I have a Boyu/Orca Tl550 30G tank, they are very similar to biocubes and a pretty popular reefing choice on my side of the pond. I want to get sump up and running for the tank for lots of reasons the main ones being I want one and my bubble magus does not look great sticking up out of the top of my tank.

Anyway I have pretty much everything decided on except how I feed water to the sump. I was originally going to just use an OF and be done with but now I'm thinking of drilling [gulp]. The back is made of polycarbonate plastic. Anyone have any suggestions on this one?

i will be following this thread..i am considering the same..

Yeah I'm pretty much trying to get info from anywhere I can right now, but for some reason not many people seem to do it which I can't understand.

I would suggest getting some polycarbonate sheet to practic on, but for plexi-glass and other acrylics I use a regular wood boring hole saw and go slowly with very light force....I find it easier to drill than glass....if possible support he part you are drilling with a piece of wood and go really slowly until you get wooden sawdust....you want to go slowly to prevent the plastic from getting too hot....heat is your enemy, it causes cracks....

When you say support it with a piece of wood do you mean put some on the inside while I'm drilling the outside?.

So having spent the whole night researching I have decided that I'm gonna saw instead if drill.

If by any chance you have access to a drill press, drilling is cake. I drilled my glass refugium in about 20 seconds. Not the same as acrylic, but sawing sounds scarry

sawing it? but how low are u gonna be able to put the overflow from the rim(top) edge of the tank? what link did u gather this info from?

If it was me I would drill not attempt to saw.

Buy a new hole saw bit so that it is nice and sharp. Drill slowly with very little pressure. You can also have a helper with a spray bottle full of water spray your hole as your drilling that will take care of any heat issues. Just be very carefully the bit does not bind in the end.

Sorry guys was in a rush when posting and didn't clarify, I was going to originally use a Jigsaw, but a hole saw was what was recommend to me instead. I'll prob be doing this over the next week or so, just need to make some preparations first. So if anyone is interested in following along I'll be posting a thread here.

What I was recommending with support from a piece of wood on the back is to have a piece of wood firmly held in place (I personally like to clamo it against the surface, using another piece for the other side of the clamp) so that the plastic you are cutting doesn't carry all the pressure exerted by the hole saw, thus reducing the chance of cracking. You could have another person continuously flush the area with water to rinse away the chips and keep it cool if you want, but I have not found any real need for this when cutting plastics...with glass it's an entiely different thing. If you can get some scrap plastic of similartype and do a practice run or two it will help your confidence. Take your time and relax....this couldn't be as tricky as drilling glass. Take some pictures and post them.

Good luck with it,
Mitch

Cheers Mitch,

I've had a word with my Dad and he is willing to help me. I plan on getting some scrap plastics and having a go myself.

Like I said before, please snap some pics for us.

No bother, I'm always happy to share.