Drilling tanks

[RedScare]

Has anyone here ever tried to drill the bottom of a fish tank? How did that work out? What size was it?

[Nolapete]

I've drilled tanks before and I can tell you that it is best left for professionals with the correct equipment.

[Plecosterone]

Make sure the bottom is not tempered glass. You cannot drill tempered glass. I also agree with Nolapete if you have never done it before.

[RedScare]

I have never drilled a tank before.

Actually I was thinking about filtration. It would seem that a UG filter with a bottom hole drilled for water changes would be an excellent filtration choice.

Do hole drilled on the bottom make for a unsafe tank? Is this more dangerous than a side hole?

[Nolapete]

It's the process of drilling the hole which requires the utmost skill and care that is dangerous to a tank, not having the hole.

Drilling a tank for the purpose of doing water changes from under an undergravel filter is silly.

[RedScare]

Drilling a tank for the purpose of doing water changes from under an undergravel filter is silly.


Why? It would allow one to remove all the built up dirt and whatever.

[ataylor]

How would a bottom hole help you? I can understand a hole in the side of the tank, near the top, using a drip/overflow tank water refreshing system. That would gradually change the water and get rid of nitrates...but you still have to gravel clean.

[RedScare]

Well I just wanted a drain. It seemed like a good place to have one for convenience. I guessed it would be better to have one in the bottom than the side to remove anything accumulating on the bottom. I wont be using a drain/overflow system.

[Nolapete]

It will not allow you to remove all the dirt that builds up. Only the dirt immediately around the hole. The rest will friction bond to the glass. What you are thinking it can be used for will not work.

[markgill]

I look after a 220 gallon tank and after a gravel clean etc there is a fare amount of time until enough water has syphoned out of the tank. It would have been a great advantage to have had a drilled drain installed with a pipe that went to the half way level of the tank. I could then have gone out for supplies etc and then come back to replenish the tank. I would not hesitate to have this on my next larger tank but I feel a it would be redundant on anything small.

[vidiots]

I have drilled a tank before. Like they said you don't want to attempt it on one that has tempered glass or it will shatter. Most small tanks are not made of tempered glass, and most large tanks are. If you do deside to drill here are some links that may help. The bits can be expensive, but if this is for a onetime project you can find cheap bits on ebay made in somewhere like China or HongKong that will do the job, just don't expect the bit to last for multiple projects like the more expensive bits would be.

http://www.uhh.hawaii.edu/~pacrc/bigisaquapg/Drilling.htm

http://www.wetdryfilter.com/drilling_holes.htm

http://www.drillglass.com/drillingglass.html

My project for drilling was putting overflows near the top on the back side of a 20gal tank.

You can also order tanks that are "Reef Ready" meaning they come built with a drilled in overflow and all the plumbing but they cost more than standard tanks. I had to pay a couple hundred dollars extra for my 180g reef ready tank. Most of the aquarium MFRs offer these options. My Reef Ready tank has the holes in the bottom and stand pipes located inside the overflow columns, but if I removed the pipe the tank would not drain only the inside of the plastic overflow column would drain. You'd have to remove the glued in place plastic overflow column to have it drain as you want.

[red devil]

Also one thing to think about...is if you have a bottom drain or any kind of hole in the bottom of the tank..and you develop a leak you run the risk of loosing all the water in the tank. If you put the hole near the top of the tank and you have a leak you do not end up with such a catastrophe. That said, I just found a really cool looking glass vessel that is shaped like a fish. It is hollow and is formed so that the mouth is pointing up at a 45 degree angle. It will probably hold 4 gallons of water...so...I was thinking, if I could just drill a hole in the bottom of the vessel I would put in an air tube to keep the water fresh. Putting a hole in the bottom would allow me to hide the hardware. I will give it a try.