Drilling Holes

T

TAFKARojo

AC Members
Nov 17, 2004
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Leominster, Ma
Hi, I am looking to add a sump to my 55 gallon glass tank. I read that I would need to have holes drilled. If this is accurate then where would I go to get this done? Can I do it myself?

I went to a local glass place they said that they couldnt do it because of the size of their machine. And that putting holes in the glass wil lower the strength of the glass and most likely will crack.

Is there an alternative that I can use with PVC piping hanging over the back of the tank?

Thanks
Chris
 
Avoid drilling the holes. You can usually drill the back glass which is annealed but it can weaken it. The bottom is probably tempered and you can’t drill that or it will crack. Instead of drilling I recommend using an overflow pre-filter.

You can probably by one cheaper. After looking at a few in the store I built my own. It is basically a siphon box that keeps the siphon from breaking if the water gets to low in the tank.
 
gravity overflows are always preferable to siphon overflows.

Ive drilled quite a few tanks myself, with none of them having any structural issues. As long as the glass isnt tempered and you take your time, there shouldnt be any issues.
 
Lifereef Siphon Overflow Boxes

Lifereef makes a very reliable siphon overflow box that you can use to avoid drilling any holes, making your life simpler, and also allowing you to use tempered glass in your aquarium, which is stronger than non-tempered glass. If you want to drill holes, then you have to choose an aquarium made of non-tempered glass, since it's not possible to drill tempered glass.
 
why would you want to drill a tank for, its just creating another maintance issuse eather from cracks in a seveir case to leeks as a minor one..
 
Why are you all so worried about cracks and leaks?

I can't see that it is a problem at all as long as it is done properly, preferably at the start when the tank is being made. As long as the plumbing is done correctly there shouldnt be any leaks.

You can have a bigger overflow cabinet which will look much much better than stuff hanging off the back. Just my opinion.

Colt :D
 
brovo2zero said:
why would you want to drill a tank for, its just creating another maintance issuse eather from cracks in a seveir case to leeks as a minor one..
Click to expand...

Cracks are extremely rare, and are extremely unlikely to happen if the tank is drilled correctly. Every 'reef ready' tank has holes predrilled in it. If they were so prone to cracking, they would have no warranty on them.

And as I said earlier, if you want a sump then having a drilled tank is a far better option than using a siphon overflow box.
 
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