Bottom Drilled or Side Drilled?

side/back or bottom-drilled?

  • side

    Votes: 3 15.8%
  • back

    Votes: 7 36.8%
  • bottom

    Votes: 8 42.1%
  • various places

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • none drilled

    Votes: 1 5.3%

  • Total voters
    19

Ulu

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2018
1,843
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The Sunny San Joaquin
I am so glad I elected to have the glass tank drilled, but drill the plastic myself.

You folks have all given me just terrific ideas. Thanks to all the respondents.

I love the fact that everybody does something different. I'm running 8 tanks and no two of them are set up the same, for all kinds of reasons.

I'm now considering a Coast-to-Coast in-tank overflow, maybe with a drain on each end. I like the idea of two drains a lot.
 
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DN328

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2014
2,416
1,097
164
Fish Tank
I think it also depends on how your tank is situates. If I was doing another peninsula with internal overflow I would not think twice about bottom drilled overflow. I will continue to also have bottomed drill for closed loop circulation. I like the clean look.

Most fish stores dont care about looks of plumbing., hence it's not a priority in their setup.
 
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Ulu

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2018
1,843
3,130
164
The Sunny San Joaquin
I'm really more interested in the furniture looking clean than the inside of the tank.

If I can see a pipe or a drain that's not going to blow my day. This is an Oscar tank for a mean solo Oscar, and his tank will be more functional than beautiful.
 

Backfromthedead

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2017
4,530
6,081
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Fredericksburg va
I'm really more interested in the furniture looking clean than the inside of the tank.

If I can see a pipe or a drain that's not going to blow my day. This is an Oscar tank for a mean solo Oscar, and his tank will be more functional than beautiful.
For the oscar, space in the tank is going to be the #1 concern. I would definitely drill the back and conceal the plumbing in the back somehow. Are you making the stand yourself?
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2018
1,843
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The Sunny San Joaquin
I built the stand 2 years ago. It's this one. 15.5"x64" with a Petco 55 tank. 10g sump.
20181129_212500_resized.jpg
These are my two 55's. The near one will become a 75 with 20g sump. the far one becomes a 175 FOWLR with 55g sump. I need to built a bigger stand for that one.
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2018
1,843
3,130
164
The Sunny San Joaquin
That stand is made from two 30"x12"x 30" tall, Lowes kitchen cabinets, joined with extra hardwood framing, oak base, and solid 2" birch top. I did a lot of sealing on the back and where it doesn't show, plus oak trim, to shield the particle board from moisture. Some of the sealing was done with brush-on poly, and some with plastic sealing tape.

Guys I am beat this AM. Sometimes the mind forgets what the body can actually do. I may let the dust settle a day and take my lovely wife to the movies.
 

Ulu

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Dec 13, 2018
1,843
3,130
164
The Sunny San Joaquin
Folks my plastic tank arrived sooner than expected by two weeks, and now it is time to make a decision.

I think you all have emboldened me to drill the bottom of the tank. As you can see I ordered the glass tank pre-drilled.
20190514_150211.jpg

But I may not drill until I can locate the hole where I want it in relation to a sump that I have not yet built.

My thought is that I may a put the biggest bulkhead fitting available in the bottom of the tank, and so run one very large standpipe as an emergency overflow with a 1/2 Pex return hose and 1" Herbie throttled drain inside it.

This puts the smaller more fragile pipes inside the biggest pipe I can use. I suspect this will be a 2-inch PVC... Maybe 2.5.

Anyhow this will give me one big pipe somewhere towards the back corner of the tank, and my oscar will not be able to break the thing.

I could have ordered this tank with ordinary black corner overflows, but with the bottom drains that far in the corner of the tank it would interfere with my stand structurally.
 

RemainVayne

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 26, 2017
364
143
51
38
Folks my plastic tank arrived sooner than expected by two weeks, and now it is time to make a decision.

I think you all have emboldened me to drill the bottom of the tank. As you can see I ordered the glass tank pre-drilled.
View attachment 1373056

But I may not drill until I can locate the hole where I want it in relation to a sump that I have not yet built.

My thought is that I may a put the biggest bulkhead fitting available in the bottom of the tank, and so run one very large standpipe as an emergency overflow with a 1/2 Pex return hose and 1" Herbie throttled drain inside it.

This puts the smaller more fragile pipes inside the biggest pipe I can use. I suspect this will be a 2-inch PVC... Maybe 2.5.

Anyhow this will give me one big pipe somewhere towards the back corner of the tank, and my oscar will not be able to break the thing.

I could have ordered this tank with ordinary black corner overflows, but with the bottom drains that far in the corner of the tank it would interfere with my stand structurally.
I have 3 1.5" bottom-drilled holes in my 360g acrylic and it works just fine for me. I know bigger is better, but I can't imagine needing any bigger of drains unless one's tank was very large.
 

Backfromthedead

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jul 12, 2017
4,530
6,081
164
Fredericksburg va
Folks my plastic tank arrived sooner than expected by two weeks, and now it is time to make a decision.

I think you all have emboldened me to drill the bottom of the tank. As you can see I ordered the glass tank pre-drilled.
View attachment 1373056

But I may not drill until I can locate the hole where I want it in relation to a sump that I have not yet built.

My thought is that I may a put the biggest bulkhead fitting available in the bottom of the tank, and so run one very large standpipe as an emergency overflow with a 1/2 Pex return hose and 1" Herbie throttled drain inside it.

This puts the smaller more fragile pipes inside the biggest pipe I can use. I suspect this will be a 2-inch PVC... Maybe 2.5.

Anyhow this will give me one big pipe somewhere towards the back corner of the tank, and my oscar will not be able to break the thing.

I could have ordered this tank with ordinary black corner overflows, but with the bottom drains that far in the corner of the tank it would interfere with my stand structurally.
So you want to do everything in a sort of concealment tower? Customaquariums.com offers something like this. Its pricy but i considered it for one of my tanks. Might be worth a look for your tank.

 
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