggit out !

If anyone who lives in this area wants to observe the 'surgery' PM me and we might be able to work something out. Tickets are $1000 a head ! Gettem while they're hot ! J/K

Wish us luck !
 
Okay, something came up. I decided after that to wait until the bulkheads come in the mail so I can have immediate gratification. We're planning on cutting one 1.5" intake and four 1" outake in the backside.

I hope that will be enough flow .. :)
 
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