Step-by-Step: Drilling Holes in Your Glass Tank for Bulkheads

Oh, yeah I just drilled a Oceanic 37 last night and have an Oceanic 30 at work that looks like swiss cheese. That is some thick glass. Here's my suggestion. Set the tank outside, if you can't set it outside use the bath tub. If you don't have a bath tub... well... Use a friends. Put some bulkheads in it, cap them off and fill up the tank.

Here's my $0.02. This is 1/4" glass on a 30g tank. The amount of stress put on the glass by 1/32" scratch is not nearly as much as you would think. I have a 30g Oceanic Cube as well. I have put 2 - 1" holes for drains, 2 - 3/4" holes for Closed Loop Returns and a 1 1/2" hole for a CL drain. That is way more stress than the scratches you have. These tanks are built solid. I'm pretty sure you will be just fine with the scratches.
 
Cool, thanks for the advice. I am definitely going to do a freshwater test before I put the tank in my home full of saltwater and expensive livestock. I only have two holes on my 30 and when the overflow and return are installed it looks like it covers most of the real estate on the back wall. Yours must be quite a sight! I do love the Oceanic tanks though, it does look solid but you never know when it comes to glass. Congrats on the 37 gal-those are really hard to find as they don't make them anymore.
 
Make sure to post some pictures! Here's a couple of the 37 with the new holes. It took me 2 years to track this tank down. It is the last one out of the factory....

IMG_0836.jpg

IMG_0837.jpg


Now the waiting for the RO/DI unit to catch up begins....


Here's a link to my build thread...
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=13013903#post13013903
 
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Did this tonight without a problem. Slight chipping on the inside of the glass due to flex when it was almost through.

If/Next time I will block it with wood, other than that no problem. Cheapo e-bay glass hole bit and it worked great!

I also used a larger gasket for the water container and used some putty to form a watertight seal.
 
I plan on drilling and installing a 1.5" bulk head in the bottom of a 40 gallon tank. I am concerned about decresing integrity of the glass. The inside of the tank will have 2 18" square ceramic tiles covering the entire of the bottom of the tank. These will be siliconed so no water gets under them. I think this will releave some of the pressure on the bottom. I also plan on supporting the underside of the tank around the bulkhead. I'm not sure just yet with what. Any suggetions other than don't do it?
 
I've got 3-2" and 5-1" bulkheads on the bottom and no worries. Have the whole tank on a piece of high density foam (pink), would be more concerned about just trying to support the area around the bulkhead causing uneven stresses.

For drilling seen suggested stay the hole diameter away from the edges and other holes and that's how a tank building company made mine.
 
If you're worried about dropping something on the bottom of the tank, starboard, or even acrylic would be better ideas than the ceramic tile. As long as you use some reasonable guidelines like the previously mentioned spacing there shouldn't be any integrity issues. Triple check before you begin to drill whether the tank is tempered or not. Back to the ceramic idea, it will need to be notched around the bulkheads, I wasn't sure from you post what your intentions were... As for sealing it to the bottom, the previous owner of my tank siliconed acrylic to the bottom, it is not water tight and I assume that was his idea, so be forewarned...

Additionally I'd be very careful supporting the bottom as you intend, any undue upward pressure and you're likely to create problems you wouldn't have had otherwise. Finally most tank manufacturers recommend against using foam under there tanks.

Good Luck!
Tim
 
Thanks for your replies and suggestions. The purpose for the bulkhead is for a drain that will go into my sewer lines. I have turtles that require frequent water changes even with a filter system. That brings me to the reason for the ceramic tile. It will raise the bottom above the bulkhead so when I drain the tank it won't leave a layer of sludge on the bottom. (Maybe I shouldn't try to seal it?)

For support of the bottom I was thinking of putting ten blobs of silicone on a plastic sheet, four around the bulkhead and six at evenly placed points under the rest of the tank, and then I'll place the tank down on top of it. I'm hoping this will give some support and still be slightly flexible. Or should I just forget about adding extra support?
 
I have two "red ear sliders", about seven years old. They very healthy critters, never had any problems even though I've had them living in muck half the time. Anyway I'm trying to improve their living conditions now. With my luck the clean environment will probably kill them.
 
marc111
Sorry that Photobucket had disconnected my account for inactivity and all of the pictures were blank. I signed back in and they should all be back up now.
Hope this continues to help everyone out there in this wonderful hobby!
 
JustOneMoreTank,

I am glad I did a search on this before I posted an new thread, but I have a question for you. On the first page of this thread in your second set of pictures, did you drill the tank without doing the whole water adding step? Reason I am asking is because i want to add another hole to my glass sump but I don't want to break down the entire sump and turn it on the side if I don't have to. I have a 120G sump with LiveRock and sand in it currently. I can drain the one section with no problem where the whole will be drilled but just wanted to know if it is possible to do it with the tank still on the stand?
 
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