Drilling a hole in the side of my sump.

Hey guys I am trying to get my skimmer hooked up. It is the one that I won for this contest 3reef's Get the Word Out! Video Contest - 3reef Forums
Red sea c-skim 1200. The dilemma I have been battling with this skimmer is it is too big to fit any where I thought about putting it... until now. ;D

I moved out all of the wiring from the stand and slid the sump over 4" and I have just enough space for the skimmer to go beside the sump. The only problem is the return from the skimmer back to the sump would have to go through the glass of the sump. The hole would be above the water line and I would still use a bulk head.

I seem to recall there being a rule about how close you can drill to the corner before it creates a weak spot... how close is that? Or is it just enough so the bulk head will fit?

I drilled a 10 gal without any problems, but there is a snag in this operation. I can not remove the sump from under the stand, so I would have to drill the tank with it in place. If something were to go wrong and I* destroyed the sump I would have to empty the DT and move off the stand, to get it out.

I am thinking in order to do this I would get a right angle drill attachment so the drill will fit easily. Then I would empty the chamber that is getting the hole and pump some fresh water into the bottom of that chamber. I would then drill the tank from the inside using a small pump to pump the fresh water over the bit to cool it. I have enough room to drill the tank from the outside but keeping water on the bit would be messy.

 

I think it is something like 1.5x the hole diameter.

 

Sounds to risky to me. For just a skimmer. Are you already running a skimmer?

 

I have a "skimmer" and it is running but it is a horrible one and foam doesn't get to the collection cup.