Do some fish tanks have holes made on the side?

[inachu]

If so then I could have a sump sit next to my fish tank on my lab bench.

I am considering a 40 gallon bow front pexiglass tank.

[Jandree22]

None that I know of come this way standard, but you could always place a request to a tank maker like GlassCages.com or similar. Funny you should ask this, because just last night I successfully drilled 4 holes (by myself) through the side of my 75g. All it takes is a competent drill, diamond hole bit from eBay, water for bit lubrication and cooling, and 5 minutes of high-speed light pressure on the glass. Voila! Bit cost me < $10 and got me through 7 holes (so far).

[inachu]

Dunno man 7 holes is way too many for my tastes.
YOu could have just drilled 2 and then use tube joints and splitters to make thego where you need to with on and off valves for various different functions.

[cdness]

I have 5 holes in my 75 on the back. Drilling isn't fun but it isn't hard either. Two holes won't always work. As with my setup I have one drain and one return for the sump. Then I have a closed loop with the supply in the back center of the tank and the two returns in the corners of the tank. I like the cleaner look of the tank with no pumps/powerheads in the tank. Only way to accomplish that is either the hang on pipes or drill.

Drilling is the best way to get a great custom setup. If you have special needs it is usually much cheaper than buying a custom tank as well. I would highly recommend watching some videos online of the drilling to see what others have done.

[billdogg]

+1^^ - glass-holes.com has a great how to video on its website, and great prices on bulkhead&bit combos. that way you can put the holes where you need them.

[Tswifty]

Originally posted by inachu
Dunno man 7 holes is way too many for my tastes.
YOu could have just drilled 2 and then use tube joints and splitters to make thego where you need to with on and off valves for various different functions.

I would imagine he didn't mean they were all drilled in one tank. There is a life on glass hole saws/diamond bits, as to how many holes can be successfully drilled with each bit.

However, there is certainly no standard for holes in the tank, and actually the more the better as it will allow you to install failsafes, and reduce the opportunity of a clog in one line causing an overflow.

I use three on my tank. Two for drains, and one as a failsafe which will only allow water to travel down it if the level inside the tank raises to near flood status.

Another reason people use more holes on their tank could be for a closed loop system, and some people like to drill holes for return lines.

[Jandree22]

To clarify, 7 holes = …

1 – Practice hole on a spare 20g tank
1 – Hole in 20g sump to supply external return pump
1 – Hole in top of 30g refugium to gravity feed back into sump
4 – Holes in my 75g… 2 in the corners for overflow boxes, and 2 near the center for return lines.

On a 75g I could’ve done just one hole technically for the drain, but 2 drains are safer than one (backup) and I decided to drill the return lines rather than take PVC up over the back of the tank, purely for aesthetics.

This guy on YouTube has great vids on DIY stuff for your reef, the Sump DIY – Part 1 has video of how to drill a glass tank. http://www.youtube.com/user/LimpitsReef

It may sound hard or scary to drill glass, but I can assure you I’m no expert at DIY, and I went through 7 holes on 4 different tanks (2 which were thin glass 20’s) and didn’t crack a single one. As mentioned, if you don’t want to drill yourself, glasscages.com should be able to hook you up.

EDIT: lol, thanks Tswifty, you must’ve read my mind