Drilling a nano

[dmagrath]

I've been turned down by big al's to have my 6 gal drilled. What's the chances it will break during the drilling? Do they drill a circular hole in the bottom of the tank, or cut squares out of the back glass plate for an overflow box?

Thanks for any help!

TANK BUILD EQUIPMENT SO FAR:

70w DIY MH (gotta figure out what kind of bulb is in there)
Coralife 12" CFO w/actinic striplight
AC 50
Eshopps hob nano overflow
Hydor submersible heater
2 5w comp fans installed into tank box

8gal aga

[monocus]

if done slowly it shouldn't break-make a dam with plasticine -keep filled with water and use a guide with your diamond hole saw.and don't press-let the weight of the drill do the cutting

[toytech]

Problem with drilling such a small tank is that its hard to support the thin glass so it dosent break , and once drilled you will have to be super carful not to bumb your fittings because they will crack the tank easy . Cutting a notch in the top of the tank and siliconing an overflow box onto the back is a good idea , you could use a dremel with a carbide bit to cut the peice out.

[dmagrath]

Excellent. I was going to get someone else to do it because it would be cheaper that way, but I'm having trouble finding someone who will drill it. I will post pics once everything is done. I've been working on a wall mountable stand/display box in the shop for a couple of months now. Im in the process o building an automated cloud cover simulator. It's basically like a wire tank belt with a diode on a timer, so every four hours a different section of the tank is covered.

[DCDN]

I'm also looking to drill my little cube I have. Kind of worried about it. Good luck with yours

[The Grizz]

Why not reinforce the bottom of the tank with a thicker piece of glass before you drill.

[dmagrath]

Went into jlaquatics and got talked out of drilling the tank. Jeff seemed like a learned man and sold me on a nano hang on overflow. My name is on an order for one coming in on the 21st. It fits perfectly inside my wall mounted tank box. Has anyone bought the "Eshopps nano overflow"? Now I have more descisions to make. Filter sock or not? Sacrifice sump space in the lower cavity of tank box for topoff reservoir? I guess I should post all my equip so far.

[dmagrath]

Pic of the bottom section of the unit
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg66/dmagrath/b78252af.jpg

Pic of the top:
http://i245.photobucket.com/albums/gg66/dmagrath/6274249d.jpg

I'm not done construction of the unit yet, have to add a door to the top area and put a final coat of paint, then lacquer.
but it's coming along.

[sphelps]

The smaller the tank the harder it is to drill. I have some glass hole saws if someone in Calgary wants to borrow one, can't guarantee I'll have the size you want but I have a few sizes available. However if it's your first time drilling glass and you're doing a nano with 3mm glass I give you a 50/50 chance of success :lol:

[gobytron]

I havent used that brand per se, but I have used lifereef and similar utube based models...

Properly set up, there is no difference between one of these and a drilled overflow.

I have used both systems before and as some of you may know from previous threads, am a utube overflow advocate.