does drilling a tank mess with its durability

[reefsane88]

i want to drill my tank ,but im worried that it will affect its over all condition ,
and on top of that it takes the warranty away .


it is gonna be my first reef tank ever (ive had sumps on my fowlr) but with overflow boxes never a drilled tank .i have carpet floors everywhere except the kitchen ,so im stuck between what if the sump overflows or if the tank brakes down the line from drilling it .

what should i do its a 40 breeder with a 40 breeder sump ,i know they are not tempered on the bottom if im not mistaken (correct me if i am its aga )also it will be taken to jays to be drilled and im gonna ask for help on the overflow box (if i do decide to drill it )

this is my first time actually setting up a reef tank (sps lps) dominated so i wanna doit right before i put the water in . ne ways thats why i joined brs ,so what should i do tia

 

[jt628]

for what it costs to have it drilled, you can buy a RR used one... Just my .02

 

[reefsane88]

i have the tanks already ,if not i would got the ones they drill then temper ,with the mega overflows

 

[s_kelley]

Doesnt cost that much to have it drilled, you can always see if someone nearby has the stuff to do it too.

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

When I do mine I will just be making a wooden jig and using my chordless drill. How much do places usually charge to drill? If it is cheaper than the bit itself I will just have someone else do it.

 

[reefsane88]

i think jays does 25 a hole , so it would be 50 bucks cus you need to holes right

 

[WoodRiverTroutBum]

Yea, at least 2 holes. 3 or more if you want double overflows but that is overkil or a 40 lol. I think home depot has 1" and possibly 3/4" glass hole saws for less than $30 so I will probably just do that. Or does the $25 include the bulkheads?

 

[reefsane88]

im not to sure thats why i was asking ,and i wouldnt mind just one overflow but im lossed as to were to even put it

 

[JohnK]

IIRC HD may have hole saws intended for tiles or other materials, but not ones intended for glass. Possible to use, yes, best to use, I'm not sure.

Naturally drilling will weaken a tank somewhat, but it can definately be done with a good degree of safety. More holes equals more compromise of strength. Holes too close to each other is a big risk. If you're looking to use a duroso/stockman drain, you only need one hole and in most cases you can go over the top with the return.

The drilling part is easy, the thing to be aware of/careful of is having unsupported or protected plumbing attached to a drilled tank. For example, if there is a 2' horizontal run of rigid PVC attached directly to a bulkhead, that PVC will have a lot of leverage against the glass if you bang into it, or even just transferring vibrations to the glass. I've never cracked a tank while drilling, but I have seen a couple break down the road due to this sort of thing.

Look at it this way, you can get a spare 40B for $40 at petco, and you can order a bit for under $20. Set it up thoughtfully, and you won't look back.

 

[reefsane88]

thank you john k

could you add alink or give me some kinda of info on the (different )drains and what you would go with for a 40 breeder
and what about the overflow placement . im all set on the sump and how to design it, but im unsure if lets say i want a strong return to match the vortech mp40(im gonna save for and get eventually)ill have on the other side to pruduce strong flow and turbulence, now the question is how to match that with whats draining threw a overflow box(is this when the thickness of the pvc pipe comes into play)

 

[jenreef]

kca does it $15 a hole. Im going there in alittle bit to get my 40b drilled twice one for flow to sump and one for return flow.

 

[JohnK]

The flow from the MP40 and the overflow box will have little to do with each other. The MP40 will stir the tank up, the overflow will turn a smaller amount of water over between the tank and the sump. The one way that they do relate to each other is that with strong in tank circ (MP40) you have less need for a high turn over through the sump. With that in mind, a single 1" bulkhead running a standard duroso or stockman style drain should be more than adequate (figure that can handle up to 600 gph).

As for other drain alternatives, you can consider "herbie", and "beananimal" style drains. These style drains can handle a lot more flow, are quieter (a well tuned duroso is quiet, a bean or herbie will be virtually silent), pass virtually no microbubbles into the sump, and are considered safer as they have 1 or 2 back up drains respectively.

-Duroso/stockman; operate on a partial siphion so they flow faster than a plain standpipe, and the "partial" part means that some air is allowed to vent in which (when tuned right) will keep the drain from flushing.
-Herbie; uses two holes. One is a full non-vented siphion that is then restricted with a gate valve so it doesn't suck itself dry and flush. The second hole is a dry back up so that if the siphion gets slowed or blocked, the back up can handle 100% of the flow. Herbie's typically need an occasional adjustment, maybe once every month or two.
-Beananimal; is exactly the same as a herbie, except that a third hole is used and that hole has a duroso on it, but the duroso only flows the slightest trickle. Bean works the same as a herbie, except that the added duroso compensates for that occasional adjustment that a herbie will need, AND (because of how the air vent is routed) the duroso will turn into a full siphion if the main and back up drains both become obstructed.

I'll go look for the RC links, bean is easy to find, herbie is usually buried so that might take a bit....

Edit;
Bean thread (or click on his user name and follow the link to his home page for the summary without the hundreds of fourm posts);
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1310585

Herbie (I had to resort to google to find this one ) ;
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=344892

 

[reefsane88]

kool thanks alot for the info bro and im in no rush, so if you cant find it its ok i will be doing alot of research on the bean and herbie style drains very much appreciated

 

[littlefish09]

where are you located because i have bits for 1" and 3/4" bulkheads in methuen

 

[reefsane88]

what im in lowell that would work great ,except i dont have a drill or any equipment to drill with

 

[jenreef]

Just got home from kca they did a great job at cuting the glass i was so scared. And it only costed me $30 for two holes.

 

[pallobi]

Just got home from kca they did a great job at cuting the glass i was so scared. And it only costed me $30 for two holes.

Roger does a great job, and he has drilled literally, thousands of holes over the years of various sizes

 

[reefsane88]

where is kca im not familiar

 

[JohnK]

where is kca im not familiar

Auburn mass