drilling a new closed loop???

[Jessbo]

I installed a closed loop a few months back on my established tank. Had to drill closed loop holes on the sides of tank. I was not able to drain it completely and move it to access the back. The tank is 125 gal., 4x2x2. Have two outputs on right wall, one on left, another feeding a 3/4" seaswirl. Have one input on each side also. Will provide pics.

output on top right points straight toward left wall(3" flare locline), other output points straight at front wall and toward overflow(y locline)

output on left wall points slightly up and slightly toward overflow(3" flare locline), and seaswirl angles between directly foward and pointing at overflow.

I will be needing to drain the tank completely in the next few months, and am wondering if I should finally drill holes in the back, not only for better circulation, but also appearance(1.5" pvc connects each ouput, using ampmaster 3000 pump for CL). Ideas?

 

[ronj]

you nedd to talk to krish...he is king of drilling holes and wanting good flow!!!!

 

[Jessbo]

how do i bring his attention to my thread?

 

[ronj]

trust me... he will see it ..... probably within the hour i think he lies about working... he is on here at all times of the day when i get on....unless his wife has gone into labor, which is a possibility

 

[ronj]

i will save him the trouble and show you ome picks of the holes he had drilled!!!! these might help some...i hope i didn't violate any copyright laws

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15623&page=12
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15623&page=14
http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=13910&d=1151970626

 

[Jessbo]

I am ok with drilling holes, just want to know if I should drill new holes so my outputs are coming out the back rather than the side.

One question I do have about drilling. When I drilled my holes, I used a hole saw bit witha pilot of course. The problem though, once the pilot bit breaks through the tank, it grabs hold of the acrylic. I had two cracks result from the grab and the hold saw binding. Lukily the cracks were within my cutout. But if I am drilling again, I want to avoid this 'biting' of the bit and avoid a possible large crack.

 

[Krish]

trust me... he will see it ..... probably within the hour

ROFL! I would have seen this sooner, but I was actually adding another pump to my closed loop How ironic(LOL) Here's the thread if you wanna check it out

http://www.reeffrontiers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17437

I will be needing to drain the tank completely in the next few months, and am wondering if I should finally drill holes in the back, not only for better circulation, but also appearance(1.5" pvc connects each ouput, using ampmaster 3000 pump for CL). Ideas?

If you have the opportunity to do it, I'd put 1 or 2 in the back. A 125gal is a long tank that flow can get lost pretty easily in so I would just to make sure you are covering all spots. I know what you mean about 1.5 inch plumbing...They are huge!!! I guess it would be best to generally figure out your aquascaping first, so you can know where to put the outputs where some rock work may hide it. It's hard to say exactly where to put the holes though when you aren't actually sitting infront of the tank to see what the flow is doing as it is. I usually toss some flakes in my tank and see where the flow takes it and where is lacking flow and figure it out from there. Probably just having some flow hitting towards the front glass and deflecting off of it which will also collide with the side flow, may do the trick and give you some crazy random flow. I've noticed my best results with flow come from having opposing flow colliding with one another which was brought to my attention a while back by Sherman and have stuck with that technique since. Have you noticed any spots in particular that look like they could use the flow?

One question I do have about drilling. When I drilled my holes, I used a hole saw bit witha pilot of course. The problem though, once the pilot bit breaks through the tank, it grabs hold of the acrylic. I had two cracks result from the grab and the hold saw binding. Lukily the cracks were within my cutout. But if I am drilling again, I want to avoid this 'biting' of the bit and avoid a possible large crack.

Whenever I'm drilling holes through plastic, acrylic etc, I usually go through in reverse in the beginning to prevent this from happening. One time I was trying to cut a 6inch hole through the rear deck of a Mercedez Benz and I figured I'd go full force in forward with power drill and when it grabbed, it sprained my wrist and slammed me in the head(LOL) So, going backwards at first always seems to help and prevent accidents. I'd go forward slowly (without much pressure) until the pilot bit get through, then run it in reverse for a bit before putting it in forward and going straight through HTH and best of luck

 

[Jessbo]

Well I am thinking of eliminating the side outputs all together, just leaving the inputs, mainly cause I don't want to have to drill 2 more holes for the 1.5" inputs.

I am thinking of two outputs on either end of the tank on the back wall for 4 total. One either side, one near the top of the water, the other about halfway down. With my sump returns shooting straight down the back wall along side the central overflow to send current down the back side. Pic will follow.

Currently I try to not let any rock rest against the back wall, so everything is near the center of the tank. What do you think of my current flow pattern? Do you think there are any problems?

You said you drill in reverse? You mean the drill was drilling in reverse or you drilled from the inside out?

 

[Krish]

Sorry...I meant I drill with the drill in reverse rotating counter clockwise As for your flow pattern, I like it. I just figured you wanted them along the back instead of the side for some reason. I aquascape in the center of the tank as well leaving almost equal distance infont of and behind my rocks so they don't rest on the back. If you check out that link I posted above, I just added a side shot that shows it. How you have your setup now is almost the same general way as I had my 75gal with Tunzes on either end of the tank and a sea-swirl in the center and I didn't have any deadspots in that tank at all. The main difference with your setup and how I had my 75gal, was yours was a closed loop and I used powerheads. Worked great like that

 

[Jessbo]

The bit will still cut through? Just a little slower process I guess. I am not too bothered by my setup. I think the lateral flow is good for this type of tank. But you know, always wanted it to be a little neater looking.

 

[Krish]

The bit will still cut through?

Yeah because you don't go all the way through in reverse. I just start it like that in reverse so it won't grab hard on that first initial contact with whatever you are drilling through. I do the same thing with wood even

 

[Jessbo]

Starting the pilot isn't the problem, it is when it pushes through the other side of the acylic. The bit just bites and pulls the hole saw toward the acylic. The force of the pilot biting I think is what caused the cracking. But how to get it to stop biting once it makes it through the other side, I don't know.

 

[Krish]

Ahh...My bad. I thought it was on initial contact! Out the otherside is another story. You'll almost have to go half way through from both sides if possible. Just line up the otherside, by inserting right back into the same pilot hole

 

[brianblack]

Could try clamping a backer board on it so the bit won't get the final big bite. and maybe drill the pilot with a reg drill bit first.