Mudbutt's drilling a tank for canister filters. 40b superthread (56k)

Lol@56k warning. Should be a 4G warning. Or don't view this thread on a typewriter warning.

So long story short I've had a planted 40b for about 5 years. The current tank is ancient (early 90's) and it's time for it to hit the road before it explodes. I've repaired a couple 40b tanks in the past. but I don't have the time, plus the LFS hooked me up with a brand new aqueon for $70. Whaaaaaa?

First a little diy history of the current setup.

This is the tank in 2010

2011 with a diy acrylic overhead sump

2012 with an eheim classic

Present day with 2x sunsun 302

It was my first real tank and always will be my favorite.



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View attachment 1068786


My old man bred fish for a living when I was a kid. He had 26 40b's in the basement so there were some racks rotting away in the back yard.



Diy light fixtures. 2x 24" fluorescent shop lights and 2 led strips mounted into 2 pvc rain gutters with end caps and reflectors made from aluminum hvac tape. Total cost was like $30.

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I attempted to make a manifold to run 2 canisters off of 1 set of intake plumbing but I abandoned the project. The eheim 2213 and fluval 104 i was using were both in bad shape so I decided to upgrade


Boom




Made some diy inline heaters to replace the crappy plumbing on my sunsuns. They conveniently zip tie to the uprights of the rack.

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Super sneaky intake and mini spraybars.

So what Would a thread of Mine be if I didn't buy Something brand new and do Something stupid to it?


Picked up this badboy last week.

Ordered some parts from marinedepot. 2 3/4" bulkheads and 2 strainers shipped to my door for less than 20 bucks. Awesome retailer.


Alright let's ruin this new tank

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Little tutorial for drilling glass tanks.

You need a diamond holesaw. Mine cost like $15 on ebay. I used a 35mm for a 3/4" hole.
There are 2 methods I know of for drilling tanks. One requires that you take the tank outside or put it in the bathtub and run water over the holesaw with a hose. I prefer to make a dam out of plumbers putty and change the water a few times.

The water cools the saw, it lubricates, and most importantly keeps glass dust from being airborne. Breathing in glass dust will ruin your day.

I used a jig made out of 1/4" plywood with a 1-3/8" hole drilled in it. The jig helps keep the saw from walking allnover the glass. I usually start my hole with the drill at an angle and then slowly work it in.

I recommend a small lightweight drill. I used a 12v mini black and decker. I let the 7amp Milwaukee sit on the bench for this job. Cordless is probably the way to go so you don't electrocute your self. Let the weight of the drill do the work. I usually go really slow. Like less than 500rpm. It takes me about a half hour per hole, I do it slower than necessary, but I've never broken a tank.

Lots of tape on the back side of the glass helps lessen the chance of a dirty exit wound for the saw.


Success!

I always mount my bulkheads "backwards" it makes no difference, I just think they work better that way. This way works good, I have slipxthreaded bulkheads. The slip is in the tank, the threaded portion is outside so I don't have to worry about pvc-abs cement. I like the lower profile of having the flange outside. I want this tank close to the wall.

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The drains


The 3/4" hose barbs directly bellow the ball valve will feed the canisters. The bottom hose barb will feed a manifold which supplies 20 feet of 1/2" tubing to drain the tank with just the "flip of a switch"


The manifold. It will have an input from each bulkhead and lead to the drain hose.
I doubled up on all the ball valves and everything so I'll be 100% able to isolate each side should a canister fail or need to be taken out for maintenance or w/e

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lardieleftover said:

I like the jig idea for starting to drill

Click to expand...

Thanks man.


Prepped and taped the back glass.





Trying to give the background a little depth and break things up a bit with some black and green paint

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Results. Looks a little green in the pic, much more black in person


Gathered up a bunch of fake plants for making a "plant background." Just kinda making this up as I go.


Got a bunch of this black plastic canvas.



I'm gluing plants to the back of the tank with silicone. The deal is that the silicone adheres excellent to the glass. It fills the squares of the canvas, oozes out and bonds the silicone to itself, basically encapsulates the mesh.




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The plants are tied to the mesh with mini zipties.

So imagine that
View attachment 1069670
Behind this.

I really dislike fake plants. But I think in combination with the live plants it'll create alot of depth and scale in the aqua scape. I've never had luck growing tall background plants. Now I can focus on my javafern, anubias, and crypts in the foreground.

Most of the plant background will be hidden by the driftwood arrangement


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