e35-2 Water Tank under sole

[grn3500gt]

My Ericson E35-2 has the secondary water tank under the cabin sole. The previous owner noticed it leaking and drilled a hole in it to drain the water out. I don't know where it was leaking so I want to get it out and possibly replace it with another water tank or get a plastic one made to its size and use it as a holding tank.

My questions;

Has anyone removed this tank before and how did you go about it?

What challenges will I face? Is this tank glued down? Will cutting the floor cause structural damage? Will I be able to get the floor out?

What do you think of getting a plastic tank and putting it in the place of the original as a large holding tank?

Thanks in advance for your help! I always get great answers here!

 

[Zbingham]

I don't see any way to get the tank out without cutting up the fiberglass liner/sole. I know the liner adds some rigidity to the boat, so not sure what cutting a huge hole in it would do. You might want to add some stringers underneath on either side of where the tank goes that you can screw the liner back down to around the hole, and the piece you cut out of the liner. That way you can keep a removable panel in case you need to remove the tank in the future. The water tank in my boat is just sitting in there - not attached in any way. It can slide around a few inches in each direction. I would keep the holding tank closer to the head. I have seem some under the V berth. Seems like if you put the holding tank in the bilge it would require a lot more length of hoses and routing them might be challenging. Mine is under the port settee. I plan to go with a composting head so I wont need the holding tank. Let me know if you need it.