New Tank Question

[aquafrogstuff]

It was my birthday on Monday.

I had convinced my wife that I needed a new discus. She suggested I get a new tank. What a girl. No turning back now.

Anyhow, question. I'm looking at getting a 6ftx24"x20"(WxHxD) tank made of 10mm glass. I'm also wanting to put three holes in the base, two for a cannister filter and one for water changes.

Can I get some feedback on peoples experiences with holes in tanks. I'm assuming that, provided they are drilled correctly and connectors installed correctly, then there shouldn't be any problems. I'm wondering if anyone has issues with leakage over a long period or found problems with running a cannister through connectors etc. Obviously the diameter of the connector and pipework within the tank would be sized to accommodate the correct cannister discharge hosing etc.

Anyway, any comments welcome.

Dwayne

[Inspiringfish]

Happy Birthday Aquafrog.

Make sure you get some other advice (I'm newer at this), I have a 125 gallon (4ft x 2 ft x 2ft) with 2 holes, 1 for water exit and 1 for entrance. A very clean looking tank. I like it and have never had any problems with leaking. I say go for it and give your wife a big kiss :) . That ought to be a heck of a tank!!!

[Phlipper]

I've never liked the idea of holes drilled into tanks, it is just a weak spot, and chances of the tank cracking while drilling is risky :? Seals used for drip proofing the holes and connections will wear and perish in time, sounds to me like more trouble than it's worth ?

Not sure why you want to anyway ?.........draining water really should be done with the tried and proven syphon method anyway from the top of the tank to enable complete removal of all detrius material. And no matter how careful you are something will always get blocked in the syphon tubing, much easier to clear it with an easily removable piece of tubing. The general way of filtering is to run the intake and return lines over the lip of the tank, I stick with the tried and tested methods.

[samir]

I had convinced my wife that I needed a new discus. She suggested I get a new tank.

where did you find her ???? lucky you. and Happy Birthday, sorry cant give you any input on the drilling.

[aquafrogstuff]

Thanks for the replies.

Phlipper. The idea behind the holes was more about aesthetics i.e. reducing the number of tubes and cables hanging on the side of the tank. The idea behind the third hole was to have a tube, say 2/3 of the height of the normal water level. When I do water changes, I would connect hosing from this tube and simply drain without having to stand around. Some water changes would of course be done with the usual syphon, but not all the time. Anyway, that was the idea.

samir. There's more to it really. She's into horses. Not sure which costs me more. Anyway, since I started keeping discus, almost this time last year, shes become more and more interested. You might even see some postings on this forum from her some day. Watch this space !

[mcloughlin2]

I've never drilled a tank personally, but i have heard, that if you have the holes drilled at the bottem of the tank and you run a sump on it, when there is a blackout, the tank will drain all the way to the level of the hole... :wink:

However you do say you are using cannisters so this wont be a problem.... :P