Personal advice for cutting holes into a tank

[Capslock]

I will be moving from my apartment to a house. Moving everything is a completely different topic.

short FYI: what I do plan on doing is having the display tank in the living room (actually I will be expanding the house so the tank can go in wall) and then having cut outs to the basement.
The benefit for me is to have all of the sump equipment down in the basement with the main purpose to reduce noise in the living room but also so I can have more room to play.

So now that you have the gist what I want to do is remove my overflow and replace it with, i guess, baffles? My tank can support having someone drill holes into it.

But I plan on doing this myself, along with building what will be necessary for the display.

So I am looking for personal experience and advice:
Has anyone accidentally cracked their tank by drilling holes themselves?
How likely is that to happen? Is it something where as long as I am careful and thorough I am OK or would it be highly likely for someone of novice skill to break a tank?

Are there specific bits that you have used and would recommend? Money is not an issue at this point.

EDIT: Does anyone have an in-wall tank? If so, is cleaning the sides of a tank more difficult? how do you cope?

 

[Anonymous]

I've drilled tanks successfully, and I've broken a few. my prefered method is drilling almost the whole way through, and then finishing with a dremmel.

Or just using a roto-zip with a new tile cutting blade. Lots of water and go slow, and it cuts like buttah.

Why not just plumb your overflows to the basement? putting in baffles will just eliminate the bubbles going into the overflow line. But by the time the water gets to te basement, you've incorporated air into it again. SO you'll have bubbles in the sump. Oh well.

Unless you're doing an external overflow, there's no need to drill your tank, IMO

B

 

[iseeweed]

Just make sure the glass is not tempered. In most cases, the bottom usually is and the sides are not.

 

[Capslock]

Bingo,

I thought about just using the overflow however, this tank is going to be in-wall eventually - actually I will be putting a different tank in but thats another story.

I'd like to remove the overflow entirely and instead have drilled holes. My main reason is to guarantee no possibility of a flood. While my overflow works nicely, one of the seams broke loose. I fixed it and its a none issue Now but if it happed again while I was away for a few days and the powere went out or something, eventually enough water from the display would go into the sump and flood.

And if I am putting a tank in wall I want to prevent any possibility of water damage.

Anyways, what height would you suggest the holes to be drilled at? I assume that the water level in the display tank would reflect where the holes are drilled?

 

[cindre2000]

So your replacing a hang on overflow with a drilled overflow?

Normally hole placement is not critical since you place an overflow box around it to determine water height.

 

[Anonymous]

if you're starting over, I'd do either an external overflow or just drill for a bulkhead up high on the back of the tank. Add street-ell and a short piece of pipe and you can change the water level in your tank. Plus you don't lose the space of the top-to-bottom overflow box.

the other thing would be to make a small overflow box that just covers the bulkhead and ell (if you're putting an external durso on it to quiet it down)

lemme find some pics.

 

[Anonymous]

external overflow (my old 20g)

small overflow box

Ell and bulkhead, top left

 

[Anonymous]

I've drilled more than a hundred holes in tanks. What I would do is buy a cheap ten gallon and drill that. If you can do that without breaking it you can drill anything. The thicker the glass the easier I find it to be. I was able to do the ten on the third try.

Go to home depot in the tool corral and buy the wood dowel drilling guide. It will allow you to make sure your drill stays straight up and down. Then just apply pressure to push the button down on the drill. Let the weight of the drill do all the work.

Other than the ten I have never broken anything else.

 

[Eboman]

I've drilled glass.

Get you some cheap Chinese diamond core bits off of e-bay.

If you have access to a drill press, that would be the best way to do it. Just go low and slow with lots of water.

I've done a bunch of holes "freehand". they're not as pretty, but they still work. I used plumbers putty to make a little swamp around the hole and filled it with water. You'll know when you're getting close because all of the water will drain out when you get to the other side.

The slower the better. Take your time. Heat is and stress is your enemy.

I've cracked a few 10 gallons practicing. The thicker, the better for drilling.

Just remember.....the slower the better.

You must use a diamond core bit. Nothing else will work on glass.

You can spend a bunch of coin on an expensive bit....but, like I mentioned earlier, unless you plan to drill a bunch of holes (like, dozens), get the cheap ones off of the internet.

Hope that helps,
Eboman

 

[scifi_3d_zoo]

There's a guy with fuge/sump d.i.y. videos on YouTube. Check them out. He uses the cheap diamond drill bits on Ebay, little plumber putty around your hole to make a moat for water. The water will help keep everything kool. So check out the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxnugJGiT3o

 

[mr_X]

if you are going to be getting a new tank, just go ahead and get the new, reef ready, tank. why go through aggravation of moving your livestock twice?

 

[trido]

EDIT: Does anyone have an in-wall tank? If so, is cleaning the sides of a tank more difficult? how do you cope?

I dont clean the sides because I'm not looking through them. The snails do a fine job of it IMO.



This, is by far, the best drilling advice yet.........

if you are going to be getting a new tank, just go ahead and get the new, reef ready, tank. why go through aggravation of moving your livestock twice?

And reframing the hole, and replumbing the drains, etc........