Should I drill?

[scottwhitson]

I am going to add a closed loop to my 75 gallon tank and was wanting to know if I should have it drilled or just do an over the top system?? What would be the advantages and disadvantages of both? I posted this a couple of days ago and only got one response so I was looking for some more input. All input appreciated.

[Mr James]

I had a 75g that had the holes already drilled. Made life easier. My current 180g is up and running, so drilling is out of the question. If you want to make life easier, drill now before you put the water in. Make sure you can drill the back of the tank though. Also, oversize the drain holes. For instance, if your CL pump is 1" in/out, I'd make your drain holes 1.25" - 1.5", instead of 1".

[nycbrose]

If you can get it drilled, get it drilled. But find a shop with some skills because glass drilling is not easy, and takes a careful hand. It also depends on how your lights are set up. If you have one that's hanging over the aquarium, then you have ample room on top of the aquarium for an "over the top" system. But you have something that sits on top, like a fixture, then you might not have enough room to do it over the top. In fact, having that many things on top of the aquarium will make it fairly unsightly, and hard to get into.

IMPORTANT:

1. The back panel of your aquarium must be thicker, as having drilled holes will decrease integrity of the back glass support. So it might crack or break altogether.

2. You cannot drill tempered glass. It will shatter on contact like a car window.

You can read up more about it at http://www.fishstart.com/discussion/answer.cfm?id=20061110194348AAyFUXg&ds=discussion&q=drilled%20aquarium

[PLNelson]

I just drilled my aquarium two days ago, and have to say that it was really easy. I was nervous about it, but then I found a thread here on how to do it, and bingo, took less than 10 minutes to drill two holes.

Have fun

[Kayadad]

check out this thread. http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=603816


I will be drilling the glass for my external overflow this weekend.
I have already dremeled out the tank. It was easy with a tile cutting rotozip bit.

[rustybucket145]

Glass drilling is extremely easy. I do it with a dremel tool with a tile cutting bit so it takes a while but none the less it's really more hype than anything else.

side note: I have drilled several aquariums that still had all livestock in them we just drained them down about half way.

[Loralie]

Drill!!! you'll be glad in the long run that you did.

[webbstock]

Drill, but take your time! Rushing through glass drilling is not a good idea! (Make sure the glass that you are drilling is NOT tempered

[rustybucket145]

true on the tempered issue!!! That's a fast way to ruin a tank!

[Shagsbeard]

Drill... but I'd have it done professionally. Then, if they screw up, they have to replace the pane. Since you're only talking about a one time cost, it's probably worth it to have it done by a pro.

[Mr James]

There used to be a guy around here that would do it for something like $12 per hole. Maybe you could fill out your profile and someone near you may know where you can go to get it done?!?