Help drilling hole in glass tank

[ReefWhatYouSow]

Hey everyone! Does anyone have the tools and know how to help me drill a whole in the back of my tank. The family is out of town and I am working on the tank all weekend.

Any help is greatly appreciated! The tank is a 210 gallon with eurobracing, 60x27x30, with 1/2 glass.

Thanks!

 

[rogergolf66]

It's a little big to bring to my house for me to drill it for u. What size bulkheads r u putting in and how many?

 

[reepher315]

http://www.glass-holes.com/

Best place Ive found to get supplys

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

It's a little big to bring to my house for me to drill it for u. What size bulkheads r u putting in and how many?

Yeah, it's big. I'm thinking about either one or two holes to drain water at water change time. Not sure if that should be 1" or 2".

Maybe one whole for a 20% change and one low for emergency changes or to empty the thing (if I ever need to).

I was thinking of using bulkheads, ball valves, and a threaded cap just in case there is any dripping from the ball valves?

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

http://www.glass-holes.com/



Best place Ive found to get supplys

Thanks reepher!

 

[rogergolf66]

Sounds like it could work. 1 in would be plenty

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

Sounds like it could work. 1 in would be plenty

What do you think about the percentages for changes? (Locations of bulkheads). 20% and 100%? Or 20% and 50%?

 

[rogergolf66]

20 and 50 is fine u won't be draining more then that till u break down the tank. That's a 1 time drain use a hose for 100%. Remember u need water holding tanks for new salt water to store 120 gal of water. For 50% change. If u don't have the water storage setup to meet the water change %then it doesn't make sense.

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

I have a 55 gal for salt and another 55 gal for fresh, and then I'm looking for something a smaller for ATO that will fit in the closet with the tank.

Should I just do one at 25%?

This is where we replace my brain with yours Roger : )

 

[rogergolf66]

Well if u have a 210 gal system and u drill it for %25 that is 52.5 gal. If u drill this wrong by just a 1/4 inch to low u could go over your 55 gal drums and not have enough water to replace. This would be a lot more work for u to have to mix up another couple gallons each time. I wouldn't cut it that close. Drill at 20% and 50% incase u ever upgrade your water storage setup u could take advantage of the 50% if ever needed.

Also How r u pumping water out of salt water barrel and where is the hole in that? U may be leaving as much as 5gal in that too. depending on how and where the hole is on that. Keep that in mind also.

Where will these holes in the tank drain to? Do u have a sink behind the tank?

Roger

 

[Egkid]

So are you just drilling the tank for water changes/draining it and that's it?

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

Well if u have a 210 gal system and u drill it for %25 that is 52.5 gal. If u drill this wrong by just a 1/4 inch to low u could go over your 55 gal drums and not have enough water to replace. This would be a lot more work for u to have to mix up another couple gallons each time. I wouldn't cut it that close. Drill at 20% and 50% incase u ever upgrade your water storage setup u could take advantage of the 50% if ever needed.

Also How r u pumping water out of salt water barrel and where is the hole in that? U may be leaving as much as 5gal in that too. depending on how and where the hole is on that. Keep that in mind also.

Where will these holes in the tank drain to? Do u have a sink behind the tank?

Roger

You make some great points Roger. I haven't put the holes in the salt barrel yet so I can make it as low as I need. Even if I need to raise it a little. I would rather be safe so 20% is probably a perfect spot with a 50% for "emergencies".

The water will be pumped from the water storage up the wall approx. 112" and through some closets and hallways for about 192".

For drainage I will take off the threaded cap from the ball valve and attach a hose that will run to a toilet in a nearby bathroom. This is a large freestanding closet separating some rooms so no adjoining room to go through a wall with plumbing unfortunately.

 

[rogergolf66]

Well if u still have to run a hose every time dosnt seem worth drilling the holes. Just my 2 cents. Will the tank have sand or bare bottom. With the valve drain setup u won't be able to siphon out any dead spots that collect and the junk that needs to be siphoned out. The only benefit I c is the consistency of amount of water removed but u could use a bit of paint and mark a line on the outside of the tank one a side wall and use that as a mark to know when to stop draining.

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

Well if u still have to run a hose every time dosnt seem worth drilling the holes. Just my 2 cents. Will the tank have sand or bare bottom. With the valve drain setup u won't be able to siphon out any dead spots that collect and the junk that needs to be siphoned out. The only benefit I c is the consistency of amount of water removed but u could use a bit of paint and mark a line on the outside of the tank one a side wall and use that as a mark to know when to stop draining.

I'm planning to have sand so it would be beneficial to siphon things out here and there, but I was thinking more along the lines that with the valve drain setup I can release the water and go about doing other things without worrying about too much water draining out. If I am using a pump I would be watching it the whole time trying to make sure I don't take out too much water. That was at least my thoughts but there could be something wrong with that idea that I don't know about.

 

[rogergolf66]

I wouldn't say anything wrong with it. I was just thinking u would open valve then close it 5 min later then done with drain. Running hose sucks after a while. I used to have to do that

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

Definitely. It would be awesome if I had some hookups in this closet. Looked into getting it ran to a laundry room up and over on the second floor. Thousands of dollars later I decided to run a hose lol... Robert (rdaly) and I are going to try a "hang on the back" siphon that will only siphon to the length of the upside down U hanging on the tank. We're going to test this out and I'll let everyone know how it works.

Don't have to drill this way : )