new 240.. have some questions.

[Darren13]

Hi all this is my first post on here. Just had a quick question. I got a used 240 gallon tenecor acrylic tank about a month ago. I buffed it, made a canopy and constructed a steel stand. The stand could hold a million lbs and im extremly happy with the way it turned out.

The tank came pre drilled with internal overflows. I have both connected to an fx5. I have never owned a tank with overflows. They are working well, but im afraid all the waste is settling on the bottom and not being filtered. This tank has very small openings at the top 13"x30". The acrylic lip overhangs almost 6". so im not sure how to get intake hoses to the bottom of the tank.

I just bought another fx5 and im hesitant to hook it up to the overflow. does anyone have any recommendations on how to plum it so im pulling water/waste from the bottom of the tank?

Any other recommendations would be great!! I will post more pics up later.
I currently have the tank stocked with frontosa and a baby arowana.

 

[JK47]

Hi all this is my first post on here. Just had a quick question. I got a used 240 gallon tenecor acrylic tank about a month ago. I buffed it, made a canopy and constructed a steel stand. The stand could hold a million lbs and im extremly happy with the way it turned out.

The tank came pre drilled with internal overflows. I have both connected to an fx5. I have never owned a tank with overflows. They are working well, but im afraid all the waste is settling on the bottom and not being filtered. This tank has very small openings at the top 13"x30". The acrylic lip overhangs almost 6". so im not sure how to get intake hoses to the bottom of the tank.

I just bought another fx5 and im hesitant to hook it up to the overflow. does anyone have any recommendations on how to plum it so im pulling water/waste from the bottom of the tank?

Any other recommendations would be great!! I will post more pics up later.
I currently have the tank stocked with frontosa and a baby arowana.

Welcome to MFK! Nice tank. I think I am following what your asking. Any reason you can't just drill two holes on the top of the tank with a 1" hole saw? That will let you run the FX5 hoses down over the substrate and work far better for mechanical.That's what I did on my 220g acrylic. Would a pic of mine help you? I can go take one real quick. LMK.

 

[Darren13]

Hey thanks for the quick reply brother. Yea I could drill some holes, but I really dont want to take the whole tank apart again. Is it possible to do that with the tank still partially filled?

Also another concern is that the tank bows like crazy, I am worried that drilling holes will weaken it. Should I be concerned with that?


I had a 75g sump on it too, but I absolutly hated it. The sump was literally a stinking mess. Thats why I decided to go with another fx5.

 

[scriving]

Hey thanks for the quick reply brother. Yea I could drill some holes, but I really dont want to take the whole tank apart again. Is it possible to do that with the tank still partially filled?

Also another concern is that the tank bows like crazy, I am worried that drilling holes will weaken it. Should I be concerned with that?


I had a 75g sump on it too, but I absolutly hated it. The sump was literally a stinking mess. Thats why I decided to go with another fx5.

put a powerhead close to your substrate to kick up some of the debris.

 

[JK47]

Hey thanks for the quick reply brother. Yea I could drill some holes, but I really dont want to take the whole tank apart again. Is it possible to do that with the tank still partially filled?

Also another concern is that the tank bows like crazy, I am worried that drilling holes will weaken it. Should I be concerned with that?


I had a 75g sump on it too, but I absolutly hated it. The sump was literally a stinking mess. Thats why I decided to go with another fx5.

I have drilled quite a few tanks while full (including the one below). It's a little scary but I have never cracked one or anything else. A standard 1" hole saw drill bit is perfect for the FX5. The bit will drill a hole slightly larger than the hoses so they are held snug. I put a plastic bowl under where I am drilling to catch the debris. The water level will "float" the bowl and hold it in place. If your too concerned to drill it yourself pay a proffesional but it's not that hard.

Here are the pics of mine. Hope that helps. I agree with the above about the powerheads but since you already bought the FX5, use it! (or even better use both )

 

[geronimo69]

Beautiful tank! Can't you simply add a powerhead or 2 so that they stir the waste up into the water column and out the overflow?

 

[Darren13]

Ok perfect thats what im going to do when I get home. im getting nervous though. Im going to keep the overflows attached to one fx5 and drill holes for the other. I will just plumb the outflow through the overflow box so it is expelled through the loc-line?

Im thinking about going back to a bare bottom tank also, the large stone seem to be collecting a ton of waste.

 

[JK47]

Ok perfect thats what im going to do when I get home. im getting nervous though. Im going to keep the overflows attached to one fx5 and drill holes for the other. I will just plumb the outflow through the overflow box so it is expelled through the loc-line?

Im thinking about going back to a bare bottom tank also, the large stone seem to be collecting a ton of waste.

You could do that. If it where me, I would drill 4 holes and run the two FX5 intakes and returns through the top with a slightly lower water level. I like running my FX5's at full throttle, not restriced by loc-line etc but I do not know how many lines you have/size so it may not be restricted at all. You can put a flat plug in the bulkhead fitting to seal up the overflow box. That way you can remove the BH fitting later and make use of the overflow if you ever get back into running a sump. Your call on whatever you prefer really.

 

[johns]

Use a nice sharp bit not to much pressure and take Your Time. No really very hard. Just do not push to hard. You will be suprised how easy it is.