Drilling overflow and returns

Rjiowa · Aug 4, 2020

I purchased a 40 gallon breeder and 20 gallon long for a sump. I’m planning on drilling the 40 gallon breeder for an Eshopps (small) in the middle of the aquarium and two returns, one on each side, connected to a pair of Sinnce 1.5. Since the output of those pumps are .5“ I plan to drill .5“ holes on each side of the aquarium and install these .5” bulkheads. How far down from the top edge of the aquarium should I drill the returns? Am I on the right track or should I rethink things?

Thanks for any and all advice!

JoshH · Aug 4, 2020

Rjiowa said:
I purchased a 40 gallon breeder and 20 gallon long for a sump. I’m planning on drilling the 40 gallon breeder for an Eshopps (small) in the middle of the aquarium and two returns, one on each side, connected to a pair of Sinnce 1.5. Since the output of those pumps are .5“ I plan to drill .5“ holes on each side of the aquarium and install these .5” bulkheads. How far down from the top edge of the aquarium should I drill the returns? Am I on the right track or should I rethink things?

Thanks for any and all advice!

So right off the bat your holes in your aquarium need to be larger than 1/2". For a 1/2" ABS Sch40 bulkhead they suggest a 30mm hole...

General rule of thumb for drilling holes near the edge of glass is to keep the edge of the hole atleast the same distance away from any edge that the hole is wide. So if you have 30mm holes, you should keep them atleast 30mm from any edge.

Chart for bulkhead sizes and hole sizes to go along with them...