Drilling Holes In Acrylic Bracing

[Poseidon]

Hey guys.

I am toying with the idea of drilling a hole near the corner of my acrylic bracing on the top of my tank.
I want to add an auto fish feeder with a tube that goes down below the surface of the water.

This will be a little unsightly but i have no other options for an auto feeder.

Question is, will i be affecting the integrety of the acrylic at all?
is there a better way to do this?

looking for opinions or input

Thanks!

 

[Poseidon]

would it be better to move the hole more centered between the edge of the tank and the overflow?

 

[AdInfinitum]

As pictured should be fine. The eurobrace is under least stress near the tank corners. The closer to the middle of the long span the more flex that the brace is absorbing. Leave an inch between the walls and the hole edge and it will be fine. With water in the tank you should be able to see the flex in the brace where it is bearing load.

 

[Salty Cracker]

Drill backwards is the only advice I have...

 

[TORX]

Your euro brace is wide as hell. You should be more then fine to drill a hole.

@J_T any drilling advice?

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[J_T]

Freeze the hole saw.

If your brace is as wide as pictured, I see no real issue (in fact, I have seen/repaired worse)


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[Poseidon]

pic might be a little bit off scale but the brace is very wide.
yea definitely some bowing in the brace by the overflow and on the front.

 

[J_T]

pic might be a little bit off scale but the brace is very wide.
yea definitely some bowing in the brace by the overflow and on the front.

Is there no way to make a piece that sits on your brace, rather than going through it? You would sleep better, as would myself, and I am sure many others.


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[TORX]

Here is the top of his tank taken from a different thread. He can probably definitely do a hole in it.

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[TORX]

Reefdudes has his feeder in his sump return chamber with a small circ pump. Food just flows with the return pump. There is a YouTube video. For the life of me I can not think of his nick here while typing this comment.

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[TORX]

@shiftline

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[Salty Cracker]

I feed through the sump into the return as well.

 

[TORX]

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[Nelson79]

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You guys think that would work with a sump in basement feeding main floor. My concern would be build up in return lines and pump getting damaged....are the pellets to small to clog anything up and shouldn't worry?


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[Josh]

what do you guys mean by feed through sump into return? you just toss the food in right before your return pump and let it come out your return jets inside the tank?

 

[Nonuser]

How many other people feed their tank via the return pump? I've been putting my food in through the top of the tank, like a noob.

 

[TORX]

what do you guys mean by feed through sump into return? you just toss the food in right before your return pump and let it come out your return jets inside the tank?

Basically yes. Watch the above video. It is pretty informative and should answer all your questions.

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[TORX]

You guys think that would work with a sump in basement feeding main floor. My concern would be build up in return lines and pump getting damaged....are the pellets to small to clog anything up and shouldn't worry?


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For sure it will work. I have tried it out on my set up and it works great. If/when I get a feeder, it will be going there. The soft pellets are no match for a spinning pump. I love this idea.

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[Salty Cracker]

I premix food in a cup of saltwater, then use a turkey baster to feed it into the return pump. Broadcast feeds perfectly and doesn't have a bunch of waste float on the surface and end up in overflows.

 

[TORX]

Sorry for the hijack there @Poseidon is this the sump feeder something you are thinking about now? If not, you are safe to drill that as long as you are comfortable drilling it. That is the biggest euro brace I have ever seen.

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