Nano drilling for sump...

[herefishyfishy]

Where do you suggest drilling for a 20g high? I read a lot of people drilling the back. Which way do u think is the best? And what size stand tube do u recommend?

 

[ricky1414]

is it glass? if so, it may be hard to drill. with acrylic, i would shoot for a 1" drain. Never can go with too much imo.

 

[Anonymous]

Yep. go with a 1" out, and a 3/4" in. HOWEVER, you need to build your overflow box big enough to handle a Durso, or a Stockman mod. Keep that in mind when you drill. (Don't get the holes too close together.)

HTH
B

 

[elpescado]

For space restraints I would drill from the upper back. a 1" drain on one side and a 3/4" return on the other. Use a PVC elbow facing upward with a strainer on it. If the hole was drilled to far down just add a small length of pipe to raise the drain level. Use a slip bulkhead fitting for the drain and a threaded bulkhead fitting on the return. Pick up some Rainbow Lifegaurd modular flex return with a "Y" fitting and run two return pipes within the tank.
This will allow you good flow, maximum room in the tank, and a cleaner look.
Any glass shop can drill the tank (I don't know of any 20gal tank that is tempered), but they need to know where and how big (make sure you check on the bulkhead fitting for the proper hole size to drill).

 

[Anonymous]

Any glass shop can drill the tank

But many won't due to insurance reasons, so call first before bringing in the tank. Outa 10+ shops I called, I found one that would and I had to supply my own diamond hole saw. After expanding my search to within 100 miles of me and calling many more shops, I found a shop that would do it for a flat fee of $30 a hole, no matter size or thickness (well up to 1/2" I think he said). He did my holes for 2" bulkhead thru 1/2" for $30, damn. Good thing I live near so many large cities.

 

[Anonymous]

If your sump is going to be right under your tank, I'd drill thru the bottom. If you don't want such a large overflow set-up, do it like 5 inches from the top on the back and build yourself a small overflow box. Personally, I like going thru the bottom, I get less restriction in the pipe and I like the extra room for displacement. if you want to do a durso set-up, I think you pretty much need to go thru the bottom, but I could be wrong.

 

[Ben1]

Most glass tanks that dont come predrilled have tempered bottoms. If the bottom is tempered it can't be drilled. I would use the side or back panel. I did this in my 40 tall on the back top of the side panel a few inches from the top. I then connected a elbow to the inside of the bulkhead to act as the overflow and put an openended strainer to stop the snails from getting in. Worked like a charm for all the years it was running it never failed. And the internal overflow took up no space.

 

[Anonymous]

20 talls usually don't have a tempered bottom, to small to warrant it.

 

[npaden]

I drilled my 40 breeder with a dremel and it worked really well. I drilled a total of 3 - 1 3/4" holes in the back for 2 drains and 1 closed loop. There are a couple threads in the DIY forum on RC on it. There are 2 specific diamond drill bits you need - 1 to drill through the glass to start the hole and 1 to actually cut the hole around.

It took about 30 minutes per hole but it wasn't to bad. Just use lots of water to keep the bits cool.

I had my LFS drill my 40 the first time and it broke. Then I had them drill another one and it didn't break but it had some chip outs. I broke it when I was tightening a bulkhead. So for the 3rd try I did the dremel thing and the tank is up and running and so far so good. I am going to make some modifications to the glass baffles in my sump using the same method pretty soon.

FWIW, Nathan

 

[herefishyfishy]

if i wanna paint the back, should i paint then drill or drill then paint?