Where to drill a tank?

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Coel03

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 12, 2012
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So I had made a post in setup about possibly choosing a canister filter for my 55 that I will be setting up shortly and I made a comment about not having the experience to do a sump. Someone said nonsense. So before I buy a canister filter and spend 100-150$, I thought I would explore a sump. So I have a few questions:

1. So with a 55 I would want to filter like 400-500gph?

2. Would a 20g be a large enough sump for 55?

3. Where on a tank would I want to drill?

Thanks I'm sure there more to come



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1. With a sump, generally 4x turnover is good, so you're looking closer to 220 gph minimum.

2. Providing that you can fit everything you want to inside of it, yes. I used a 20H for my 55g's sump a couple years ago, worked fine.

3. I'll let someone else answer this one.
 
Only need drill if you must prefer clean look. No need drill if you don't mind pipes coming out top of your tank. Where to drill depends on water flow and decor setup. How many sides will be open to view, etc. Most people like all plumbing in the two back corners. I like holes at top back corners of tank. MUST research what PVC pipe diameter you need, then what bulkhead size you need for that pipe diameter, then what sized hole you need so bulkhead can achieve good seal over hole. Do not do things backwards and drill hole first without proper planning. If choose to drill holes, avoid drilling through bottom, because many tank bottoms are tempered glass and will shatter.
 
I like the idea of a drilled tank in just looking for where it would have to be drilled. My entire tank will be viewable however the front and back will the be main view points. If I was going to do a sump I wanted the clean look of a drilled tank. I figured someone here could guide me to where on a tank to drill and why?


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So doing some more research on setting up a wet/dry overflow sump box. If I decide to do this using an old 20g tank and want to drill the sides does this sound right? I will drill my holes approximately 4" below my water level that way if I have 8g or so in my wet dry and power fails It should only over flow an extra 8-10 g? And run 3/4" pipe for the over flow? Also for pumping water out head loss is only the vertical distance traveled if it has to run horizontal for some that doesn't count correct?


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First question I see is can you drill the tank you currently have? Is it acrylic or glass? Tempered or not? Look at Rio pumps If you do a sump low power usage and good flow. Long life. Other pumps use almost twice the power always.

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It is glass and I believe it not to be tempered was a used pick up for 30$. I don't mind buying the drill bits etc. thanks for the suggestion about the pumps I will look into it. Just need to find a used 20g to turn into sump.


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it can be drilled where ever you don't have tempered glass. tempered in a 55 would be unexpected, but if it were, it would be the bottom.
if you're viewing front and back, drill the side.
you could also go with a Hamburg Mattenfilter which would go on the side of the tank.
 
That hamburg mattenfilter is really different I've never seen that before. Being new to the hobby, how does that compare to a wet/dry. The 55 gallon is really my jump into the hobby to learn as much as I can cause every day that goes by I decide even more I want a big tank


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if you've read the link, you know about as much as I do. almost all the info is in german, and this kind of stuff is too specialized to translate well. there are a few discussions here and there, and most people seem to like their results.
it sounds good enough to me that I used the foam for a large part of my filtration in my sump. keep in mind that I'm a sucker for biological filtration.
 
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