Need your input

[jnguyen4007]

Attached is a picture of my 30 gal tank. As you can see from the picture, behind is a 10 gal tank that I have. What I'm thinking of doing is drilling the back of the 30 gal tank and put in an overflow box and have the water flow to the 10 gal tank that will act as a sump filter. What do you think of this idea?

James

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/1/143243CIMG3627_3.JPG

 

[elegance coral]

The glass in a 30gl tank is very thin. I don't know if I would drill it. You could get a HOB overflow and this would work.

 

[Ricepicker]

drilling is fine if you know what ur doing... i'd more opt to make the 10g into a fuge.

put the 10g higher, drill it... and have the pipe return to the tank, pump water from the 30 up the ten with a powerhead like MJ1200 or something...

more benetficial iMO

 

[Randall_James]

Guys drill small tanks all the time without much trouble. Just make sure you research the technique a bit (keeping area wetted with a dam etc) There are a number of threads on how to do it

 

[elegance coral]

The drilling isn't the hard part. Its the odds of breaking the glass when moving hoses or pipes attached to it. Holes in thin glass leaves a very week spot. just my 2cents. Good luck.

 

[jnguyen4007]

I don't intend on drilling the glass myself. There is several glass shop within a couple of miles from my home that I can bring the tank to, pay them $20 and have them do it for me. I rather pay that then risk damaging the tank by doing it on my own.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9930038#post9930038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ricepicker
i'd more opt to make the 10g into a fuge.

put the 10g higher, drill it... and have the pipe return to the tank, pump water from the 30 up the ten with a powerhead like MJ1200 or something...

Ricepicker, did I read it right that you recommend putting the 10 gal up higher than the 30 gal tank and use a pump to pump water upward? I thought that normally people have the sump or a fuge below their main tank and have a pump in the sump or a fuge to pump the water back up to main tank.

As for having the 10 gal as a fuge. How would I go about setting it up as that? Sorry for the thousand question.

QUOTE]<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9930006#post9930006 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elegance coral
The glass in a 30gl tank is very thin. I don't know if I would drill it. You could get a HOB overflow and this would work. [/QUOTE]

Elegance coral, I thought of using an HOB overflow but I've heard of horror story where water overflow due to a power outage. If that happens at my house, being that the floor is carpeted and all, I be lucky if I get to sleep in the garage for the next few months.

 

[returnofsid]

Sump/refugiums that are above the display tank work just great as well. In fact, one benefit they have is that beneficial critters from the fuge don't have to go through an impeller to get to the display tank. It just works in reverse, you pump water UP to the sump and it gravity feeds back down to the display tank. Also makes for much less chance of a massive flood if something goes wrong.

 

[jnguyen4007]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9930909#post9930909 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by returnofsid
Sump/refugiums that are above the display tank work just great as well. In fact, one benefit they have is that beneficial critters from the fuge don't have to go through an impeller to get to the display tank. It just works in reverse, you pump water UP to the sump and it gravity feeds back down to the display tank. Also makes for much less chance of a massive flood if something goes wrong.

Huh, I never thought of it that way. Goes to show, there is so much to learn in this hobby. That actually makes sense. Thank you for the clarification.

James