Side Drilled or Bottom Drilled?

[Apocrathia]

I bought an older Oceania 125 a couple of months ago that's been sitting in my garage while I renovate my basement. I'm going to set it up back in a corner of the room basically covering 3 sides of the tank. I'm trying to figure out which way I should drill the tank. I've seen about 500 different answers on here and other forums on which way is better. Here's what I've gathered so far.

• Bottom
• Can sit flush against wall
• Takes up more space in tank
• Could be disastrous if leaks

• Side
• Less space in tank
• Won't completely drain tank if it leaks
• Can't sit tank against wall, and if you do, plumbing is inaccessible

I'd like to do a bean animal overflow, but since I have to custom build the overflow box and everything, I've got some flexibility of what I can do here.

 

[snorklr]

since nothing ever goes wrong in this hobby....i'd rather lose 10 gallons than 100 gallons if a hose falls off....dont know if you're drilling it yourself but my LFS refused to drill a used tank

 

[Apocrathia]

That's probably one of the best points I've seen. So, what happens if I need to do plumbing work and I can't get behind the tank? I guess that's what worries me the most about doing a side drilled overflow. The walls that the tank are going against are foundation walls of my basement.

 

[Kearnel]

Although mine isn't a drilled tank it has two overflow boxes on it both of which are hard plumbed using pvc pipe and it's against a wall. I can get at them but I can assure you that if in fact it ever did spring a leak it would no doubt happen when I was gone from my home for an extended period of time or would happen right in front of me but in such a ridiculous place that it no doubt would require a rental contortionist to fold up into the crack it's leaking from. Since your tank isn't up yet, take your time on the plumbing and try your best to get it right. Mines been trouble free since day one and hoping it stays that way until I finally get the finances and time to go all humongous on it when I move it to my wreck room in the basement. One thing I did do was give EVERTHING a back up path for water to go should a main line be clogged or whatever else but of course, that does nothing for the dreaded mystery leak.

 

[hogfanreefer]

I must be missing something? If a bottom drilled tank leaks from a bulkhead it's only going to empty the overflow box correct? It shouldn't drain the entire tank. I pull my standpipes and drain my overflow to inspect it and occasionally flush out a snail.

 

[Apocrathia]

I must be missing something? If a bottom drilled tank leaks from a bulkhead it's only going to empty the overflow box correct? It shouldn't drain the entire tank. I pull my standpipes and drain my overflow to inspect it and occasionally flush out a snail.

I think that the idea there is that sometimes the silicone on the overflow box may have leaks. Since I'm going to have to build my own overflow box, I'd have to test that about 500x before I actually start running the tank.

 

[Apocrathia]

Although mine isn't a drilled tank it has two overflow boxes on it both of which are hard plumbed using pvc pipe and it's against a wall. I can get at them but I can assure you that if in fact it ever did spring a leak it would no doubt happen when I was gone from my home for an extended period of time or would happen right in front of me but in such a ridiculous place that it no doubt would require a rental contortionist to fold up into the crack it's leaking from. Since your tank isn't up yet, take your time on the plumbing and try your best to get it right. Mines been trouble free since day one and hoping it stays that way until I finally get the finances and time to go all humongous on it when I move it to my wreck room in the basement. One thing I did do was give EVERTHING a back up path for water to go should a main line be clogged or whatever else but of course, that does nothing for the dreaded mystery leak.

Taking my time and getting it right is the goal. Since I have a really solid tank without any holes, it's like a blank canvas. I'd rather spend months ensuring I set everything up correctly than end up with a rush job that will cause problems later.

 

[whiteshark]

Do you know if any of the panes of glass are tempered? That would be my very first thought. If the bottom is tempered you can't drill it.

I prefer drilling the side/back, but if you can't fit the plumbing or need easy access then go with the bottom (if it's not tempered). This is really your choice to make based on your unique situation.

 

[hogfanreefer]

I think that the idea there is that sometimes the silicone on the overflow box may have leaks. Since I'm going to have to build my own overflow box, I'd have to test that about 500x before I actually start running the tank.

Gotcha. Yep, I set my tank up in my shop and tested it for 3 days before moving it in the house.

 

[Apocrathia]

I'll probably just let it sit for a week and run for a week before I even add salt. Because I'm working with a 125 gallon display tank and a 55 gallon sump, I'm definitely going to ensure that everything gets set up properly first. Luckily, it's in a walk-out basement with concrete floors, so if all hell goes wrong, it will only ruin a couple of rugs.

 

[reepher315]

Im happy with my bottom drilled tank. I wish I would have drilled an emergency drain after I got it but my pvc is large enough where 3 snails could getin and it wouldnt clog.
And honestly something catastrophic would have to happen to cause the whole tank to drain. Bottom glass cracking, unsecure bulkheads.... I cant even think of anything else... Its all up to you though. Thats why I like this hobby.

 

[asudavew]

Side or back. I just bought a used 90 gallon bowfront that was reef ready. I removed the overflow, plugged the bottom holes, and drilled 3 on the back for a 3 foot long overflow. BeanAnimal setups are quiet, safe, and effective. Did I mention they are quiet?

 

[reepher315]

Side or back. I just bought a used 90 gallon bowfront that was reef ready. I removed the overflow, plugged the bottom holes, and drilled 3 on the back for a 3 foot long overflow. BeanAnimal setups are quiet, safe, and effective. Did I mention they are quiet?

What did you use to plug the bottom holes? Given the corner overflow I have only holds about 3 or 4 gallons when full I could probably do that in the future.

 

[ca1ore]

Loss of in-tank real estate carries the day for me, so side drilled with low profile weir and external box. If you are going to drill the bottom, make sure that the internal overflow box does not leak otherwise you run the risk of draining down the entire tank - not a good thing!

 

[ca1ore]

What did you use to plug the bottom holes? Given the corner overflow I have only holds about 3 or 4 gallons when full I could probably do that in the future.

You can patch them with small pieces of glass - I've done his many times. Though only do this if you figure to never need to remove the patch. Otherwise just use a plugged bulkhead.

 

[reepher315]

Thats good to know.

 

[asudavew]

What did you use to plug the bottom holes? Given the corner overflow I have only holds about 3 or 4 gallons when full I could probably do that in the future.

I used plugged bulkheads.

 

[Apocrathia]

I'll probably end up going with a bottom drilled tank. The only issue there is going to be getting the overflow boxes. I think I'm going to buy the acrylic sheets and bend them to the right shape in my oven. Not a hard process. I'll probably do a 4 hole setup in 2 overflow boxes. 2*1" for full and partial siphon, 2* 3/4" for return and emergency drain. It'll allow me to do 2 full bean animal setups. It's a 125 tank, so I figure 2 good 1' wide overflows will do the trick.

Thank you guys so much for your input. While I agree with a lot of you on the real estate and less disastrous scenarios of the side drilled. The fact that this is going to be an installation tank, against a solid brick wall, makes bottom drilling a much more accessible option. I'm definitely doing a bean animal overflow, though!