First drilled tank setup (210)

[robham777]

I think it will work better in the tank and not on the washing machine...lol

I hope so. The washer is right next to the freezer, which is serving as my work bench. My wife loves it when I am working on stuff.

I agree you can drill with the tank set up, I have done it a number of times.
Just drill the tank from inside to out, and have something to catch the little bit of water once the drill bit pushes thru.

Thanks Duane, I did finally realize that it was not that big a deal to do it with the tank in place. For whatever reason (probably youtube) I had it in my head I needed to drill from the outside in, which would be a pain to irrigate. Duh, it's an aquarium and it's purpose is to hold water. I got 2 extra 1.5 bulkheads and some extra pipe already for the e drains. I am still a little apprehensive about cracking the tank, but hopefully with adequate cooling, a decent bit, and a jig it will be a breeze.

 

[robham777]

Second tower is built, and I am filling the tank back up to see how they work out.

 

[Dixon81]

I probably wouldn't bother with the bio balls. I don't believe they work well as submerged media. They will just get in the way if you ever have to service that stand pipe.

 

[robham777]

I probably wouldn't bother with the bio balls. I don't believe they work well as submerged media. They will just get in the way if you ever have to service that stand pipe.

Thanks, you are probably right, I have always heard they are very poor media in a submerged environment. Off to the hardware store, the 1.5" slip bulkheads I ordered seem to have different mpt than the original ones so my drains don't fit anymore.

 

[robham777]

Oops! Hopefully I can find some brand new mistakes to make on the next tank, instead of repeating the same ones.

Almost ready for a test, hope it is not back to the drawing board.

 

[robham777]

I put my big boy pants on today and drilled an emergency drain. Went pretty smoothly, but there was some chipping on punch through. Glad I drilled it from the inside after all.

 

[Thomas18]

Looks good. Job job on the hole, i would be way too nercous to do that myslelf

 

[Grinch]

I put my big boy pants on today and drilled an emergency drain.

High five for the big boy pants Been there.

 

[robham777]

Man, this project has given me a whole new appreciation for tank plumbing. This has taken way longer than I anticipated. The good news is that both drains have to be close to 100% blocked before the emergency drain is overwhelmed and that is with the pump running at the highest flow setting. Plumbing is more or less done.

I had to redo the drains, since the way I had them originally would not allow me to open the lid without removing them. It is still pretty tight underneath, but I can live with it.

The plumbing on the back requires 8.5 inches of clearance from the wall, which is more than I wanted, but I may be happy about it if I ever have to remove the plumbing with the tank in place.

 

[robham777]

Moved the tank into place and touched up the paint on the back yesterday. Filled it back up and added 100 lbs of sand and some driftwood today. Picked up a clear polycarbonate panel to use as lids temporarily. I still have to decide on lighting, but am leaning towards the led strips with a controller since they are so cheap and come in 5m lengths which would cover this tank and the 2 x 75 gallons that will go next to it.

Hope to get the 75's moved into place this week and get started on the stand for my next project.