Drilling a tank with water in it

[jamo130788]

Hello, 

 

 

I a looking to add a sump to my 10 gallon display tank that currently has livestock in it. I was wanting to find out if anyone has experience drilling a tank with water in it. Is it feasible? has anyone done it? 

 

thanks

[1967type1]

No don’t do it. Get a 5 gallon bucket put all the live stock in there with your heater and a power head. Maybe add an airstone. Empty the tank all the way before drilling it. There will be glass dust everywhere.

[jamo130788]

or alternatively get one of those HOB overflows with the siphon, which i dont completely trust either lol

[flatlandreefer]

1 hour ago, jamo130788 said:

Hello, 

 

 

I a looking to add a sump to my 10 gallon display tank that currently has livestock in it. I was wanting to find out if anyone has experience drilling a tank with water in it. Is it feasible? has anyone done it? 

 

thanks

 

What kind of tank is it? Standard, AIO?

[jamo130788]

its just a standard aqueon 10 gallon

[flatlandreefer]

 

 

I would buy another tank since they aren't that expensive, drill it and then slowly transfer everything to the new tank.  This would help eliminate an emergency if something went wrong when you were drilling the tank.

[jamo130788]

good advice flatland- I am very new to this hobby so I was reluctant to to do that as I was afraid of all my hard work getting water parameters/ beneficial bacteria right would be wasted. I suppose if I use the same filter media/sand/water/liverock this would not be a problem ? 

[Kayman]

1 hour ago, jamo130788 said:

or alternatively get one of those HOB overflows with the siphon, which i dont completely trust either lol

I've been running one for almost 3 years now and it has never lost siphon but a drilled tank looks cleaner so I agree with just buying another tank and then transferring. As long as the sand isn't well over a year old it shouldn't be a problem. 

[A_Sea_Shepherd]

I agree with what others have posted, at that size its best to reduce all risks and move the livestock to a bucket/another tank and drill with just the sand in it (or buy another tank if its not that expensive). If its your first time drilling it can be a lil nerve wrecking & you don't want to, heaven forbid, crack the tank open and have any livestock spill out and/or get injured. I drilled my 20 gallon JBJ nano with the water in it but only half way, there was only a clean up crew in the tank as it was a downsizing transfer project. 

[Nocturnal]

I'd be scared to try drilling evenly from the side. Even top down was nerve racking.