# To drill, or not.



## webworm (8 Feb 2013)

I'd be interested to hear peoples opinion on drilling or no drilling the base of tanks. I'm thinking about doing similar to the fluval tanks with bottom drilled holes for the filter pipe, ideally one in each corner (for 2 filters).

I'm sure there is a list of pro's and con's so feel free to contribute and I'll update the list below

*Pro*

*Con*


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## biffster (8 Feb 2013)

cons might crack or smash while being drilled


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## webworm (8 Feb 2013)

biffster said:


> cons might crack or smash while being drilled


 
Was thinking about getting it drilled at time of manufacture. But a good point


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## ian_m (8 Feb 2013)

Cons.

1. Difficulty in drilling, risking the tank. I have drilled glass before. Use correct drill, build a dam out of plasticene and fill with oil an drill in that. Years ago my mate drilled his marine tanks using 28mm or 35mm copper pipe section attached to his drill and grinding paste. Soft copper picks up abrasive and eventually cuts through the glass, this was before the days of just going out and buying a reasonable priced diamond coated hole saw. Ebay has some reasonably priced diamond holes saws.
2. Sealing pipes & flange can be hard.
3. Gurgling of water down pipe unless great care is taken in design.
4. Care has to be taken in design, so that if power fails you don't end up syphoning/draining your tank onto the floor.
5. Drilled tanks are really meant to be used with fixed plumbing to sumps & pumps so as to not move/stress the tank/pipe joins.
6. Probably need extra valves under the tank to isolate sections for repair maintenance. Yet something else to go wrong.
7. What will you be likely to gain from all this extra work ?

Advantages.
1. Different than everybody else.
2. Easy to empty tank (on the floor).


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## foxfish (8 Feb 2013)

You might as well go the whole hog & fit a sump?
I have drilled loads of holes - always scary but rarely a problem however Ian makes a few very good points!


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## webworm (8 Feb 2013)

Great responses so far, thanks guys. 

As I'm getting a new tank made, the holes would be drilled at the time of manufacture.  
To pick up on Ian's cons.



ian_m said:


> 2. Sealing pipes & flange can be hard. 3. Gurgling of water down pipe unless great care is taken in design. 4. Care has to be taken in design, so that if power fails you don't end up syphoning/draining your tank onto the floor. 5. Drilled tanks are really meant to be used with fixed plumbing to sumps & pumps so as to not move/stress the tank/pipe joins. 6. Probably need extra valves under the tank to isolate sections for repair maintenance. Yet something else to go wrong. 7. What will you be likely to gain from all this extra work ?


 
2 - No getting away from this, sealing is always going to be key.
3 & 4 , I was intending to use external canister filters still so it's a sealed system.
5 - Correct use of pipe clips should see this reduced to minimum.
6 - I was considering valves for filter isolation
7 - Gain, a completely clean line around the top of a rimless tank.


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## ian_m (8 Feb 2013)

My mates marine one was the drain for a weir. He had a piece of glass across the corner of his tank where the water trickled over and drained away through the hole on the bottom of the tank. If power or a return pump failed only the water in weir would drain away. You could also work on the pipe work as you could drain the weir to access the sealing flanges without having to empty the tank.

I don't this would be suitable for a planted tank as the x10 tank volume per hour filtration rule of thumb wouldn't work with a weir (or be very sloshy !!!) and most people draw their water in towards the bottom of the tank in order suck up detritus.


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## Ady34 (8 Feb 2013)

Hi,
Pros:
I have a fluval studio 900 aquarium which comes with a drilled base. It's ideal for hiding unsightly pipework from view and from the fingers of inquisitive children!......
Cons:
.....However I have moved away from them as it limits your options regarding filter inlet and outlet placement. You may need to adjust their placement when trying to optimise distribution to suit different hardscapes in future scapes. Also something to consider is the location of the tank. Long term you may want to relocate it and if you drill it, this pipework position may interfere with future aesthetics.
Cheerio,
Ady.


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## webworm (8 Feb 2013)

Thanks for the wise words Ady, as always experience is better than theory. I was thinking of 4 holes, close to the sides, 2 close to the rear, and 2 further towards the front. As you point out this does restrict the layouts that may be possible in the future.


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## DrRob (8 Feb 2013)

ian_m said:


> I don't this would be suitable for a planted tank as the x10 tank volume per hour filtration rule of thumb wouldn't work with a weir (or be very sloshy !!!) and most people draw their water in towards the bottom of the tank in order suck up detritus.


 
That's not really an issue. I run a sumped planted system over a weir with 4500lph of pumps running a 255 litre tank. A fair amount of flow will be lost in the head from the sump but it's easily clearing 10x flow and, designed well, is inaudible over the pump noise (much the same as my old eheim external). Getting the bottom of the tank moving is easy enough by placing the return low in the tank (with a syphon break) to get the movement right, or with a well placed spray bar.


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## webworm (8 Feb 2013)

DrRob said:


> That's not really an issue. I run a sumped planted system over a weir with 4500lph of pumps running a 255 litre tank. A fair amount of flow will be lost in the head from the sump but it's easily clearing 10x flow and, designed well, is inaudible over the pump noise (much the same as my old eheim external). Getting the bottom of the tank moving is easy enough by placing the return low in the tank (with a syphon break) to get the movement right, or with a well placed spray bar.


 
Have you got any pictures, I'm sure others would find them of interest.


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## webworm (9 Feb 2013)

Ady34 said:


> I have moved away from them as it limits your options regarding filter inlet and outlet placement.


 
I think you've hit the nail on the head here, long term a drilled tank would probably be something that I'd come to regret. Limitations in the future. 
I've got some ideas on how to achieve the same sort of effect. More on this soon.


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## DrRob (12 Feb 2013)

webworm said:


> Have you got any pictures, I'm sure others would find them of interest.


I'll get a few sorted, but they'll have to wait until my ellioti have finished with their egg laying antics, as they've chosen the very front of the tank and are pretty skittish at the moment. They make quite the mess when they get digging pits.


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## fleabilly (23 Feb 2013)

I just drilled my 140l tank and so far it is great.
I got the plumbing from fish fur and feather. 
No leaking on bulkheads.
I have 12mm goin in and out. And did not glue the strainers or the spray bar in the tank.
With the filter turned off and the valves shut below. You can reach into the tank, pull the strainers off, and put in the place of them an old whiskey cork. That way you can remove the plumbing below clean it and replace. No problem. 

Also with extra taps you can fill the tank by attaching your new water to the intake of the canister, and just turn it on. Removing the water by attaching same line to the line coming out if tank.

Here is a link to a test of circulation...




Sent


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## AndrewH (24 Feb 2013)

One of the scariest things Ive seen.
Who directed this video? George Romero?!


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## fleabilly (24 Feb 2013)

No...
No Romero,
Kubrick 
I was Bored...
The reference is the shining trailer... 
I apologise if I freaked anyone out. 

R


Sent


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## AndrewH (24 Feb 2013)

fleabilly said:


> No...
> No Romero,
> Kubrick
> I was Bored...
> The reference is the shining trailer..



Of course! I should have got that. Nice one.
...and now I get the connection too.


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## webworm (24 Feb 2013)

Any chance of some pictures of the cabinet side of the pipe work ?


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## fleabilly (24 Feb 2013)

Me?



Sent


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## fleabilly (25 Feb 2013)

And the ends instead of using caps which would reduce the hole and make it difficult to clean, I just bought 12mm T's and on the open end I shoved a whiskey cork into it. They are perfectly sealed and very tight. No water drips of any kind. 





Inside it looks like this...





It has been running for a week now, just to make sure that there is no leaks. First time I have tried this, and just want to make sure.

R


Sent


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## webworm (26 Feb 2013)

Looks great.


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