Need help for drilling a 75 gal tank.

[ctxmonitor]

Hi I got a 75 gallon tank and I need to drill two holes for my 1 inch pvc hole for overflow.. I don't have anything except the tank.. What do I need?

 

[Mantis806]

you need a diamond tipped hole saw and a drill. you also need something to hold water around the location you are drilling (ie. putty or something)if you don't hold the water around the drill bit, you have to keep pouring water on it so the bit and glass doesn't get too hot. if it does, the glass might crack. make sure the glass you are drilling on is not tempered. usually a diamond tipped hole saw is like $30-$40. i've seen people on RC use the dremel bits, but only on smaller glass. the thickness of a 75 would take forever with a dremel bit. you can also take it to the fish store. i got mine drilled at some fish store on 8th ave in brooklyn. forgot what it's called though. he charges like $25 per hole, but you have to bargain with him. hth.

anthony

 

[FRY]

tony at Aquatic Creations drills tanks does a nice job with his drill press

frank

 

[FRY]

you need diamond tipped hole saw and a drill, plumbers putty make a dam around drill bit fill with antifreeze take plastic bag tape inside of tank under where you drilling hole this way antifreeze and glass will fall into bag ,

frank

 

[DallasNYC]

I have the diamond bit and a little jig I made to guide the bit and hold the glycol/water. You are welcome to borrow them. It makes a 1-3/4" hole which is the size for a 1" bulkhead. You need a drill and small clamps to hold the jig.

 

[pmui]

dallas,

have you tried to drill a 90 gal. yet? Think it might be tempered.

Peter

 

[Sean]

Most tanks larger than 40 gallons have tempered glass bottoms.


you can't drill tempered glass cause it will shatter so if your tank has a tempered bottom just simply drill the side of the tank.

FRY gave some good advice with the antifreeze and bit but you dont want to be doing it with a regular drill you should realy have a drill press or some way to keep it steady.

Or just bring it into Aquatic Creations and have it drilled for $25

 

[pmui]

any ideas if the back of a 90gal is tempered?

 

[marrone]

Sean

Do you still have the Aust H. Tusk that you have on your site. Also what size is it.

Michael

 

[Neo_TA]

ALL-GLASS

I'd be real carefull with a 75 it might be look at the link above. Check the brand.
I drilled my 90 by All-glass using the information from the link below with a rotozip and a carbide tile bit with lots of water worked out great. That was 2.5 years ago and the tank itself is 7-8 years old. I suppose things have changed since then. Or I just got very lucky.

Click 'LARGE' on the page and only the 75e makes mention of it.
ALL-Glass

Don

[ February 16, 2005, 12:56 PM: Message edited by: Neo_TA ]

 

[Neo_TA]

And no it didn't take forever. More than 5 minutes but less than 10.

 

[DallasNYC]

I've only drilled the back of tanks, 75, 50 and 30 gallons. I'm pretty sure it's only the bottom that is tempered. BUt always a good ideal to double check with the manufacturer before going ahead with it.

 

[FRY]

just read this from AGA on large tanks (Heavy duty annealed glass construction is used so any panel can be drilled for use with nearly any filter set-up. )i whould check with manuf. first ,second bring it to Aquatic Creations you cant go wrong this way and its safe,

frank

 

[ctxmonitor]

Originally posted by DallasNYC:
I have the diamond bit and a little jig I made to guide the bit and hold the glycol/water. You are welcome to borrow them. It makes a 1-3/4" hole which is the size for a 1" bulkhead. You need a drill and small clamps to hold the jig.

That'll be great Dallas, really appreicate it.. But as many of you guys already brought up that my all-glass bottom might be tempered glass, I think i am gonna drill the hole on the side. As I know that someone had drilled two hole before I got the tank.

Do you think I need two hole or one hole? I am debating if I need more than one hole.

And also should I drill on the top or lower bottom for the drainage? What's the benefits of putting a long overflow box(bottom to the top) as compare to a short overflow box(top to like 8" down) on the tank?

 

[4angel]

Dallas we drilled my old 90 remember. It wasnt an ALL GLASS though.

 

[ctxmonitor]

When I meant all-glass, I didn't refer to it as a brand.. I thought that all-glass meant that all four side of the aquarium was made with glass..

 

[DallasNYC]

Hey Angel, yeah I was thinking it was a 75. So yes I have drilled a 90.

The amount of holes you have would be based on how much water you are returning to the tank from your sump. When I was using a Mag 5 pump for the return, a 1" bulkhead could keep up. But I worried too much that the one hole might get clogged up or something, so I went with two holes as a safety factor.

I don't know if there is an advantage to a deep or shallow overflowbox. I think the deep boxes are that way because they have the holes in the bottom of the tank. I actaully don't use an overflow box, I have those little strainers that sit on the elbows from the bulkhead.

Dallas

 

[DallasNYC]

CTX, their refinshing the floors in my apartment this weekend, so I won't have access to the computer. I sent you an email with my number in case you wanted the drill bit.

Dallas

 

[bad coffee]

I went with an external overflow so I wouldn't lose the tank space. I only have a 20 gallon. However, I do like the tanks with just a small skimmer box over the bulkhead, rather than a whole overflow from top to bottom. However, you can get a whole durso/stockman inside the larger overflow box.

BC

 

[ctxmonitor]

oh, that's good hearing that not everyone have a overflow box inside their tank. I don't like the overflow box as it take space and I need to manually go build one. Which require glass, black arcylic topping.

Do you think I need more hole in the back of my tank? I have two 1 1/2 hole on each side of the back glass tank.