burnsy

I drilled my tank myself and it turned out good. I got a dimond tipped hole saw off ebay for around $10. I watched alot of videos on youtube first then bit the bullet and gave it a go. The most important thing is to make sure your glass isnt tempered. If it is it cant be drilled and will shatter if you try. There are good videos on youtube about how to cheak if its tempered. I used my iphone and a pair of polarised glasses.

I would recomend drilling the back as theres not quite so much stress as the bottem but it really depends on how you want to run your drains. You need to consider if you want to use a weir/overflow or not and if you do will it be a corner style or rear overflow box style. Corner overflows usually run a stand pipe sutup with the bottem drilled. Im using a overflow box on the rear panel so have drilled the back.

Another thing to consider is noise. Sumps can be quite loud of not done properly. so if its in a bedroom or lounge it will get very annoying. The best way around the noise issue is to use a 'beanAnimal' style overflow setup. Im using this type of drain system on my 6 footer and its super silent.

As for the sump itself, I wouldnt buy a new tank for this as it wil probably be hidden anyway. I picked up a seconed hand 3 footer for $50 and its mint.

If you want to do a sump properly it will be quite expencive. By the time you add up the pump, plumbing, glass for baffles, media and sump Itself im probably up around the $600 mark

cheak out my post in the journal section if you wanna see some pics

Cheers

Rich

So here's another update with some pics of progress from the last few weeks.

Ive been doing an hour here and there when I can and am making steady progress.

I had the system running for a few days with no problems at all.

I drained the tank via the auto syphon so I could work on the stand. The tank drained to about an inch from the bottem. I could walk around the garden with the other end of the hose watering plants as it drained.

Last weekend I cut the panels to enclose the stand and also cut out the door holes then screwed them into place.

Today after work I started to fit all the flashing/skirting to the outside. Im pleased with how its looking and it also covers up my rough cuts on the panels.

Heres the pics

The pump compact 5000+, check valve and syphon drain tap

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The jets running as the tank filled

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System full and running (2300L/Hr)

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The panels covering the frame work

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Door on the end after all flashing/skirting fitted

 IMG_1027 (large).JPG   82.9KB   0 downloads

Sorry the pics are sideways but I cant get them to work vertically for some reason.

Cheers

Rich

I had the same problem with my fish hiding whenever I walked up to the tank.

I got them out of the habbit by feeding them whenever I walked up to the tank. They now associated someone looking through the glass as food time and all come out. I only feed them twice a day now tho  .