drill tank to hide filter intake/return lines??

D

dough041

AC Members
Sep 11, 2006
25
0
0
Hi;
Probably a stupid question but here goes... I have a 45 gallon acrylic tank with an eheim 2217 canister filter ( not set up yet). I was wondering the best looking way to have the filtering/return lines hidden in my tank? I was wondering if it is an option to have the tank drilled to plumb it so as to hide the usual plastic "pipes" hanging over the edges of the tank? Any thoughts or suggestions appreciated.
Joe
 
you could drill a hole for the pipe, i would just be cautious of overflowing the tank without realizing a hole was drilled. to simplify things i would just use plastic cable ties to organize things. or use a background if your looking from the front of the tank to hide all those cables and hoses in the back.
 
Actually, when I saw the topic I thought "Oh boy... there's a disaster waiting to happen". I thought you might be talking about drilling glass - which can be done, but it's very risky. If the bit dulls the slightest bit before you get through it will break the glass.

Compared to glass, driling acrylic is a piece of cake. Use a hole saw and go halfway through from one side, then work from the opposite side and finish the job. Be sure to keep hole saw blade cool by running a bit of water over it. You don't want a meltdown.

Anyplace like Home Depot, Lowe's, etc will have all the bulkhead penetration fittings you need.
 
icecubez189 said:
unless the hole is sealed and depending on where at the top the hole is drilled, im just saying people might forget.
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I'm confused. I thought dough041 said he was going to plumb the holes, most likely by using CaptnDan's idea of bulkhead fittings (like the ones in my bass boat).

In that case, it's no different than a plastic u-tube hung over the tank sill. Am I missing something? :huh:


v/r, N-A
 
Native American said:
In that case, it's no different than a plastic u-tube hung over the tank sill. Am I missing something? :huh:
Click to expand...

I must be missing something too... Once the fittings are run through the holes and the tubes are connected, they won't technically be holes any more...

I just can't fathom a person drilling a hole in the tank, then forgetting that they drilled it and filling the tank till it overflows through the hole...

As I mentioned before, this is actually pretty common practice with acrylic marine tanks. They use holes for overflows, protein skimmers, all that stuff.
 
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