# Drilled Tank Worries



## fishguy_1955 (Apr 5, 2006)

A non-fishkeeping friend of mine is going to give me a gigantic (looks to be at least 125g) tank, stand, hood, lights etc. that he came into recently and just doesn't want!! How's that for a present. It was formerly used for saltwater and had just been drilled for a wet dry filter (the 20 gal sump tank is included) when the owner suddenly passed away in the midst of the project. I plan on making it a really big FW Angelfish community and will be happy to complete the WD filter.

My worry is this: Why on earth would anyone drill such a big beautiful tank only about 4" up from the bottom - which is where the hole is placed? Doesn't this almost guarantee disaster if the o-ring/fitting that seals the drilled hole around the PVC has any failure whatsoever? I have to really study up on WD filter technology and set-ups, but it seems to me that it would be far safer to remove the water from the tank via a siphon arrangement into an acrylic box hanging on the outside of the tank, and take it from there down to the sump. That way, any failure would only result in partially draining the tank, and not in a gravity-fed drain killing everything and destroying the floors. Sadly, I cannot ask the previous owner what he was thinking at the time. Has anyone here ever seen this type of arrangement before? Can it be made relatively safe?

Any feedback will be greatly appreciated.

Paul P.


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Actually the 225 gallon tank I have had part of the bottom of the tank cut out for filtering. Its really not all that uncommon for saltwater its just you dont see it most of the time. People tend to want to hide all that bothersom life support stuff so they mount things where they are easily hidden. I used a plate of glass and siliconed it into place like a new secondary bottom for the tank and all has been well. No gaskets to worry about going bad to cause your mentioned gravity drain issues. It is no different than any other seal on a tank.


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## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

As Doc said. What you have is the normal situation. I have a 150 that was purchased used that have the holes drilled in the bottom glass. You are less likely to have a problem with the seal of a bulkhead fitting than with a syphon drain.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Get the fitting from JEMCO and use the sump, they work fiine for fresh water.


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