Should I drill my tank

R

reefraj

Member
I was all ready to purchase my overflow from ocean proaquatics and had decided not to drill my tank.
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Now after a lot of reading and from my thread on the overflows, it occured to me that If I have a 30 G sump and a 75 gallon tank, It can cause flooding in the event the siphon gets air. Since the pump will keep pumping till the sump dries up ?
Am I right ?

Is there any way to prevent this ? Or Do I HAVE to drill a hole on the side ?
 
I think Melev has plans for an overflow box that doesn't loose suction. I was in the exact same situation you're in; I ended up drilling two holes in the back of the tank.

Without the plumbing and tubes going up and over the tank I ended up with two clean bulkheads. I figure if I had to DIY something I may as well drill some holes rather than mess with bending, cutting and gluing acrylic. The hole drilling is a piece of cake by the way, just make sure your sides arn't tempered :D
 
i was in the same boat your are in about 6 months ago i had 3 holes drilled and now i am happy i did it was a pain to move the tank but it was worth it
good luck
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9429261#post9429261 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by I am a giraffe
I think Melev has plans for an overflow box that doesn't loose suction. I was in the exact same situation you're in; I ended up drilling two holes in the back of the tank.

Without the plumbing and tubes going up and over the tank I ended up with two clean bulkheads. I figure if I had to DIY something I may as well drill some holes rather than mess with bending, cutting and gluing acrylic. The hole drilling is a piece of cake by the way, just make sure your sides arn't tempered :D
Click to expand...

Did you drill yourself ? How did you do it ? Dont u need a diamond or so ? and a some sort of driller for that ?
 
The local glass shop wanted 25 bucks a hole with no guarantee for sucess, so I just did it myself.

Go on eBay and find a seller named *lau; he sells the hole saw that everyone seems to be using. Mine was about ten dollars shipped. Attach the saw to a normal hand drill, make a resevoir out of a paper cup and tape it around the part of the tank where you want to drill, pour a little water in it and get to work.

People are reporting holes in 5-10 minutes or something, but it took me about 18-20 minutes. Not hard work, just be patient.

There's a thread in the DIY section with specifics. I'd recommend reading at least the first couple of pages; the instructions I gave are just to give you an idea of how easy it is, look at the thread for pictures and more detailed descriptions.
 
Im using a CPR CS102 hang on back overflow and its great. Doesnt lose siphon, (i have the nipple connected to powerhead to remain any air that may get trapped). Dont do what i did and fill the fuge full before running the pump.

also i added a check valve so that water cannot re-enter the tank from return line.
 
my lfs did guarantee they would not crack and if they did they would replace it and at 10 bucks a hole it was worth it for me to have them do it
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9429773#post9429773 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mfh_anderson
Im using a CPR CS102 hang on back overflow and its great. Doesnt lose siphon, (i have the nipple connected to powerhead to remain any air that may get trapped). Dont do what i did and fill the fuge full before running the pump.

also i added a check valve so that water cannot re-enter the tank from return line.
Click to expand...

So say u have a Ball valve for the overflow to sump. So if the water level rises in an event of power failure, and return pump stops, the overflow will stop too.

But when the power comes back on, for some reason if the siphon doesnt work, the return pump will pump all the water back to the tank and will flood over the tank ?? right ? How would you prevent that ?

I assumed if we drill the tank, once the water level in the tank rises, it has to flow down so will prevent flooding ??
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9430025#post9430025 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefraj
So say u have a Ball valve for the overflow to sump. So if the water level rises in an event of power failure, and return pump stops, the overflow will stop too.

But when the power comes back on, for some reason if the siphon doesnt work, the return pump will pump all the water back to the tank and will flood over the tank ?? right ? How would you prevent that ?

I assumed if we drill the tank, once the water level in the tank rises, it has to flow down so will prevent flooding ??
Click to expand...

its a check valve, (it allows water to flow just one way). so in a power failure water cannot flow back, filling the refuge back up. the overflow will drain very little, (mine has a powerhead hooked to it, to resiphon if needed, so when the power comes back on, the powerhead will resiphon. plus if you have your water levels right, the pump can run but will run outta water to pump into the tank until the overflow starts.

hope this helps, pm me back if you have more questions, i love mine and didnt risk cracking my tank.
 
Drill it, I drilled 6 holes with the tank verticle. No resiviors, just keep a slow steady flow of water running to cool the bit. Go slowly, 2-3 minutes per hole.
 
maybe they tried bad brands or models, i have no regrets about mine, they are expensive brand new, close to $200, but got mine on ebay for $65.
 
Let's put it this way. If you use the siphon overflow you will always be thinking, I hope it retains the siphon, at night, during a power failure, when your not home, in your dreams.... If you drill, well, you'll sleep like a baby and be able to leave your home without the thought of "What if that darn siphon breaks". Oops too late, it broke!
 
Very well said, bbehring. I guess I will have to drill then.

Do you all think a 1 inch drain pipe size enough ? I guess it will give about 450 GPH. I have a Euro rs 80 which needs about 350 GPH with 75 G tank and planning a 30-40G sump
 
If you're going to drill plan out what you want now. Closed loop? more flow through the sump later? And get you're bulkheads first... they are not all the sme OD. I cut 4 holes for 1" bulkheads in my 75 with a dremel... slow going but it cost me all of $9 and about 2 hours of my life.
 
My closed loop has 2x 1" out and 4x 3/4" returns. My overflow into the sump is 1 1/4" and the return is 3/4". All has worked fine for me. Since you are 75 gal. I'd look for 2" out and 1" return for the sump. Closed loop could be 1" out and 3/4" in.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9438319#post9438319 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bbehring
My closed loop has 2x 1" out and 4x 3/4" returns. My overflow into the sump is 1 1/4" and the return is 3/4". All has worked fine for me. Since you are 75 gal. I'd look for 2" out and 1" return for the sump. Closed loop could be 1" out and 3/4" in.
Click to expand...

A 2 " drain will give >1000 GPH right ? Do I need that much of a flow through the sump ? And I will then need a more powerful return pump ? I am only planning for 2 powerheads at this time. No closed loops.
 
You want about 3x - 5x turn over in the sump. Probably about 600 - 800 gph. Depends on what size your sump is to deremine your needs.
 
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