55 Gallon Build Overflow Advice

[tcampbell23]

Hello there ARC members,

I am currently in the process of upgrading tanksthumbs::thumbs and my new tank is going to be a 55 gallon. My set up as of now consists of a standard 55 gallon (48x13x20) and a custom 40 gallon long (48x13x15.25). I want to drill the 55 to use a bean animal style overflow but, i want to do it in a peninsula fashion as in all on one end of the tank versus the common setup in the back. I am going to go with 1 inch bulkheads into 1.25in piping much like the bean animal build guide says. My hesitation is that the width of the 55 gallon is only 13 inches, how much space should I leave between each hole and the edges of the tank in order to minimize the risk of cracking the tank. Is it feasible or is the space too small and I risk causing major structural damage to the aquarium with that many holes in such a small space?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Personally, I wouldn't attempt it. The holes will be so close that I believe that the glass will crack. That's provided it could be drilled in the first place. Not all glass can be drilled. Some makers use tempered glass and that will shatter as soon as you put the bit to it.

 

[tcampbell23]

That was my fear. There is a sticker on the tank that says the bottom is tempered and I've done the test with the polarized sunglasses, the sides all check out to be okay. With that I am going to place everything in the back. How far apart should they be?

 

[grouper therapy]

Just drill one hole and put the three bulkheads on the outside box.

 

[grouper therapy]

I will post pics of mine by the end of the week. I used 2" bulkhead to feed the outside box.

 

[ricky5415]

Or u can do 2 holes one from each corner. Maybe 1. Or 1.5inch overflow and 1/2 return. Don't go with overflow box since your 55 is not that wide. It will give u more real estate for aquascaping + flow

 

[tcampbell23]

i would do an outside box, but that just opens the door for water to leak on he floor if my silicone job isn't as good as I want it to be. I was going to do a coast to coast overflow or a 12 inch overflow box feeding directly to my bulkheads.

 

[grouper therapy]

Doesn't require silicone. You can use a bulkhead to hold the inside and outside box together.