Rear Drilling 100G

[neogenix]

Hey Guys,

I've got a 100G (Currently: Turtle) Tank that I want to add a sump to, and then eventually turn into a marine tank (when the turtles outgrow it), I was thinking that in the meanwhile I could marine it up, and start to collect the bits I need to marine it up and simply finish up when I migrate the water-dogs out. I was thinking about drilling in an overflow, but it seems that the general murmur at the LFS was that the bottom could be tempered (unconfirmed, so better safe than sorry, right?) and so if possible, I'd not like to find out the hard way.

The suggestion was to drill either the sides, or the back, which doesn't seem like a bad idea. Currently the water is about 3/4 of the way up for the turtles, so I'd like to keep the output around there for the tank's current use, and then the returns either at the same height or higher.

Do you guys have any suggestions? or any considerations I keep in mind?

[StevenSeas]

if you have the output 3/4 of the way up the tank the problem is when you turn ur pumps off for cleaning or the power goes out your going to drain the top 1/4 of the tank into your sump so you need to make sure u have enough extra space in the sump to accommodate this (roughly 25 gallons)

[allan]

....or he could build one of those nifty little boxes with the teeth on the inside, and a 90 degree inlet (used as a drain) with the little L shaped drainage, hole in top. then he wouldn't have to worry about water dropping below the box's lowest tooth opening.

BUT, I would definitely wait until you get those turtles out of the tank. And here's why. I believe, not sure as I've never drilled glass yet, that you have to go slow and steady... and add a constant source of water to the drill bit to carry away the heat while drilling. Unless you can assure none of that glass powder ridden water makes it's way to the turtle water, you should be good.

I on the other hand, despite the best laid plans, would spill water everywhere and that glass will do nothing positive for your turtles. It may even free up the tank sooner.

[StevenSeas]

this is true with the overflow box, I would recommend the style where its siliconed to the tank, those turtles can be rowdy...

[neogenix]

if you have the output 3/4 of the way up the tank the problem is when you turn ur pumps off for cleaning or the power goes out your going to drain the top 1/4 of the tank into your sump so you need to make sure u have enough extra space in the sump to accommodate this (roughly 25 gallons)

That should be quite easy to do... Another thing that TXMike mentioned tonight which I completely hadn't thought of was just using a 90 degree lower down on the rear facing glass to a tube raised to where I need it to be inside the overflow box (of whatever height / size I'd need)

....or he could build one of those nifty little boxes with the teeth on the inside, and a 90 degree inlet (used as a drain) with the little L shaped drainage, hole in top. then he wouldn't have to worry about water dropping below the box's lowest tooth opening.

BUT, I would definitely wait until you get those turtles out of the tank. And here's why. I believe, not sure as I've never drilled glass yet, that you have to go slow and steady... and add a constant source of water to the drill bit to carry away the heat while drilling. Unless you can assure none of that glass powder ridden water makes it's way to the turtle water, you should be good.

I on the other hand, despite the best laid plans, would spill water everywhere and that glass will do nothing positive for your turtles. It may even free up the tank sooner.

I'm probably going to migrate the turtles out for some time while doing all this, they're not anywhere near as fussy as fish, as long as there's some water, and a bit of heat, they're happy little critters (at least, from what I can tell)

I was actually hoping to put in a 'covered' shorter overflow, and possibly even use an overflow box on each side with a long cover to create a basking platform.

this is true with the overflow box, I would recommend the style where its siliconed to the tank, those turtles can be rowdy...

Yup, they *LOVE* to move things around, and they love to yank, push, pull, and shuffle things that seem to be *good* for moving. So far, really the biggest thing is going to be deciding how I'm going to get as much debris out of the tank, while still keeping it useable for future projects (marine)...

[ErikH]

If you have ever used copper in that tank I would not use it for SW. Just letting you know since you are switching over....

[neogenix]

If you have ever used copper in that tank I would not use it for SW. Just letting you know since you are switching over....

Nope, not yet! but thanks!! I'll keep that in mind!!