Drilled Tank

[gravel_digger]

I have a chance to get a very 220 gallon tank at a very reasonable price. I have NO experiece with drilled tanks and curious to the difficulity of dealing with that type system or would it be possible to seal drilled sites and still have a functioning tank. All comments, suggestions and thoughts are welcomed and greatly appreicated. Thanks in advance.

 

[minifoot77]

you can silicon glass squares to the inside and it will be just fine

 

[UNCLERUCKUS]

you can silicon glass squares to the inside and it will be just fine

NOW IT JUST DEPENDS ON AESTHETICS YOU LIKE FOR YOUR TANK
CHOOSE WISELY GRASSHOPPER

 

[msjinkzd]

i would just plumb your canister using bulkheads. That is what I did with my 220g. Its not so bad. You can get most of hte fitting from that fish place or often pond supply stores will carry them. I also set up my heater inline because it was drilled which is super nice. No distracting heaters in the tank.

No sure where white plains is, but you are always welcome to stop by and see what we did with mine. I am in York County about 35 mins north of baltmore.

 

[Tony]

Does it have overflow towers or is it just drilled? If it has overflow towers, I would use them. Otherwise, water will sit in them and get funky.

For filtering large tanks, I believe you need something big, like a sump. Some prefer large canisters, I prefer sumps. IMO, they're cheaper to DIY and you can cram in a ton of media if designed properly. .... That is a whole other thread though and comes down to personal taste in the end.

Patching holes is really easy if you don't care how it looks. If it will bug you, you can always install a bulkhead with a plug.

 

[gravel_digger]

thanks for your advice on this. i went and look at the tank yesterday and it does have the overflow towers which was somewhat a bummer. i was hoping it didnt have them. again not have dealt with these before my preference has been canisters up to this point. i am now comtemplating how diffucult it will be to take them out as well. the tank is drilled on the bottom so that would be easy to cover. the asking pricing is only $200 which is why i am really considering putting in the work for the tank.

 

[Tony]

Yeah, canister filters can work with overflow towers, but are not preferable imo.

Because it's a "closed system," if you had only one tower, the tower would act as a sump, with a water level that varies with evaporation. If the water level dropped too far, then you run the risk of running your canister dry.

With two overflows (and two canisters hooked into them), all bets are off as you may run into an issue with the two towers' water level not being equal.

(I think I'm picturing this correctly....)

Removing the towers is certainly an option.. not one that I would personally do, but certainly an option if you were set on going the canister route over the sump.

I would say the biggest thing to look out for is making sure you don't mangle the caulk in the tank's seals where it intersects the seals from the overflow towers.

Don't want to mess with the seals on a 220...