I am still up in the air about this and I dont know which way I want to go. I have my 38 gallon in the living room, not drilled and no sump. I want to add a sump (the solution to pollution is dilution) but I dont know if I want to go with a HOB overflow or just buy another 38 gallon and drill it myself, as I have the correct size glass bit to do it. I am just un-easy about having to relocate all my water/livestock to a temp container then put everything back into the new display tank...Does anyone have any suggestions on what order to do things.
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Drill the tank or just use a HOB overflow?
- Thread starter Embowe
- Start date
Embowe
I have a HOB overflow and it works well. The only draw back for me, imo, is that it takes up room, can't put the tank closer to the wall. Other than that it's ok. If you would prefer to have a drilled tank, then it would mean buying another than just to hold the fish/coral. I don't know if you would have to dump everything out your tank to drill it. You may be able to drill it with water still in it. The problem I guess would be the glass that falls back into the tank. Maybe you could siphon it out as it probably will fall in the same general area. I say go for it, the extra tank can be your back up tank just in case something goes wrong. Just remember to go slow and keep the area wet. If you successfully drill the tank you can sell the other one to recoup some money, or use it as your sump. I saw a link on RC on how to drill a tank, let me find it, I'll post it later.
Edwin
I have a HOB overflow and it works well. The only draw back for me, imo, is that it takes up room, can't put the tank closer to the wall. Other than that it's ok. If you would prefer to have a drilled tank, then it would mean buying another than just to hold the fish/coral. I don't know if you would have to dump everything out your tank to drill it. You may be able to drill it with water still in it. The problem I guess would be the glass that falls back into the tank. Maybe you could siphon it out as it probably will fall in the same general area. I say go for it, the extra tank can be your back up tank just in case something goes wrong. Just remember to go slow and keep the area wet. If you successfully drill the tank you can sell the other one to recoup some money, or use it as your sump. I saw a link on RC on how to drill a tank, let me find it, I'll post it later.
Edwin
here's the link,
from what I just read, it can be done. If you feel uncomfortable about it, remove everything.
How to drill with the tank already setup:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=637391&highlight=drill+glass+dremel
How to drill a empty tank:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=603816&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
edwin
from what I just read, it can be done. If you feel uncomfortable about it, remove everything.
How to drill with the tank already setup:
http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=637391&highlight=drill+glass+dremel
How to drill a empty tank:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=603816&perpage=25&pagenumber=1
edwin
Oh and please remember, water and electricity do not mix, PLEASE USE CAUTION when and if you do this.
revclyburn
revclyburn
I use a DIY HOB overflow that works great. You can check the plans on www.melevsreef.com.
This may sound like the statement of the obvious, but better safe than sorry... If you drill the tank in the center, you need to make sure that you're using stand pipes to reach up to the top line of the tank so that your water level is near the top where it belongs.
Phyl just pointed out something very important. If you drill in the middle (anywhere but the top) you have to know the sump will flood and drain the tank if you don't artificially raise the water level with the stand pipes. Basically where ever the hole or stand pipe is will be the water level in the tank when the power is off!
Now on the other hand if you weren't talking about an overflow/sump type setup but were instead talking about building a closed loop system then you can drill the holes anywhere on the tank where you plan on putting a nozzle/return jet. In this case there is no worries because all the water is enclosed in the pipes and pump and there is no place for the water to go.
Hope that makes sense.
Carlo
Now on the other hand if you weren't talking about an overflow/sump type setup but were instead talking about building a closed loop system then you can drill the holes anywhere on the tank where you plan on putting a nozzle/return jet. In this case there is no worries because all the water is enclosed in the pipes and pump and there is no place for the water to go.
Hope that makes sense.
Carlo
I finally got around to takin pics of the holes that I drilled for the drain/return...the center two will be for the drain and the outer two will be for the returns...as soon as my internal overflow I orded from ILC comes in I can silicone that into place and start setting everything up and transferring my old tank into this one....
Looks great. Like TNT said, you're really going to like it.
Just a bit of a heads up, though, it's going to take a bit of tweaking to quiet it down. Just about everyone I know says the same thing when they first fire up their drilled tanks "Wow, OK, is it supposed to make that much noise?" Let us know if it's making a slurping/gurgling/flushing noise. There are a few tricks that may make it a little more tolerable.
Just a bit of a heads up, though, it's going to take a bit of tweaking to quiet it down. Just about everyone I know says the same thing when they first fire up their drilled tanks "Wow, OK, is it supposed to make that much noise?" Let us know if it's making a slurping/gurgling/flushing noise. There are a few tricks that may make it a little more tolerable.
