good deal on this 280/300 gal?

[scottayy]

Like, dog sharks? lol

I've drilled acrylic before, super easy as you said. But I drilled a quarter inch hole with a solid hole drilling bit.

Drilling a hole for a 1 inch bulkhead or so would require a spade bit, which I have, but not sure about drilling through 1/2" with it.

Anyone have experience drilling that thick of acrylic with a spade bit?

 

[Dary421]

Like, dog sharks? lol

I've drilled acrylic before, super easy as you said. But I drilled a quarter inch hole with a solid hole drilling bit.

Drilling a hole for a 1 inch bulkhead or so would require a spade bit, which I have, but not sure about drilling through 1/2" with it.

Anyone have experience drilling that thick of acrylic with a spade bit?

Scott , use a diamond hole saw ., available at dixieline , home depot or where ever for around twenty bucks.., works great

 

[scottayy]

I have a few diamond hole saw bits. I thought they were only good for drilling glass.

 

[Ibrahim]

I have a few diamond hole saw bits. I thought they were only good for drilling glass.

Try drilling on a 1" acrylic sheet first for practice. You can buy cheap scraps from a glass shop or here on AA. theres one guy selling acrylic and giving away scraps. You'd Lao need a 1" piece to cover the scratch because 1/2" is too small to hold the weight since it's on the bottom.

 

[Dary421]

I have a few diamond hole saw bits. I thought they were only good for drilling glass.

They work great on this too..

 

[scottayy]

Thanks guys. The back compartment of this is pretty cool.. it is actually like a sump. The right side has the overflow box which flows to the middle (currently filled with bioballs) and then flows to the right where there are exit holes.

Pretty cool setup, but I think I will drill it instead. It's only about 4" deep.. can't hide equipment in there. I would take out the compartments but I don't want to risk breaking the tank.

I think two 1" bulkhead holes would be enough flow, right?

@ibrahim, you really think so? The scratch isn't deep, but I can get my fingernail in it. I was being overly cautious by suggesting fitting it over with 1/2" acrylic. You think I should go 1 inch?

 

[Ibrahim]

Thanks guys. The back compartment of this is pretty cool.. it is actually like a sump. The right side has the overflow box which flows to the middle (currently filled with bioballs) and then flows to the right where there are exit holes.

Pretty cool setup, but I think I will drill it instead. It's only about 4" deep.. can't hide equipment in there. I would take out the compartments but I don't want to risk breaking the tank.

I think two 1" bulkhead holes would be enough flow, right?

@ibrahim, you really think so? The scratch isn't deep, but I can get my fingernail in it. I was being overly cautious by suggesting fitting it over with 1/2" acrylic. You think I should go 1 inch?

I'd do it because it's a scratch on the bottom so that's holding over a ton in water weight. And you need an inch since that's how much is needed to support 300 gallons but if it was a scratch on the side that was 10" down from the top of the tank it'd be about 55g of water, you'd need 1/4" of acrylic because that's how thick it needs to be to support a 55 gallons. srry for my rant but do you get what I'm trying to say? Oh and how long and wide is the scratch? And here is the link to thread for acrylic: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f25/glass-and-or-acrylic-177114.html

 

[scottayy]

So i started building the stand.

I should start a build thread but I'm not committed to this build yet because the floor would have to be reinforced, it would cost a lot of money, and not everyone in the household is 100% on board with the project (this is the big one lol).

But still, building things is fun and should i decide to flip it, I could get more with tank + stand.

I am copying mr_x's stand design. 2x4 frame, double 2x4 legs. Got most of it done but ran out of lumber and nails on the legs.

 

[scottayy]

i can get a 125g for a sump for $100 on CL about 20 miles from me

still searching around for best deals on equipment

 

[Jlsardina]

Thanks.

I don't know the point of the overflow box as of yet. There's no holes drilled in it. So it looks like I would need to still have an HOB overflow box =/

How hard is it to drill acrylic? Easier than glass? I didn't have any luck with glass.

Luckily I'll have a long time to figure it out. Seriously going to resist the temptation and store this one until I am ready.

You usually only pay like 15-20 a hole to et acrylic drilled. What's costs is buying bulkheads.

 

[scottayy]

the 125 was already sold
would a 55 gallon be too small of a sump for a tank this big?
it would be a lot of flow through it. looking at 1800gph with 2 1" drains but with some loss

 

[BillD]

Large tanks don't need sumps. I have a friend who has a 350, filtered with a mattenfilter, I believe on each end, run with air lifts.

 

[Jlsardina]

I only have a 40 gallon refugium on my 220 gallon

 

[scottayy]

Really thats interesting. What kind of flow through it?

 

[Ibrahim]

Maybe instead of a sump you can get a large canister filter rated for your sized tank.

 

[scottayy]

Nah I'd much rather have a sump and a refugium. I will just look for a 90-125. Then I'll divide it up and put baffles in.

I've set up the craigslist app to alert me when new things are posted.

I reckon I'll have a build thread pretty soon!