Drilling a tank

fancy_fish101 · Jan 1, 2023

I believe the tank I’m wanting to drill is glass. Says the computer and polarized sunglasses test. My question is I’m trying to do an animal bean overflow on a 29 gallon. It is a standard aquarium with rim. How low should i drill the 3 holes. Trying to do what is below. Amya dice will be greatly appreciated.

Peace River · Jan 2, 2023

Do you have the overflow yet? That may help you with the alignment. I think Eshopps has some youtube videos that you may find helpful even if you aren't using their overflow.

fancy_fish101 · Jan 2, 2023

Peace River said:
Do you have the overflow yet? That may help you with the alignment. I think Eshopps has some youtube videos that you may find helpful even if you aren't using their overflow.

I’m doing what the picture is up top. I’m Doing a diy one. I’m using acrylic to make my own weir.

TokenReefer · Jan 2, 2023

Dry fit everything in place with no holes and that'll tell you where to put your holes

edd59 · Jan 2, 2023

the over flow kit sholud come with a template

Reign1 · Jan 2, 2023

yeah you kinda should have the overflow first so you know how low/high to drill.
If you are buying a box they come w/ templates.

vetteguy53081 · Jan 2, 2023

The process is easy but you must keep glass cool with running water, have a good diamond blade and let the blade do the work- YOU DONT WANT TO FORCE IT WITH PRESSURE.
BRS has a great video on this:

BRS glass drilling video - Yahoo Video Search Results

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Peace River · Jan 2, 2023

If you are making your own DIY overflow then you won't have the advantage of a provided template and will have to do more mockups and dry fits (as @TokenReefer suggested). A few of things to be aware of are: (1) paying attention to how the internal and external part of the overflow fit relative to the top frame of the aquarium rim so both parts of the overflow are against the glass, (2) the height of the weir will determine the height of the water in the tank, and (3) the space between the weir teeth will impact your flow rate.

If you are making your own overflow then make the height of the weir adjustable if you can - it is extra work to make but will likely be helpful in the long run. Also, the gaps between the weir teeth are a balance between keeping things from heading into the overflow and having too little room for water to flow which limits the turnover rate from your return pump.

Drilling the tank is the "easy" part compared to getting all of the other details right when you are designing the DIY overflow. When you do drill just remember that it is more like slowly grinding away the glass to make the hole, and less like using a hole saw to cut through wood. Good luck however you choose to move forward!

DCR · Jan 2, 2023

I agree with the comments from Peace River. If you are making your own overflow as shown in the picture, you have a little more flexibility on where to place the holes. The depth of the primary overflow is critical as it will set the water level in the overflow box. The secondary or emergency overflow can be deeper and just extend it with a short section of pipe as needed. The full siphon can be deeper in the box. I would do a mock-up of the elbows inside the box before drilling to decide on where to place the holes. If the elbows are threaded into the bulkheads, they need to be far enough apart to turn them without striking each other.

One other bit of advice on drilling is to apply heavy duct tape on the back side of the hole and have it fully supported on the back side with a block of wood on a solid surface so that when it breaks through you minimize any chipping of the glass on the edge of the hole. Go slow as has been previously recommended with only light pressure on the drill.

fancy_fish101 · Jan 2, 2023

@

DCR said:
I agree with the comments from Peace River. If you are making your own overflow as shown in the picture, you have a little more flexibility on where to place the holes. The depth of the primary overflow is critical as it will set the water level in the overflow box. The secondary or emergency overflow can be deeper and just extend it with a short section of pipe as needed. The full siphon can be deeper in the box. I would do a mock-up of the elbows inside the box before drilling to decide on where to place the holes. If the elbows are threaded into the bulkheads, they need to be far enough apart to turn them without striking each other.

One other bit of advice on drilling is to apply heavy duct tape on the back side of the hole and have it fully supported on the back side with a block of wood on a solid surface so that when it breaks through you minimize any chipping of the glass on the edge of the hole. Go slow as has been previously recommended with only light pressure on the drill.

Thank you everyone for the help. We managed to get the holes drilled.