What do i need for 80g not drilled

nebraska reefer · Feb 14, 2018

Hello everyone im going to be seting up a 80g non drilled salt tank. I was just wanting to know what the best # and size pumps and filter type i should have. Just want to have it all before i get it set up. Thanks would love to buy a drilled tank if anyone has one in nebraska or western iowa fingers crossed. Thanx happy reefing

Crabs McJones · Feb 14, 2018

nebraska reefer said:
Hello everyone im going to be seting up a 80g non drilled salt tank. I was just wanting to know what the best # and size pumps and filter type i should have. Just want to have it all before i get it set up. Thanks would love to buy a drilled tank if anyone has one in nebraska or western iowa fingers crossed. Thanx happy reefing

If possible, why not drill the one you have? As long as the glass isn't tempered, drilling a tank is extremely easy. As someone who started out with a hang on back overflow and then went to drilled, trust me, go drilled

Ds04384 · Feb 14, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
If possible, why not drill the one you have? As long as the glass isn't tempered, drilling a tank is extremely easy. As someone who started out with a hang on back overflow and then went to drilled, trust me, go drilled

I agree with this. Even if the bottom is tempered you should most likely be able to drill the back. If drilling makes you nervous you can probably pay a local lfs to do it for $10-20/hole. Once you have it going, you'll be glad you did it.

jd371 · Feb 14, 2018

I don't have a drilled tank but if I was to do it over again I would drill. I've had no issues with the HOB overflow in the 2.5 years my tank has been running, but a drilled tank is aesthetically more pleasing. The only reason I didn't drill is I had just spent a lot of money on a tank and stand and wasn't about to drill into it. Knowing what I know now and how easy it is to do I would definitely drill.
If you feel that you're not comfortable drilling the tank and still want to go with the HOB overflow I can give you some pointers setting it up because I have the same volume tank.

nebraska reefer · Feb 14, 2018

crabs_mcjones said:
If possible, why not drill the one you have? As long as the glass isn't tempered, drilling a tank is extremely easy. As someone who started out with a hang on back overflow and then went to drilled, trust me, go drilled

Thanks i will do that. Ive just been told alot that its something difficult to do. And thats why im here for the combined hands in the water exp.[emoji106][emoji108]

nebraska reefer · Feb 14, 2018

Ds04384 said:
I agree with this. Even if the bottom is tempered you should most likely be able to drill the back. If drilling makes you nervous you can probably pay a local lfs to do it for $10-20/hole. Once you have it going, you'll be glad you did it.

Thank you will do

nebraska reefer · Feb 14, 2018

jd371 said:
I don't have a drilled tank but if I was to do it over again I would drill. I've had no issues with the HOB overflow in the 2.5 years my tank has been running, but a drilled tank is aesthetically more pleasing. The only reason I didn't drill is I had just spent a lot of money on a tank and stand and wasn't about to drill into it. Knowing what I know now and how easy it is to do I would definitely drill.
If you feel that you're not comfortable drilling the tank and still want to go with the HOB overflow I can give you some pointers setting it up because I have the same volume tank.

Thanks

DumpInTheSump · Feb 15, 2018

I've seen Fish Freaks other stores out here have pre drilled tanks. A couple of them can also drill tanks for you provided you have one with non tempered glass.

voiceinthedesert · Feb 15, 2018

I would strongly advise getting it drilled. 80 gallons is a really big tank to not use a sump. HOB skimmers and whatnot are not generally build for that size of a tank, so you will struggle to maintain anything that requires very good water quality. That and it's just a lot cleaner to have it all under the tank in the stand than hanging off the back.

nebraska reefer · Mar 1, 2018

DumpInTheSump said:
I've seen Fish Freaks other stores out here have pre drilled tanks. A couple of them can also drill tanks for you provided you have one with non tempered glass.

Are you in my area 402 by chance would be great to be able to chat about things with a local at times?

HawaiianReef · Mar 1, 2018

Drilling yourself isn't hard to do. The bit is about $30. You can find an old glass window to practice on. Just make a template with a holesaw bit the same size, and then go slow... and keep it wet, you'll be fine.

Neil57 · Mar 1, 2018

Is there a way to determine if the glass is tempered, hopefully before you start to drill?

HawaiianReef · Mar 3, 2018

Get some polarize sunglasses and you'll see a weird color separation when you look at the glass. You can take a look at your rear window of your car. They're all tempered. If the car window looks normal, you probably dont have polarized glasses.

Redleg · Mar 3, 2018

Put a laptop inside the tank, open up a plain white screen (notepad is what I used) then put on your polarized lenses. I used a lens from my camera. The screen of your laptop should turn black. If you see a bunch of lines it's tempered. If you Google it you'll find plenty of videos that show this in action.