Drilled tank will it work for fish?

[Slacker87]

Ok I can see why a 10 is on the small side. That particular 10 gallon is horrible though, the water doesn't even really flow through those sponges on the top. I've seen someone use a small chest with drawers. The person selling the tank sent me some more pictures what do you think I could do with this weird little separate section? The tank was previously used for a snake. I just noticed there is no bracing under the tank will this be able to support the weight of the water?

 

[Bee0912]

Ok I can see why a 10 is on the small side. That particular 10 gallon is horrible though, the water doesn't even really flow through those sponges on the top.

Was that at me?????

 

[Slacker87]

Was that at me?????

It was, but I misunderstood how it worked. I was looking at it on my phone while I was at work, I thought the water came in through the side and flowed diagonally. I see now it comes down the two tubes then through the sponges der . I'm not super creative when it comes to things like that.

Now what I am worried about is the bracing of this tank. Do you guys think it will even be able to hold water? My 55 has a brace running down the center of the bottom pane of glass.

Not sure about this whole cubby thing this tank has it looks to me from these pictures that water won't even flow into it, if it does no where near enough to use as a sump without cutting some/all of it out. This sure is more thought than i've had to put into any of my other setups before.

 

[Slacker87]

Bump Will this thing hold water without a center brace?

 

[jcardona1]

that box in the corner is the overflow, where water flows down to the sump. if you choose not to use a sump, i would use bulkheads to plug the holes. patching with a piece of glass/acrylic is messy and could potentially leak.

 

[jcardona1]

Bump Will this thing hold water without a center brace?

what do you mean? i see a center brace right there in the pic

 

[Bee0912]

Yes it will hold water. The reason that your 55 has a center brace on the bottom my guess would be is that the 55 does not have a tempered glass bottom and the larger tank does so it does not need one?

The tank was made to hold water because it has an overflow. It was not made for reptiles specifically it was made for fish.

To help you out with the sump and overflow thing I would get a 20 gallon tall as a sump and go to the dollar store to get a clear plastic tote as a media rack like in my 10 gallon only larger. Do not worry about the wall I have between the pump and the rest of the sump you can just put the pump under the media rack.

The overflow box that is in the main tank has 2 holes in the bottom of it. The larger one is the drain and the smaller one is the return. This is how they are plumbed.

http://www.thesea.org/diy-aquarium/mechanics_standpipe.html

I really hope I helped. I would go with this tank if I were you.

 

[Slacker87]

Yes it will hold water. The reason that your 55 has a center brace on the bottom my guess would be is that the 55 does not have a tempered glass bottom and the larger tank does so it does not need one?

The tank was made to hold water because it has an overflow. It was not made for reptiles specifically it was made for fish.

To help you out with the sump and overflow thing I would get a 20 gallon tall as a sump and go to the dollar store to get a clear plastic tote as a media rack like in my 10 gallon only larger. Do not worry about the wall I have between the pump and the rest of the sump you can just put the pump under the media rack.

The overflow box that is in the main tank has 2 holes in the bottom of it. The larger one is the drain and the smaller one is the return. This is how they are plumbed.

http://www.thesea.org/diy-aquarium/mechanics_standpipe.html

I really hope I helped. I would go with this tank if I were you.

Yeah that helped a bunch thank you!!
So the overflow chamber will keep it from back siphoning the whole tank which is awesome. One thing I still don't understand... water flows through the grates into the overflow then is sucked up the pipe and into a sump. Why is the return line going back into the overflow and not out into the tank. What I'm trying to say is this seems like it would refilter the just cleaned water over and over instead of the water from the rest of the tank. I have a fluval 305 in my other tank and I was thinking of using some sort of hose like that for the return.

Now I need to work on getting the pump, is it something I can get at petco or order it? The people at my lfs really arn't all that friendly

I'll also be making a stand for this tank so if anyone has any good blueprints I would greatly appreciate that. I understand that the stand does not actually touch the glass rather it holds up the frame of the tank I'm just not sure of how the center brace of the stand should be done. I also saw one tank that had a 2-3 inch diameter edge all the way around it which the frame of the tank was supported by. I guess I still have some research to do.

 

[jcardona1]

^ the return would have a vertical pipe going out and over the overflow box, to a spray bar or other type of return. its just a way of making the setup look cleaner

 

[Slacker87]

^ the return would have a vertical pipe going out and over the overflow box, to a spray bar or other type of return. its just a way of making the setup look cleaner

I thought that might be the case, It has a circle cut out for that reason at the top.

As far as a stand goes how does this plan look?
http://www.fishandtips.com/step3/st...Step2=checked&Step3=checked&Key=&add1=checked

Anyone see anything wrong with that or anything that could be improved? I saw one stand with 4 2x4's instead of one main center support.