Where to drill holes in my 180 for closed loop?

[MarineGirl411]

Here are some pictures of the tank I will be getting. I will be drilling for a closed loop. I wanted to know where would be the best spots to drill for a closed loop in this tank to prevent dead spots? I will be using a dart and two 3/4in sea swirls in conjunction with drilling. Please advise on the best placement for holes and sea swirls. Thank you so much. =)

 

[OkR33Fer]

You can't decided on the "best spots" till you have your aquascaping done or at least laid out. How and where you stack/build your LR will determine how your flow needs to be to provide sufficient flow and keep as much detrius as possible suspended in the water column.

 

[MarineGirl411]

I plan on Aquascaping very similar to this. I'd like to try and cover the over flows as much as possible. I'd like to create two pillar type structures and then possibly an arch in the middle. I want to have quite a bit of free open space for the fish to swim.

 

[Piranha_Owns]

drill them on the bottom so you can hide them with your LR

 

[MarineGirl411]

bottom is tempered.

 

[MarineGirl411]

anyone?

 

[OkR33Fer]

I drilled mind low across the back, this will allow me to pipe the outlets where I want them on the bottom and use my sandbed to hide the piping and the rock work to hide the actual outlets.

 

[ROBLOW]

have you ever thought about drilling the sides for returns? having the flow going across the tank rather than front to back? Drains could be on the back and returns would be on the side i think this would be a good idea imo....

 

[OkR33Fer]

In most cases the ends are viewable and that would make having plumbing on one or both ends pretty unsightly. That's why we normally choose to drill the bottom or back, all of the plumbing can be hidden from view.

 

[MarineGirl411]

I have been trying to decide if I should drill the hole for the intake of the pump on the side of the overflow on the back wall, but in the glass. Lets say right side. Or if I should drill it in the middle? I just want to be able to access my pump. I know some put the pump underneath their tank, but that will loose some flow if I do that. Also was thinking of putting my two sea swirls on the back corner of the tank if the AGA overflow boxes do not impede with the flow at all. Then possibly 3 or 4 holes closer to the sand bed on the bottom of the tank. OKR, are you afraid at all? I am a little afraid that this tank might break with all the holes I want to drill. It would be about 4 or 5.

 

[MarineGirl411]

here is kind of what i mean. The pink is the sea swirls at the top. The yellow are the holes. Let me know what you think.

 

[OkR33Fer]

There is a formula to calculate how much strength you lose when you drill holes in the glass. Even with all my holes I was at a pretty small percentage. There are a few ways to help keep the strenght up, like not drilling all the holes close or in a straight line as this could cause a crack to form later under pressure.

In all there are 15 holes drilled into my 300g tank, 13 on the back panel and 2 in the bottom.

The 5 holes along the bottom were offset only by 1/4" each but I kept 16" between each one of I recall correctly. Even my 2 supply holes are offset from each other.