Help drilling bottom of 55 gallon tank

[EpicVegas]

First I have checked with the manufacture and sales shop where I purchased the tank. Both have said it it not tempered glass.

Is it safe to drill a 55 gallon tank from the bottom? I was planning on drilling 3 1" bulkheads into the tank. 1 drain, 1 overflow, 1 return. I'll be adding about an inch of live sound and about 30-40lbs of live rock. Plus the weight of the water has me worried if the bottom would still hold with 3 holes cut into it.

[bugs713]

Three holes will be okay as long as all three are not too close to each other.
I would verify for myself on the validity of it being tempered or not, do a search on here - how to tell if glass is tempered.
Also, do a lot of reading on drilling glass tanks before you start. It is fairly simple, but you want to make sure you do it correctly.
I have drilled both glass and acrylic and once I got past the first hole, I wasn't so nervous haha I did a ton of reading before I started though.

Good luck!

[bluewater921]

i would really think about doing a tempered test before i would trust someone .. why 3 .. i would just do 2 .. a 1" for overflow and a 3/4 for return ..

[Holbert]

Or you could drill on the sides of the tank and use bulkheads with crates as returns.

[Chris27]

One could argue that a drain is the same as an overflow....are you intending the 3rd hole to be a backup drain of sorts?

[EpicVegas]

Originally Posted by Chris27

One could argue that a drain is the same as an overflow....are you intending the 3rd hole to be a backup drain of sorts?

1 drain - to drain the water to the sump..
1 overflow - backup if drain gets clogged. Drains "overflow" of water
1 return - return water from sump.

Basic herbie overflow system.

[EpicVegas]

Originally Posted by bluewater921

i would really think about doing a tempered test before i would trust someone .. why 3 .. i would just do 2 .. a 1" for overflow and a 3/4 for return ..

I thought your return should be bigger not smaller then the drain size?
Please correct me if I'm wrong though.

[Chris27]

Return is typically smaller then the drain, ie. 3/4 return, 1.5" drain.

[RDuhb]

Originally Posted by Chris27

Return is typically smaller then the drain, ie. 3/4 return, 1.5" drain.

What's the reason or advantage of having a smaller return pipe?

[thegrun]

Originally Posted by RDuhb

What's the reason or advantage of having a smaller return pipe?

A pipe will carry more water under pressure than if it is gravity fed, so the return pipe is typically one or even two pipe sizes smaller than the drain line(s). ...and yes, you want the protection of a second back-up drain line. The secondary drain will also allow you to safely adjust the main drain flow to make it quiet.

[glennvandyke]

im running my mag 18 on a 3/4 with 3 drains on a 75g i did have my main drain clog once, so it is always better to have an extra drain

[Goldcoastreefs]

Again as Some have said make sure it is not tempered. Do the polarized glasses trick. Most 55's are tempered. What is the manufacturer of the tank?

[RDuhb]

Originally Posted by glennvandyke

im running my mag 18 on a 3/4 with 3 drains on a 75g i did have my main drain clog once, so it is always better to have an extra drain

My tank will be a 75g with 2-1" overflow, and thanks to you guys I will switch the return to 3/4". THANKS FOR THE INFO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Michigan Mike]

What kind of 55g tank is it? Most perfecto(Marineland) and aqueon(AGA) are tempered glass.

[EpicVegas]

Originally Posted by Goldcoastreefs

Again as Some have said make sure it is not tempered. Do the polarized glasses trick. Most 55's are tempered. What is the manufacturer of the tank?

The manufacturer of the tank is Fujimoto Aquarium