where to drill holes?
- Thread starter TRe
- Start date
i would put them a few inches down on both sides, you don't want them to far down even with the overflow boxes b/c if the power goes out the water will fill up the overflows and continue down to your sump, unless you have a big sump.. just make sure that it will hold all the water that drains down if the power does go out.. what i did was put a gate valve on each overflow so i can just shut it off when im doing a wc or when i put in live brine so it dont get sucked into the sump.. just my 2 cents
I don't know, I would put the holes at the bottom of the tank as most over flows are cuz once you setup the durso stand pipe there is very minimal down flow. In my case I have 2 holes on the bottom of the left corner and when the pump is switched off I get only about 1 gallon of water from the main tank. Which I think is very efficient. This will remove the hassle of switching off the gate valves every time you switch of the return pump. My 2 cents too.
TRe, I think maybe you should check around at some of your local glass shops and get 1/4" glass instead of the single pane stuff you'll get at HD, it'll be a ton stronger, I know, theres no real water pressure on it but if a peice of LR ever falls over onto it you be glad you had 1/4" glass, the cost shouldnt be a lot different either, it might cost a little more but not by much....as far as placement of your holes I'd put them as close to the bottom as possible, like in a RR tank...such as Panther suggested... since it sounds like your drilling in the back, the general rule of thumb is at least 1&1/2 times the size of the hole from the edges of the tank to the edge of the hole...
HTH
BM
HTH
BM
No. If you use an OF box with a side hole, it will be near the top. You would almost need to build your OFbox first and use that for getting your measurements. You would also want the hole higher up for there is less pressure at the top of a side than at the bottom of a side.
Will you be drilling the tank yourself? If you are... I would suggest against it. I have tried drilling glass, tempered and regular, and it is really not fun.
Tempered is a whole different animal and I would highly suggest having a professional do it, if they would even do it.
If you do drill yourself... take your time and if you are succesful, use a dremel and sand all the edges down to remove the micro fractures that occur from drilling.
I would suggest building your OF box out of acrylic as it is much easier to work with and like someone mentioned earlier it won't break if rockwork falls onto it for whatever reason.
Someone also mentioned about when power goes out and extra water flowing down into sump.... all drilled tanks will do that... that's why you fill the upper tank and let extra flow to the bottom till the sump is filled as far as you want it at maximum... then when the pump turns on the water level in the sump goes down... mark a line on sump for the water level when pump is on and when off... makes it much easier to do water topoff while system is running.
To keep things more simple... I would suggest a WEIR overflow. I have had mine running for quite a while now and even had the power going out the other day and it restarted no problem *thumbsups
I also simulated power outtages over n over and it restarted everytime. The downfall is that it does build up some airbubbles but about once every 2-3 weeks I suck the air out, NBD
Will you be drilling the tank yourself? If you are... I would suggest against it. I have tried drilling glass, tempered and regular, and it is really not fun.
Tempered is a whole different animal and I would highly suggest having a professional do it, if they would even do it.
If you do drill yourself... take your time and if you are succesful, use a dremel and sand all the edges down to remove the micro fractures that occur from drilling.
I would suggest building your OF box out of acrylic as it is much easier to work with and like someone mentioned earlier it won't break if rockwork falls onto it for whatever reason.
Someone also mentioned about when power goes out and extra water flowing down into sump.... all drilled tanks will do that... that's why you fill the upper tank and let extra flow to the bottom till the sump is filled as far as you want it at maximum... then when the pump turns on the water level in the sump goes down... mark a line on sump for the water level when pump is on and when off... makes it much easier to do water topoff while system is running.
To keep things more simple... I would suggest a WEIR overflow. I have had mine running for quite a while now and even had the power going out the other day and it restarted no problem *thumbsups
I also simulated power outtages over n over and it restarted everytime. The downfall is that it does build up some airbubbles but about once every 2-3 weeks I suck the air out, NBD
i have a weir box atm on my 55g and theres nothing i hate more than sucking on that tube every few weeks 
... plus the fact im moving on friday so i already have the tank empty i see this as the percfect opportunity and btw i will not be drilling it myself im actually bringing it to a local glass shop.. i know theres still no gaurentees that it wont shatter but i figure paying a pro $20 a hole will be well worth it....
why? i would think itd be the other way around
now im more confused than ever *crazysmil
... plus the fact im moving on friday so i already have the tank empty i see this as the percfect opportunity and btw i will not be drilling it myself im actually bringing it to a local glass shop.. i know theres still no gaurentees that it wont shatter but i figure paying a pro $20 a hole will be well worth it.... why? i would think itd be the other way around
now im more confused than ever *crazysmil
OK sorry havent cheked in since Friday...are you planning on doing external or internal overflows? that will make the difference on your hole placement. Next, are you doing 1 or 2 overfllows? Need to know that before helping you with what size to make it/them, as well as the internal external thing....I just finished building a 40 cube this weekend with external overflow, I'll take a pic of it on Monday and post it on here so you can see how I do my external overflows....the other thing is, you might want to check with the manufacturer of your 55 gal tank before going to this much trouble, cause pretty much all of them are tempered glass which means no drilling or cutting anyway, and most glass shops dont cover breakage on stuff you bring to them.
OK, do you plan on using the mega flow style overflows ( type that go from surface of water to bottom of tank) or do you just want the weir style ( glass box thats only just below surface)? if you want the mega flow style drill at the bottom, and build your boxes (I suggest 2 of them, 1 on each side of the tank) about 10"W x 5"D and however tall it takes to make them about even with the bottom of the black trim at the top (on the outside). for the weir style (also try googling calfo overflows to get ideas...some are internal some are external) build your boxes first, about 10"Wx 5"Dx5"T , then line them up where you want them on the tank, making sure that they line up with the bottom of the black trim on the top of the tank and mark where you want your holes for your bulk heads. Remember to leave enough room for the edging on the bulk head to fit inside you overflow.
HTH
BM
HTH
BM
Oh do I ever feel cheap now. I went with effectively an internal overflow, drilled nearthe top of the tank. I cannot see the point of drilling the bottom of the tank, but i'm sure there is one, so if anyone knows, please tell.
Anyone I had two holes drilled to each take 1 inch tubing. Rather than a proper overlow I use angled 90degree bends - there are pictures of this Delbeek and Sprung 3. I have plastic crosses over these to preven critturs going down, but my puffer has killed almost all my snails and crabs so apart from a dopey fish there isn't much to really go down.
The only point to bear in mind is that there will be required some head of water to push enough flow rate down these overflows, so when my pump is on, I actually have about a 1/2 of water above them. So take account for that.
Anyone I had two holes drilled to each take 1 inch tubing. Rather than a proper overlow I use angled 90degree bends - there are pictures of this Delbeek and Sprung 3. I have plastic crosses over these to preven critturs going down, but my puffer has killed almost all my snails and crabs so apart from a dopey fish there isn't much to really go down.
The only point to bear in mind is that there will be required some head of water to push enough flow rate down these overflows, so when my pump is on, I actually have about a 1/2 of water above them. So take account for that.