125 Gal

Decision Has been made....

Ok, after a couple months worrying about the future of my current job, we believe that it is secure as anything can be considered secure this day...

So, time to move on with building the tank... peninsula all the way.

For the stand, I'm cheating, I have a cabinet maker build an upper/lower cabinet which will match the cabinet work in the kitchen. This was not the cheep way to go, but it is right for us.


When moving the tank to where it will be drilled, the plastic bottom ring came off in one piece. YAH! Should the bottom glass be tempered, it looks like it will be easy to replace it (with a pice drilled by the glass shop).

DSC00485.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


So, here is the layout for the where the holes will be drilled:

DSC00487.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

DSC00481.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

DSC00484.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Here's the tools used for the layout:

DSC00486.jpg - Image - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


So, those who have drilled a tank, too many holes? too close together? or too....???

Thanks,
Joe

 

I am by no means an expert on drilled tanks, Otty is the one to talk to - his peninsula tank is awesome, but I would think the holes in the end are too close together. When you figure the weight of all the sand/rocks/water and the pressure that will create on the bottom, I think the glass between the hols would crack. That is alot of water to have on the floor. I love the idea of a peninsula tank, good luck and keep us posted with lots of pics.

 

Joe I'd not remove that base stress band it looks like a really tight fit between where the band is close to the closest bulkheads it looks like to me , Could be the angle of the photo But I'd make sure that will fit back on. The rest looks good all you have to do is drill a hole now to test the glass for tempered or not keep them fingers crossed X :

 

Tangster, good catch!! I'll re-install the tank base and then double check the setup. Thank you.

 

my 55 was made into a penninsula, if you can drill put the overflow in the center and cover with rocks and coral, the mods are easy but if your overflow is on one end then your powerhead should be on the other to push the water to the overflow and keep the water well filtered, and clear or you water will always have stuff floating around in your tank

 

Thats what I do LOL the devil is always in the details .. The hole out in the bottom middle are they going to be for the recirculating pump ? Its been so long and pills taken I don't recall where it was left off now LOL and what was going where to what.. Or are you blanking off on entire end and use that as a east west type overflow like we laid out Scotts tank a couple yrs back ? I forget now ..

 

The 2 holes out in the middle of the tank are the return for the closed loop system. The over flow is "U" shaped and in the middle of the back wall. The 4 holes along the side are the return points for the closed loop. They "don't have to all" be along the back wall and 2 could be extend out into the tank.

 

First Hole in the tank

After reading/studying about drilling a tank for 2 months (while we waited to confirm that the peninsula was what we wanted), and being concerned about what type of glass was the bottom made from.... it took 8 minutes to make a 2 3/8" hole in the bottom of the tank...

Ready to drill:

I cut a pvc ring and use a bit of caulk to make a "dam" to hold some cooking oil... Duct tape is on the bottom side of the cut...

Image of Ready to drill a hole - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Eight (8) minutes later....

Image of 8 minutes to make a hole - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


Chip out: There is just a bit of chip out on the inside of the tank.

Image of Chip out - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


First bulkhead in: nine more to go....

Image of One down - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

I think that we are OK to keep drilling.

 

Joe that little bit of chpping is nothing at all they will all do that , Looking good .. If there is ever a loner chip that would be outside the bulkheads compression flange just some putty or wax ring even silicone will fix it I just rather use the plumbers putty or a closet wax ring myself Thats way I can see that its a solid seal rather then waiting for the silicone to cure and hope its good ..

 

Revised layout

Since the bottom glass stayed in one piece after drilling the pump supply holes for the closed loop system, it is time to revise the layout to allow for the plastic bottom ring of the tank. Tangester was right, three holes would have been too close to the edge for proper assembly.

So, here is the new version. There is still room for the piping to run in parallel through the wall with out overlaps....

Image of Layout end view, revised plan - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

In this one you can see the outline of where the return walls are located.
Image of layout over head view, revised plan - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

With the return set in place, this is what the closed loop pump return points will look like:
Image of Close loop returns - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

With the return set in place, looking inside the return, standpipes and return lines from the sump:
Image of Overflow setup - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting


So, time to buy the drill bit for the 1" bulkheads and drill the stand pipe points.