Drilling 10 Gal Tanks for Rack System

[Cruz427]

I am thinking about drilling a total of 8 - 10 Gal tanks to make a auto water change rack system. I would like to put in 3/4 in bulkheads in all of them with an overflow pipe on the inside leading to a soft hosing to hard drain piping on the back to reduce pressure on the glass. Overflow boxes are not an option due to how expensive they are as well as PVC overflows are too risky in my opinion. What is everyone's opinion on this idea and has anyone done anything similar before. Thanks in advance!

 

[mattgsa]

In the pet stores they just put bulk head at the top of the tank with a strainer connected to it. Makes it real simple.

 

[JumboShrimp]

I’ve seen quite a few systems for sale online, such as Craigslist, posted by ‘going out of business’ LFSs and others—maybe search for some photos and get some design ideas. Just a thought

 

[Porpoise Hork]

It can be done, and as long as you limit the inlet flow so it can never over power the drain setup you will be fine. The best and most cost effective setup I have seen was done by my LFS. They put two high quality PVC bulkheads in each tank, and then set one up with an auto start siphon and a large screen fitting on it so it wont get stopped up. For the return they drilled it 1/2 inch higher than the drain and used a threaded pipe end with a PVC cap in the end of it. Using a table saw, they cut a notch in the cap to turn it into a fan tip. They have this setup on about 100 tanks all going to a series of sumps for their fresh and salt water tanks.

 

[Instigate]

I was planning on using 10 gallons for a breeding system but I was warned that the 10 gallons are so thin that it can be sketchy. No personal experience on that though, now I'm planning on larger tanks(likely acrylic) with dividers in them.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

You can drill 10g tanks as long as you keep running water on them and are very careful and do not press down at all when doing so. You may even want to practice on a couple pieces of plate glass that is the same thickness first. You can get them from most local hardware stores and are usually pretty cheap.

 

[Cruz427]

You can drill 10g tanks as long as you keep running water on them and are very careful and do not press down at all when doing so. You may even want to practice on a couple pieces of plate glass that is the same thickness first. You can get them from most local hardware stores and are usually pretty cheap.

I am doing this for a shrimp tank rack so that’s why I need all of the separate 10gals with their own filtration. I’m not really worried about the drilling because I have drilled a 40gal before for my reef I’m more worried about the integrity of the tank filled with water once the bulkhead is put in. It seems like plenty people have done in the past.

 

[Porpoise Hork]

The integrity of the glass will be fine provided it doesn't crack then drilling. Just make sure to give some clearance for the top of the drill hole and the trim/glass. An inch or so should be fine for that. Also the bulkhead won't need to be super tight, just snug enough to seal the port.