Bottom drilled tank question

Scratch08 · Jun 13, 2020

JoshH said:
Alright Alright I'm here, Tag me twice why don't you ;Shifty

;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

First off, Awesome new tank!!! It certainly does look like a closed loop was implemented by the previous owner for sure. And someone who is atleast through in there planning going with Sch80 bulkheads. What size are the bulkheads going through the bottom do you know?

Personally I would drill the back of the tank for an external overflow and return(s) As @jda Suggested above to get your sump going if you are planning on running one that is. However, hold off on sealing the holes up and atleast do some heavy research on closed loop systems first and make a good educated decision on what type of flow approach you want to go with moving forward. Closed loops are not for everyone and it's best to make sure it's the route you really want to go with.

BTW, Welcome to R2R!! I noticed you are relatively new around here so I hope you're enjoying your time here so far.

Just thought I'd throw you out there since your tank is bottom drilled

was hoping you'd have better ideas for what to do with the holes in his tank. I do prefer the HoB overflow idea, Exotic Marine Systems are my personal favorite they are very solidly built and owner is a R2R member as well. I just threw the other info out there in case OP didn't want to redrill, but at least it would be an easy job being an acrylic tank.

fishguy242 · Jun 13, 2020

brain fart..is acrylic tank...cool options!!

Aggro · Jun 13, 2020

JoshH said:
Alright Alright I'm here, Tag me twice why don't you ;Shifty

;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

First off, Awesome new tank!!! It certainly does look like a closed loop was implemented by the previous owner for sure. And someone who is atleast through in there planning going with Sch80 bulkheads. What size are the bulkheads going through the bottom do you know?

Personally I would drill the back of the tank for an external overflow and return(s) As @jda Suggested above to get your sump going if you are planning on running one that is. However, hold off on sealing the holes up and atleast do some heavy research on closed loop systems first and make a good educated decision on what type of flow approach you want to go with moving forward. Closed loops are not for everyone and it's best to make sure it's the route you really want to go with.

BTW, Welcome to R2R!! I noticed you are relatively new around here so I hope you're enjoying your time here so far.

For sure I’ve been going for a few years on and off. And I don’t plan on moving at least for 10 years so ya why not go bigger. A few more errand and I’ll post the pics of tank and such.

Aggro · Jun 13, 2020

Scratch08 said:
Just thought I'd throw you out there since your tank is bottom drilled was hoping you'd have better ideas for what to do with the holes in his tank. I do prefer the HoB overflow idea, Exotic Marine Systems are my personal favorite they are very solidly built and owner is a R2R member as well. I just threw the other info out there in case OP didn't want to redrill, but at least it would be an easy job being an acrylic tank.

So home now grabbing quick bite then I’m going to post a build thread but the tank is drilled up too on back panel for returns. Which is cool but sucks as well wanted to be able to put tank tight to wall but ehhh whatever. Build thread coming guys. And I’ll check those sites out that we’re linked bta has 2’ colored right now for 3bucks. But hey I even got a ****** uv sterilizer score.

Aggro · Jun 13, 2020

JoshH said:
Alright Alright I'm here, Tag me twice why don't you ;Shifty

;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious;Hilarious

First off, Awesome new tank!!! It certainly does look like a closed loop was implemented by the previous owner for sure. And someone who is atleast through in there planning going with Sch80 bulkheads. What size are the bulkheads going through the bottom do you know?

Personally I would drill the back of the tank for an external overflow and return(s) As @jda Suggested above to get your sump going if you are planning on running one that is. However, hold off on sealing the holes up and atleast do some heavy research on closed loop systems first and make a good educated decision on what type of flow approach you want to go with moving forward. Closed loops are not for everyone and it's best to make sure it's the route you really want to go with.

BTW, Welcome to R2R!! I noticed you are relatively new around here so I hope you're enjoying your time here so far.

The bulkheads are 1 7/8”
Ya definitely running sump don’t know to much about closed loop systems.

Scratch08 · Jun 13, 2020

Aggro said:
The bulkheads are 1 7/8”
Ya definitely running sump don’t know to much about closed loop systems.

Is that the size of the holes they go in or the size of the opening in the bulkhead?

JoshH · Jun 13, 2020

Scratch08 said:
Is that the size of the holes they go in or the size of the opening in the bulkhead?

I'm guessing its the inside of the bulkhead and they are either 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" bulkheads

Scratch08 · Jun 13, 2020

JoshH said:
I'm guessing its the inside of the bulkhead and they are either 1 1/2" or 1 1/4" bulkheads

If inside bulkhead, I'd lean more towards 1.5". OD of 1.5"pvc is 1.90", typically. 1.25 is typically 1.66" OD, which is close to 1 5/8".

JoshH · Jun 13, 2020

Scratch08 said:
If inside bulkhead, I'd lean more towards 1.5". OD of 1.5"pvc is 1.90", typically. 1.25 is typically 1.66" OD, which is close to 1 5/8".

Ya ya smarty pants, first suggestion was 1 1/2"

fishguy242 · Jun 13, 2020

i'm still looking for larger one

JoshH · Jun 13, 2020

fishguy242 said:
i'm still looking for larger one

I'll pull the smarty pants card and say these sizes are true for Sch40 bulkheads but not Sch80 bulkheads

And I'm guessing that's what you're on the search for, BRS has a hole size chart for both Sch40 and Sch 80

How To Select and Properly Install Aquarium Bulkheads

Bulkheads allow you to transfer water from one side of an aquarium to the other and allow for traditional PVC plumbing to be connected. In most aquariums, bulkheads are used for drain and return pipes on your display tank but can be used for many other things too. Some tanks come pre-drilled for...

www.bulkreefsupply.com