Drilling and plumbing questions

shollis2814 · Nov 17, 2019

Hi all,

I am considering drilling and plumbing my first tank. I've been an overflow guy for years, but I am getting a 33 long, and I think this one is going to last me a while (famous last words, right?). My current tank is a 20-long, which I plan on eventually converting into my new sump. Right now I have a 4-6 gallon sump (I've used it successfully on a 36 bowfront, so I know if can handle the flow capacity) with a 10 gallon DIY ATO system. I plan on continuing to use this while I build my 20-long sump. We know this is not our forever home, but we aren't moving soon, but I want to plan for it a few years down the line.

I have some questions.

Should I bottom drill with a weir, or go with ghost overflow? It seems the ghost overflow means it's not flush with the wall, but in case of catastrophic seal failure on the weir, minimized spillage, right?
I'm considering union joints because of the potential move. Would this be the best way to go?
As long as I plan on keeping my skimmer chamber in the same place in the current sump and the new DIY sump, I should be OK with plumbing, right?
Advantages and disadvantages to multiple returns?
Paint the back? If so, do I paint then drill, or drill then paint?

I know there is a ton of information out there already and a lot of opinions. I tend to overthink things and gather info (Enneagram 6 if any of you are into that) before jumping into projects.
I'm sure I will have follow ups. Thanks for any input.

cmaxwell39 · Nov 17, 2019

Before you drill any of the panes you will need to verify that they are not tempered. You will have a much better chance of finding a back pane that is not tempered than you will a bottom panel. For that reason I would lean towards one of the ghost style overflows.

As far as using unions, they are nice to be able to pull your plumbing apart and put it back together in the the new location without having to cut/glue and plumbing at either location, but if you have a straight run in your plumbing you could cut it and glue a coupling in at the new house when you set back up.

As far as switching sumps to a DIY 20 long, the plumbing will go from your return pump to the tank, and then from the overflow to drain chamber. It is my opinion that the location of those chambers in your sump will be more important to plumbing than your skimmer chamber, but I don't know what you are planning for a design.

I would paint the back of the tank. I like a black background, but a lot of people like blue as well. Definitely drill before you paint, and you will want to install your bulkheads before painting as well. You want the bulkheads to seal against glass, not paint.

Hope that helps and good luck.

Peace River · Nov 17, 2019

cmaxwell39 said:
Before you drill any of the panes you will need to verify that they are not tempered. You will have a much better chance of finding a back pane that is not tempered than you will a bottom panel. For that reason I would lean towards one of the ghost style overflows.

As far as using unions, they are nice to be able to pull your plumbing apart and put it back together in the the new location without having to cut/glue and plumbing at either location, but if you have a straight run in your plumbing you could cut it and glue a coupling in at the new house when you set back up.

As far as switching sumps to a DIY 20 long, the plumbing will go from your return pump to the tank, and then from the overflow to drain chamber. It is my opinion that the location of those chambers in your sump will be more important to plumbing than your skimmer chamber, but I don't know what you are planning for a design.

I would paint the back of the tank. I like a black background, but a lot of people like blue as well. Definitely drill before you paint, and you will want to install your bulkheads before painting as well. You want the bulkheads to seal against glass, not paint.

Hope that helps and good luck.

+1

In addition to the great feedback above, when you are drilling glass I encourage people to think about it as grinding instead of as drilling. Also you want to go slooow!

Cjud7982 · Nov 17, 2019

My thoughts are to go with ghost overflows as well. I've had a handfull of blown seams on taller tanks with weirs, and acrylic panes don't silicone in for more than 6 months before they start to fail. I prefer making my internal and external boxes out of glass, but you need to be extremely careful with the bulkheads. This gives me the best sealing without risking leaks between boxes. For the bulkheads I always use threaded ones with male thread to PVC adapter so I can always reuse them or take them apart of I have to. Usually put unions right under the stand for super easy tank removal in case of emergency. Unthread unions, unthread pvc adapter from bulkhead and tank is ready to move. I usually glue everything else except expensive gate valves, they are always thread adapters as well.

I like dual returns on big tanks with a lot of surface area and the overflow in the center of the back, keeps the surface agitated and helps a lot with surface skimming. I use single returns on an end to end flow pattern with the over flow on one end of the tank.

Paint after everything is installed and tested not to leak. I don't paint because if it gets wet or scratched it looks really bad. So I let my back panes get covered in coralline and other algea food for my critters

shollis2814 · Nov 17, 2019

cmaxwell39 said:
Before you drill any of the panes you will need to verify that they are not tempered. You will have a much better chance of finding a back pane that is not tempered than you will a bottom panel. For that reason I would lean towards one of the ghost style overflows.

As far as using unions, they are nice to be able to pull your plumbing apart and put it back together in the the new location without having to cut/glue and plumbing at either location, but if you have a straight run in your plumbing you could cut it and glue a coupling in at the new house when you set back up.

As far as switching sumps to a DIY 20 long, the plumbing will go from your return pump to the tank, and then from the overflow to drain chamber. It is my opinion that the location of those chambers in your sump will be more important to plumbing than your skimmer chamber, but I don't know what you are planning for a design.

I would paint the back of the tank. I like a black background, but a lot of people like blue as well. Definitely drill before you paint, and you will want to install your bulkheads before painting as well. You want the bulkheads to seal against glass, not paint.

Hope that helps and good luck.

That makes sense. It sounds like that If I measure where the 20 long would sit under the stand and plan for the return to be in the center, and put my current sump there, then it will be ready for the upgrade. I would put an angle/elbow on the overflow for now, knowing it is a potential clog point, and then if I use a union joint, it should be easy enough to adjust for the longer sump...

The Aquatic Arsenal · Nov 17, 2019

This may have been mentioned, but I didn't see it lol. When drilling a tank let the weight of the drill do all the work. Have another person with a garden hose directed at the diamond coated drill bit to help out. If you don't do that, then you will shatter your glass. Some people have various methods of doing this like using plumbers buddy to creat a pool of water in the area you are drilling. Also, take some painter's tape and tape the bottom where your hole will be and put something on the glass directly where the cut glass may fall. You don't want to shatter that glass lol.

Reefnoobz90 · Nov 18, 2019

I've had good luck with my Eshopps overflow, it comes with everything including the drill bit. The piece in the tank is really small, so you don't really notice it. I use it on a 20g that I'm in the process of moving, the whole thing just unscrews and pulls right out.

Eshopps Overflow Box Eclipse - S up to 75G

Includes everything you need to install on your tank right out of the box. No need to buy a diamond hole saw or bulkheads as they are included! Beautiful and elegant overflow boxes never go out of style. Its function is never enough. Execution matters. Design counts. Maybe that`s why the word...

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