Mike171 new (to me) 120G

Mike171 · Aug 20, 2012

I'm still new to SW and fish keeping in general. I currently have a "budget" 70G tank running, that has been up for almost 5 months. I have since been bitten by the SW bug and grown a bit addicted. I love it, I spend hours just sitting and watching the tank even without a lot of activity in there. I have got hardware as cheaply as I could for that tank and DIY some stuff and done enough to get by with it. The tank is good and healthy, though I'm sure it could always be better. I helped a lady break down her tank and she gave me about 100+ pounds of live rock some with Colt coral and GSP and some green mushrooms, as well as a MH light for lighting. This has all been great in my 70G, and I was happy with it.
Well as with any addiction... I soon needed more lol. I've been searching Craigslist, and local "for sale and barter" groups on facebook trying to trade a Megastar .45 for a decent sized tank (100+) turns out my friend has been going through a divorce and since he travels a lot for work he was getting rid of his 120G plus hardware I asked him what he wanted for it, he didn't have a price in mind. I told him i was looking to trade my .45 and he said he'd do it for that. I picked it all up friday.

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(excuse my messy garage lol)
Its not drilled, was ran on Rena Filster XP3 and an XP4.
I want to have it drilled I'm not sure if there are specifc diameters that need to be drilled that would work better, or how many?
I also posted a threada in the new to the hobby section about possibly plumbing the two tanks together to a single sump, still haven't decided one way or another. This is my first time setting one up completely from scracth So I'm sure I will have lots of questions but I've been reading this forum for months and I know I can find lots of help here. I'll update this as I slowly work through, and get more progress...or more questions!

Thanks guys!

Mike171 · Aug 21, 2012

any help on the question about drilling the tank regarding size and quantity of holes?

revsgirl · Aug 21, 2012

Congrats!! :D

cdrewferd · Aug 21, 2012

Congrats man. Check out gl*******s.com for an overflow. I'll be following closely as it looks like the same dimensions of my new tank.

Mike171 · Aug 21, 2012

cdrewferd said:
Congrats man. Check out gl*******s.com for an overflow. I'll be following closely as it looks like the same dimensions of my new tank.

It blocked out your link you can PM it to me (if that's not against the rules). The new tank size is 48x24x24.

skinz78 · Aug 21, 2012

The link is Glass Cages .com for some reason the filter blurbs it out. I've never drilled a tank but I would start out with at least a 1.5" hole.

Mike171 · Aug 21, 2012

I looked at Glass Cages and they all show the holes drilled in the bottom of the tank. I have tempered glass bottom glass, but i assume that the same overflows work if I drill the back glass correct?
Also if I drill the back glass I won't need one that goes the entire height of the tank right?

cdrewferd · Aug 22, 2012

It's actually Glass Holes . com. They sell overflow kits and can sell you the bits as well.

Drew

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Mike171 · Aug 29, 2012

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Got my glass holes 1500 kit in today.

skinz78 · Aug 29, 2012

Nice! Keep us posted on how it go's.

Loki · Aug 29, 2012

I see you already have the kit. I have a 120 that came with the holes in the bottom of the tank. Just to give you an idea there are two holes that are 3/4" and two that are 1". It looks like you have two 1" drains which will work perfectly. I would run one 1" return on the other side of the tank as the overflow(assuming you aren't putting it in the middle).

cdrewferd · Aug 29, 2012

Can't wait to see it drilled.

Mike171 · Aug 29, 2012

Loki2902 said:
I see you already have the kit. I have a 120 that came with the holes in the bottom of the tank. Just to give you an idea there are two holes that are 3/4" and two that are 1". It looks like you have two 1" drains which will work perfectly. I would run one 1" return on the other side of the tank as the overflow(assuming you aren't putting it in the middle).

They're actually 1.5" and I'm thinking of just looping the return over the rim of the tank, instead of drilling. So would you recomend putting the overflow on the back on one side and the return on the opposite opposed to putting it in the middle?

btw I just saw you were from Rogers, AR not too far. I got a good friend through my car club in Bella Vista that i go hang out with sometimes.

Loki · Aug 29, 2012

It's really a personal choice. If you put it in the middle I think it looks better if there are two returns. One on each side so it stay symmetrical.

There are a few of us around this area :)

Mike171 · Aug 29, 2012

that's what I was thinking. but if i put it to one side and the return pipe on the other it would pull it all from one side to the other... decsions decsions

Loki · Aug 29, 2012

I have mine setup like that. I like it that way. :)

Mike171 · Aug 29, 2012

Yeah I read your 120 thread earlier today.

Mike171 · Sep 6, 2012

Still waiting to drill my tank, life's been busy lately. But working on sump plans. Thinking about going with a 40 G Breeder. Good idea? Bad idea? Any help with layouts?

Mike171 · Sep 11, 2012

Finally just said screw it last night and started drilling the tank. Got one hole done took about 20 mins but looks good. Had to recharge the battery cause my back up battery didn't seem fully charged.