I am learning as I go and have made a couple of mistakes which has delayed my build. Yesterday I realized I made another mistake by drilling 1" into my tank and then purchasing a overflow (eshopps eclipse L). The holes I drilled are too small and too close together since I didn't have them drilled with that overflow in mind. Now i need to decide what to do, return and exchange the overflow for one that fits, or use pvc pipes w a cap to plug the original holes and re drill new ones which would fit the eshopps overflow. However, I don't know how many holes can be drilled on one side without compromising the integrity of the tank. I have a 75g marineland tank. Thanks for the help!
Drilling Holes Advice
- Thread starter Nicodc
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JaimeAdams
2500 Club Member
you could drill more holes, but keep some space between them. Personally I would return them and get a different overflow if you have that option. How many holes and how close together are the ones you currently have?
Big G
captain dunsel
Can you use the 1" holes for your return line from your pump? And then drill new holes on the other end for the overflow?
Big G
captain dunsel
I'll add, I use the Eshopps Eclipse overflow on my 90. I like it a lot. Plenty of adjustability. Very quiet operation. Just a little soothing trickle sound of water once in awhile.
Big G
captain dunsel
One more thought. The Eshopps Eclipse overflow appears to be designed for a rimless tank. So the supplied drilling template and instructions appear to be for rimless tank application. My tank is not rimless. I had to invert the template to raise the holes up high enough for the result I wanted. It was easy. and works great. But if you follow Eshopps' instructions, you may end up with the holes drilled down a bit far and your resulting water level will be, possibly, lower than you want if your tank is rimmed.
Thanks everyone for the help, i am leaning towards re drilling the holes to fit the overflow since all the reviews say it's a good one. I have two holes dead center about an inch apart from each other and about an inch form the rim of the tank. I like the idea of using them for the return pump and drilling the two other ones for the overflow. Since I have a rim on mine where would I have to drill the holes to get the right result. Sorry I'm extremely new to this and I'm having a ton of miscalculation issues as I go. I already had to return a pump bc it didn't fit on the sumps compartment and the skimmer bc the footprint was too big for the sump as well. I have the Eshopp r-100 sump. Any ideas or websites I can see to design the plumbing would be great. Thank you!
Big G
captain dunsel
Here's the basic plan for drilling for the Eshopps overflow: you want the top of interior part of the overflow to fit almost up to the lip of rim. On mine its about 1/4" under the lip of the rim (the lip where the glass cover usually rests). Here's a picture from the side. Best way to do this is to lay the tank on its side and have someone hold the interior part of the overflow at chosen position. You mark on the tank where the holes are to be drilled. Double check, Triple check, go have a glass of water and then check again. Then line up the drill template (you'll probably have to hold it upside down because it is a rimmed tank) clamp in place and then drill.
To be honest I didn't think they would, but he voluntarily said he would replace it. One thing is for sure, they made a customer out of me after their service. I am just waiting for the tank now while Learn about all the equipment and figure out the installation and set up.
Big G
captain dunsel
That is so cool. You just don't see that level of kindness and service from businesses these days very often.
Hi Everyone! So here is an update, I picked up the new tank yesterday. Now I have the overflow holes on the left of the tank and the return hole on the right. Today I'm painting the back again and purchasing the plumbing supplies. The plumbing supplies are my biggest fear. Does anyone know a good website where I can see a layout, or does anyone have some advice?! The sump is the ESHOPP R-100 and the return pump is the current USA 1050gph.
