ABOUT READY TO DRILL

Laura and Jim will be hosting the May meeting this Saturday the 12th and it will be the usual of food, drinks, raffle and fun.
 
Doors will be open at 6:00 pm for social talk and the meeting will start at 7:00.  Parking gets a little tight and the city says you can't park on 4th but there is a parking lot a block away.   Meeting is usually held in the backyard so feel free to bring your favorite lawn chair, weather permitting of course.

If you need address/directions, contact a club member.

Best if you park at Mini Mall (where the spaghetti establishment use to be)
 
You will get to see his new frag tank set up in the making.
 
Hope to see you there!

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[BSHANE651]

matt or rick, i think im ready to have the tank drilled, but i am not sure what i need to buy for the bulkheads, any help please.. thanks in advance  

[Yellotang]

I have the drill bit for 1 inch holes. Rick has, I believe, larger bits. It depends on what and how many holes you need drilled.
Once that is determined, then we can tell you what you need for plumbing to make it work.

[BSHANE651]

well i think one 1" hole would be more than enough for a 55 gal tank
draining into a 10 gal fuge , my return is 1/2 in pipe and a rio 1700 pump

do you have any suggestions on hole size and or more than 1 hole??

if this would work what plumbing do i need, thanks...

[angelscrx]

I would get a bigger pump first of all and then split you return using a Sea Swirl to give you more alternating current.  Then you could probably go with two inch drains.

[BSHANE651]

my plan is definatly for a bigger pump but for now my current will be powerheads , i just need a way to filter and return water, do i still need 2 drains with this pump??

[angelscrx]

Well if you are going to upgrade in the future then you can do the two drains now but put ball valves in to slow the flow if needed.

[The Apprentice]

Hi Shane I Tied in a 29 gallon nano tank to my 150 reef tank & sump I took my tank down to the glass shop and for 20$ they drilled 2each 1 3/4" holes for 1" bulk heads to fit in. Check out this link for a bulk head picture i am feeding this with a Rio 2100 pump lifting it 5 feet up ..Jeff
http://www.marinedepot.com/md_viewItem.asp?idproduct=FT1113

well i think one 1" hole would be more than enough for a 55 gal tank
draining into a 10 gal fuge , my return is 1/2 in pipe and a rio 1700 pump

do you have any suggestions on hole size and or more than 1 hole??

if this would work what plumbing do i need, thanks...

[BSHANE651]

thanks for the link jeff,i think you pretty much answered my ??

[BSHANE651]

so matt if you were to drill a one inch hole, id be looking at a 1/2 threaded bulkhead/s, this is the smallest listed on marine depot, but still says hole size 1 1/8, is there another place i can look for the plumbing parts?? this may be a dumb question, but can this stuff be bought at hardware store??

[Nate C.]

Well if you are going to upgrade in the future then you can do the two drains now but put ball valves in to slow the flow if needed.

Think you'd want gate valves, not ball valves for this.

[The Apprentice]

Shane I have only been able to get Bulk heads at Amazon Bay and Aqua-tropics I have tried my local Ace hardware with no luck...Jeff

so matt if you were to drill a one inch hole, id be looking at a 1/2 threaded bulkhead/s, this is the smallest listed on marine depot, but still says hole size 1 1/8, is there another place i can look for the plumbing parts?? this may be a dumb question, but can this stuff be bought at hardware store??

[angelscrx]

Well if you are going to upgrade in the future then you can do the two drains now but put ball valves in to slow the flow if needed.

Think you'd want gate valves, not ball valves for this.

Yeah that's what I meant, sorry. :oops:

[Rico]

Shane,

I would drill the 55 gal tank for at least 1" bulkheads and probably go with  1.5" bulkheads to accomodate the largest pump you would probably put on that tank.  It is much easier to install a larger bulkhead and install a reducer than it is to drill a small hole in the glass and then try to drill that same hole larger when you need to later.

You can order 1" or 1.5" bulkhead fittings from Marine depot, they have a great selection and are very good to deal with.  

Regardles of whether you go 1" or 1.5" I have the drill bits for both sizes and will help you out.

Actually after thinking about it and the setup I ran on my own 55, I would install a 1" bulkhead for the supply to the tank and a 1.5" for the return.

Rick

[Yellotang]

The pondshop AKA Koi Joy has ever bulkhead fitting size you could imagine. I get all my plumbing parts from them. They are top notch for this kind of stuff. They are located on Columbia Drive almost right next door to "Zips"

I think my drill is for a 1 inch bulkhead. I will have to look again. The actual hole is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.

[Yellotang]

Yes, just checked. It is 1 inch bulkhead size.