Overflows vs. Drilled Glass Pane

[dz6t]

Tough to decide. I was ready to go all in on the bean animal style last night until I saw dz6t's comment about the possibility of structural failure. I had obviously thought about cracks/damage during the drilling process itself, but hadn't thought much about cracks forming later on once the tank is filled... If done well/appropriately and there's no appreciable issue after the drilling itself is complete, how much do you guys worry about structural failure later on with tanks that you've drilled, especially a 125 gallon?

Sorry that I did not make it clear.
I don't think a 125 will be a problem, I was talking about 150+ gallon tank. Also I am not referring to crack during the drilling process either. I meant cracks developed over time due to pressure on non-tempered glass. Especially if a wave maker is used.

 

[josho923]

Alright, thanks a lot for all of the advice. I'm going to go for it and do the bean animal overflow. If I went with the in-tank huge plastic overflows I'm sure within a couple of months I'd be kicking myself for not doing the drilling myself. If I was able to get the new tank to somebody's place (unless you'd rather come my way), is there anybody that'd be willing to help me out? I'd be happy to pay a little for the help from somebody with a lot of experience drilling and I have a lot of really nice freshwater fish/plants, etc. I could donate to the cause if any of you guys dabble with tropical fish as well.

 

[choff]

Where do you live Josh?

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[cilyjr]

If you are near I would not mind helping. Don't need any money all I would ask is you buy the hole saw as mine are getting older and they do wear out.

 

[josho923]

choff: I live in Worcester, MA. Are you anywhere near there?

cilyjr: thanks for offering to help. Around how much does a hole saw cost? Looks like you are in Warwick; I'm actually from Cumberland and I commute to Providence for work.

 

[choff]

I'm up in Westford and I work in Wakefield . With 3 kids in sports time is tough. If all else fails we can do a video link. hopefully someone closer can hook you up.

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[cilyjr]

The good ones are 30 to 40 bucks the cheap ones are 10 or so but ya can only get a couple holes out of them before they are junk. I would get the better one personally.

 

[ReefKeeper1699]

I would presume that because I have elbows and a few short lengths added to my 2 drains bringing them halfway above the surface if the water that even though I am direct extracting in my 29gal sump/fuge below, that the surface is getting skimmed as well. Any little discolor or particles I get on the surface it gets sucked right down the drain.

That and with a powerhead at the surface agitating it and a wavemaker, whatever could be surface skimmed is already getting mixed into the water column anyways.

 

[choff]

Just finished plumbing my bean animal. Tomorrow night I will T off the DT main drain and get this puppy online.



This FT feeds my sump. Still have some cleanup to do.

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[mikelaubach]

I did a BEAN on my 65G tank when I built it. Also drilled a 4th hole for water return (with a vacuum break to prevent back siphon during a power outage). I have a 3/4 coast to coast. Space on the right for my return, and space on the left for an optional powerhead. It is dead silent, though I do have issues after a power failure with getting the siphon to restart, and usually have to mess with it to purge the air. Thankfully that rarely happens, so I haven't taken the effort to resolve it.

I'm just up the road in Hudson. My tank is still in CT though, for now. :-(

--MIKE--

 

[cilyjr]

I wonder why it has trouble restarting

 

[JohnK]

angled or horizontal runs can cause restarting issues.

 

[cilyjr]

Hmm I have horiz runs in mine and have no trouble. I also wonder if once one gets below a Serbian amount of flow if it contributes. And is it still silent even if the siphon hasn't kicked in because of a low water volume in the pipe.

 

[JohnK]

I think is has to do with volume vs flow rate. Devil in the details sort of thing.

 

[choff]

I'm hoping I don't have the same issue. I turn my return pump off when I feed. Then again, my FT is in the basement and I don't care about noise. I kinda did this for kicks.

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[josho923]

Will be picking up the tank this Friday ::

 

[cilyjr]

So Worcester is a bit far. If you are in the providence area you are welcomed to come by one evening after work and I will show you what I do to drill a tank.

 

[josho923]

cilyjr: thanks, that sounds great. I drive all over the place so Warwick shouldn't be a problem to get to. If I brought my tank to your place along with a new hole saw to use, would help me with the drilling on my own tank? That way I'll have help with my first crack at it (pun intended) and then be good to go with future tanks and with helping other people to do the same.

mikelaubach: sounds like you're relatively close in Hudson, would you be willing to help me drill if cilyjr doesn't take me up on the offer? I'd obviously be happy to bring my tank your way or you could come mine, whichever is better for you.

Question for everybody: I saw the previous post about ReefSavvy's shadow boxes or whatever, but they only offer 24" and 36" setups and have already reached their order quota per the website, anyway. I haven't bought any of the necessary materials yet for drilling, construction of the internal overflow, or the plumbing, etc. Any advice on a specific hole saw to buy, on where to get the supplies for the overflow/how to best contruct or somebody to construct and sell one to me, and a checklist for the materials for the three drains/plumbing, etc.? I have read BeanAnimals's articles and his labeled diagram of the pieces of his drain assembly, but don't have a good feel on how to set up, and the finer points of the assembly such as check valves, etc. I'm a fast learner and have done a ton of nice freshwater tanks, but have never touched saltwater or sumps, etc.

You guys are awesome, thanks for all of the help! I look forward to learning a ton so I can help other people down the road...

 

[josho923]

Everybody talks about the Gl*****les.com kits and they seem to be good. What do they come with and are they quality? Thanks

 

[choff]

I bought my hole saw and bulkheads on bulk reef supply. They have a grid showing what hole saw with what bullhead. Then I used bean animals parts list post and placed an order online with flexpvc.com. I used them because they were the only place that had the 1-1/4 to 1" reducing elbows. That said I don't think it's necessary to use them at all. In hindsight I would do it totally different than how I did it. I would do it more like the video I posted above.

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