# Drain holes post build



## Dcairelli (Feb 13, 2017)

So Like a dummy, I build a handful of Vivs without drain holes.. Has anyone ever drilled a hole post build? Or am I better off starting over?


----------



## dedman (Sep 5, 2008)

Are there frogs in the tanks? A pic might be helpful.


----------



## Dcairelli (Feb 13, 2017)

Yea their are frogs. Mostly juvis that could be moved temporarily into a growout bin. The tanks are all exo Terra's standard build. Nothing out of the ordinary. False bottom is hydroballs


----------



## Gibbs.JP (Feb 16, 2016)

You could try wedging a piece of pvc pipe down one of the front corners to use as a siphoning tube. Cut/drill holes at the bottom end and try to wedge it down far enough to reach the bottom glass. I think a corner might be the easiest place to wedge through the substrate, screen divider and drainage layer. You can then try and hide it or cap it off at the top so it's not so unsightly. 

Even if you decided to drill a side of the existing tank(s), you'd have to tear up/out the bottom in order to attach the inside of the bulkhead. 

A siphon tube might be the easiest and least intrusive route. Just a thought.


----------



## Grimsrude (Apr 6, 2017)

I made a drain hole after the fact in my 29G viv - and I regret it. Long story short, I wasn't able to adequately get all the substrate out of the way, and drilled the hole while there was still false bottom material in the way (growstone/bubbled glass + egg crate). When I got the hole finished and I tried installing the bulkhead, I couldn't get a good seal and had to add silicone to seal it. It's ugly. I'm slowly picking away at the silicone to cover the whole false bottom with black vinyl sticker to cover up my hackjob. Also I'm pretty bummed that some of the substrate fell into the false bottom and, while I know over time it'll not be a big deal, it still bugs me. 

Granted, I didn't have frogs in the tank yet, so I totally could (and should) have just removed all the substrate and false bottom. Apparently I just wasn't careful enough in doing it the quick way. 

TL;DR: If you're gonna do it now, be very careful and try to get as much substrate/false bottom out of the way as possible.


----------



## coryf (Apr 27, 2016)

I made the same mistake with 2 terrariums that I set up at the same time. 1 was a 30 gallon aquarium and the other was a 60 gallon Exo Terra. I fixed it by pushing back and removing the false bottom and substrate in one of the front corners. I then filled this "pond" with some aquarium river pebbles to make a gentle slope in case any of the frogs fell in (I'd rather play it safe even though the water level is only about 1.5" deep). Now that I have access to the water, I can easily siphon it out with a turkey baster or with a manual aquarium siphon if I need to remove lots of water. Here's a link to a cheap siphon: http://www.petsmart.com/fish/mainte...MeERBbIWIf-ATbEfsirPPSUwvic9aV2IzMRoCTjrw_wcB









Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk


----------



## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

I would be hesitant, and I've worked glass half my life. It's going to be difficult for the inner gasket and plastic nut reasons mentioned above.

Take a look at this. https://www.lowes.com/pd/Corsan-Plastic-Transfer-Pump/50359088


----------



## mark c (Jun 17, 2010)

Forget the drain holes. 

When, or if ever, you decide you need to drain off some of the water, you could wedge or jam a piece of 1/4 inch tubing (buy from hardware store) down the front edge of the glass, and pull a siphon to drain the water out. Then pull out the tubing and push the substrate back in place. Good as new.


----------



## Zeroxstaticlife (Mar 8, 2017)

Ugh so sorry! That sounds like such a pain.. I'm slowly working on my first build and I had a question about drainage not that long ago. This will definitely serve as a lesson for me. I'll be adding a small access tube to the drainage layer just in case.


----------



## DennyDave (Jul 19, 2016)

I have used the siphon method and also used a drainage hole. While the drainage hole is easier, the siphon method isn't laborious enough to justify re-doing the whole viv for a drainage hole. I agree with the others that you would have too much of a hard time getting a good seal around the bulkhead without re-doing it. Just my opinion and hope it helps.


----------

