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Drilling hole into crawl space

I'm planning on drilling a hole behind my tank in the hardwood floor, through sub floor and into the crawl space. It would give me access to fresh air for the skimmer, and would allow me to plan for autotop off and continuous water change with large nsw containers and draining waste water into sewage line directly. I'm sure we have some people here that have done that. Any tips?

Does anyone know of a good fixture I can buy that will go over this hole and make it look more professional and provide more insulation/air tight during winter etc? Maybe a rubber shealth or something?

Thanks!



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Can you drill the wall and "fish" a line like an electrician would do? Drilling on hw floor hmmm... you could add a wall plate.
In CATV/satellite installations, techs use plastic grommets when they need to pass a cable through walls or floor.
 
How big are you thinking for the holes? I would keep them as small as possible, maybe 1/8" for the water tubing. Drilling a hole for fresh air seems a bit overboard IMO. If looking for ventilation, a ceiling/wall fan seems like a better way to go.

I drilled holes for speaker wire several years back. 1/4", and left it unfinished since they were in the corners of a room. I feel like a wall plate type of thing would be an even bigger eyesore.
 
I guess I can drill into the wall and fish it through the crawl space. And there are a lot more faceplates that can make it look nice. Now how to drill into the wall behind the tank without moving the tank. 4 inches of clearance isn't that much. I guess that's why I was thinking floor.


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How big are you thinking for the holes? I would keep them as small as possible, maybe 1/8" for the water tubing. Drilling a hole for fresh air seems a bit overboard IMO. If looking for ventilation, a ceiling/wall fan seems like a better way to go.

I drilled holes for speaker wire several years back. 1/4", and left it unfinished since they were in the corners of a room. I feel like a wall plate type of thing would be an even bigger eyesore.
Well if I'm already gonna be drilling for water change and rodi, might as well run a tube out there and stop with my co2 scrubber. If I drill into the floor maybe I'll keep it really small.


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What is on the other side of the wall that the tank is up against? If it's an interior wall I would make a much larger hole on the back side that will give you plenty of room to work instead of trying to drill in that 4" space between the tank and the wall. Drywall is fairly easy to repair in comparison to your floor.

If it's an exterior wall or there's a cabinet on the other side then it might be a little more difficult.
 
Thanks John. That's a great idea that woulda worked if I didn't have the brilliant realization that the cabinet is open in the back on the right. So I'm all good. Thanks everyone. I'll go through the wall...one of these days.


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The main sump compartment has a closed back and I forgot that my electronics compartment has an open back.

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If I were you, I would measure the size of a "register" (ie; floor heating vent)

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-4-in-x-10-in-Brown-Floor-Diffuser-E150MB-04X10/300539116

And cut a hole that would fit that. The reason being that if one day you don't have a tank there or are selling the place, you can put the register cover over the hole and it won't look completely weird.

But until then, you could make a small frame of the size out of quarter-round to make it look like it belongs, or just get a matching piece of plywood and cut whatever holes you need for your lines.... it's behind the tank, so it doesn't matter what it looks like until the tank isn't there anymore!

V
 
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