Drilling a 75 Gallon tank.

[ABCRinaldo]

I have a BIG Als close to my home, they sell 75 gallon Tanks for $102.00 and Corner drilled overflow tanks for $189.00

I'd rather save $80 if I can, I might be able to upgrade to the nicer light system I wanted. I've seen people say that drilling tempered glass is not possible. Could I or should I attempt drilling a 75 or should I fork over the extra 80 for a professional job.
Or perhaps even, is an overflow that big of a deal?

[staticx]

you can always do a hang over the back over flow and you would not need to drill you can do one of those and it would not cost much find out if the tank is tempered if it is not then its real easy to drill just put your circle take some putty or double sided sticky tape and make it a half inch larger then the hole your re going to drill fill it with some veggie oil for lube and drill away you can use water for lube but veggie oil works better

[DrHank]

Definately go for the drilled. It is much more reliable than an overflow box. Also, you can't get a good overflow box for the price differance and it's their tank till you pay for it anyway so if they mess it up it isn't your problem. I wish my tank was drilled. Also, unless you've done it before successfully, you are risking $102. Also don't forget that once it's drilled you still have to create the overflow so there's that extra cost too. Spend the extra $80, you'll be glad you did in the lng run!

[sjm817]

You would need to buy a glass drill bit, a bulkhead, and buy or make some sort of skimmer box. Factor that into the cost. I assume the corner overflow is bottom drilled? The main difference is, do you want the plumbing on the bottom or on the back of the tank? Bottom drilled tanks can be put closer to the wall.

[DHyslop]

The other thing to consider is the type of overflow. If you did it yourself you could make a side-to-side Calfo-style overflow.

Even if the cost ends up being a wash, that might be reason enough to do it. You'd need the bulkheads ($5-10 each), the hole saw ($10) and two pieces of cut 1/4" glass (maybe $25?).

I tend to do projects myself even if the cost is the same just because I enjoy the DIY aspect :)

Dan

[69vette]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8533976#post8533976 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by staticx
you can always do a hang over the back over flow and you would not need to drill you can do one of those and it would not cost much

Never use one of these things. They're a disaster waiting to happen.

[archer8681]

There's a lot of things that you will DIY. I would spend the extra $$ on the predrilled RR tank. No need for an oops. Just my .02