Used tank needs holes plugged

[Hondatek]

Hello all. I just scored a 180 gallon from cl for 175 bucks. Only bad thing is it has 4 holes for plumbing on the top of the back glass. I would like to plug them maybe with grommets but where would i get them and would it hold the water in. Also if i run a sump could I plumb 3 of the holes together the the left side of the tank for the overflow to the sump and use the one hole on the other end as a return? But if I do that I would have a water level just below the frame . Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

 

[Rutrag]

A couple of ideas.

1) Get bulkheads and a small piece of appropriately sized PVC and cap them off. (You might be able to just use a screw in cap as opposed to the PVC and cap as well. I'm no plumber, but I know the stuff is out there to do it.)

2) Check out Glass-Holes.com dope aquarium stuff which sells overflow kits that work through the sides or back of an aquarium. They also have return kits, but I'm not sure if they would be suitable for the hole you already have. Since you already have the holes, you want to make sure to order your kits without the hole saw to save some cash. I was looking at these the other day, and they seemed a little pricey to me, but I got a lot of chuckles from the guys who run this site. Their sense of humor is great. There might be some other businesses that offer a similar product, but this was the first one I came across.

(By the way, I ended up having to do a HOB overflow since the craigslist tnak I got was tempered.)

 

[Hondatek]

Cool deal thanks for the link . Do you think home depot would have supplies like bulkheads and acrylic to make my own if needed?

 

[Rutrag]

I know Home Depot sells just sheets of plexiglass / Lexan / acrylic, but I'm not sure about adhesive. I also know from experience that it isn't the easiest material to cut with common tools. (If you have experience, more power to you!) With a hole saw for instance, you tend to simultaneously grind, cut, and melt the material and the edges build up the melted debris leaving a rough edge. You can use a small grinding wheel or sandpaper to smooth it back out, but it's a lot of work. The thin stuff is incredibly easy to crack if the bit binds. I'm not entirely sure what the "right" tools are to work with the material.

I doubt they have bulkheads, but I could be wrong. You are likely to find a plumbing supply house or a place that does water gardens that can help you out with them though. I'm also confident that you can mail order just a bulkhead from an online retailer for not very much.

 

[Hondatek]

Ok thanks for the info. I'm going to email that company you linked and ask them what they think the best products they have would work for my setup.

 

[BillD]

If you want to use the holes for a drain to sump, but keep the water level high, add an overflow box at a height to maintain the water level you want.

 

[Hondatek]

So the overflow would be higher than the tank?

 

[Rutrag]

Not necessarily, you would just want the top (open part) of the overflow box to be at your desired waterline. Most are made with "teeth" to keep fish from riding a waterslide into the overflow chamber. Your waterline will be just slightly higher than the lowest open point at the overflow / water interface. If the tank has a rim, you would probably only see the top of the overflow if you were looking down at the top of the tank.

 

[David S]

Hello all. I just scored a 180 gallon from cl for 175 bucks. Only bad thing is it has 4 holes for plumbing on the top of the back glass. I would like to plug them maybe with grommets but where would i get them and would it hold the water in. Also if i run a sump could I plumb 3 of the holes together the the left side of the tank for the overflow to the sump and use the one hole on the other end as a return? But if I do that I would have a water level just below the frame . Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

how far below the frame are the holes? if you use the holes the water level will be at the bottom of the holes which means if they were 1" holes thats still at least an inch below your frame,how low do you want your water level?Mine is 1/2" below the frame.

 

[Hondatek]

I actually put 6 by 6 lexan patches on the inside of the glass to fix them and bought a hob overflow.

 

[OBEYtheFISH]

Hello all. I just scored a 180 gallon from cl for 175 bucks. Only bad thing is it has 4 holes for plumbing on the top of the back glass. I would like to plug them maybe with grommets but where would i get them and would it hold the water in. Also if i run a sump could I plumb 3 of the holes together the the left side of the tank for the overflow to the sump and use the one hole on the other end as a return? But if I do that I would have a water level just below the frame . Anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks

I got the same deal & same problem from CL only got 2 holes tho
Did you just put a sheet over the hole & used silicone to seal it?
That's what I was thinking of doing

 

[Hondatek]

Yea put silicone all over your patch and put it on the inside of the tank . Let that dry then put a bead or silicone around the patch itself

 

[jetajockey]

I have several bottom drilled tanks that I needed to seal over and I used a piece of glass and silicone. I didn't put silicone between the pieces of glass, but around the edges on the inside and outside of the tank.

Since yours is on the wall of the tank you could use rubber grommets, they have them at the hardware store, they have a bolt through the middle with washers on each side that tighten it down. It's not as nice looking as a piece of glass is, though.

 

[Homer8]

Sorry if it was mentioned but i didnt feel like reading the whole thread. You could maybe connect the holes together using pvc and make it into a cave for some of the fish. Idk after writing it it sounded kinda dumb.

 

[Derekkaine]

A matching PVC tube with some silicone.

 

[Hondatek]

It's all good with the lexan patches. I actually filled it tonite and adding my right now. Thanks for the help anyways.