How many holes can I put in my acrylic stand?

[DaveB]

I have a Tenecor 120 - 4x2x2 - and the stand is made of acrylic. It's thin, like 1/4", but has been plenty strong enough to hold the 120.

It has a 4x8 inch rectangle in the center of the back under the overflow. But the overflow is bigger than that and I want more holes. I might also want to put an emergency drain hole in a back corner too.

But I worry that cutting any more out of this structure will be dangerous.

I have no idea how strong this stuff can be, or how it distributes weight.

Would it be safe for me to widen out the back hole to match the shape of the overflow? (It's 3-sided with 2 diagonals. Like this: \__/ ) What about adding a 2" hole for a drain in a back corner?

FWIW, inside the stand it has 1/2" acrylic braces dividing it into thirds. They run vertically up the front and back and cross over the top to connect to each other. I think it also has vertical corner braces.

 

[CA-Delta]

I'm thinking a picture or two could be helpful in answering your questions.

 

[DaveB]

Not much I can show. The tank is full on the stand right now. Here are a few from when I took it apart pre-sanding:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=4893237&postcount=42

The one from below the tank itself shows the overflow. Each side of it is 7", so 4x8" in a central location really only leaves room for the two holes that are already there, even though I could fit at least two more 1" bulkheads there. I'd like to get a 1" emergency drain and possibly two smaller ones for a canister filter as well (since my sump size is limited by the stand's small door), not to mention the 1" emergency drain in the back corner of the tank if possible.

 

[CA-Delta]

Ok , If I understand correctly you want to drill and or cut the top of the stand, not the bottom of the tank. If so i would think it would be ok as long as you don't go crazy big and you radius the corners of the cutout staying at least 1 1/2 times the diameter away from the edges. This assumes we're talking about the stand not the tank.

 

[DaveB]

Well I want to cut the tank too, but I know that'll work.

But yeah. I wonder if this 1/4" acrylic stand would be able to withstand more holes.

 

[DaveB]

Drained it and took some pics. There's still somehow some Novus 2 residue on there. I'm not going to trust this with fish for several fills/drains after what happened with my orangeheads.

Anyway, this is the best view I could get. I want to widen that black cutout. But not if it compromises the strength of this 1/4" acrylic stand.

 

[DaveB]

Bump.

I'm going to go pick up a blade to do this in about an hour. Want to give the crowd some time to tell me I'm stupid...