baffle blow out

[theJ]

Ah crap. I guess its right around the year mark when ill informed decisions come back to haunt you.... I have a glass sump and I used some acrylic pieces and a whole lot of sealant to baffle the sump off. the first 2 baffles are doing great, there isn't all that much water pressure pushing on them. The last baffle however has blown out from about 2 inches from the bottom all the way up, leaving me with an inconsistent water level in the return area. I need this area to be consistent, as I will be installing a new ATO switch right above the pump in the return chamber.

So as I see it I only have a few options:

1) drain the sump, re-glue the original baffle back in place, let cure for (?) hours, refill sump

2) drain the sump, cut out whats left of the baffle and still attached, glue in brand new baffle with thicker acrylic let cure for (?) hours, refill sump

3) drain sump, cut out original baffle, re-seal bottom of tank seal, glue in an *EGGCRATE* baffle to hold the cheato ball in the 'fuge', and eliminate all the water pressure the old baffle was experiencing. let cure for (?) hours, refill

All options begin with draining the sump unfortunately... What do you guys think about the options I came up with, and do you have any others? How long should I let the sealant cure? should I apply a few layers of sealant over say 6 hours of time?

Thanks for any input!

 

[Scooterman]

Usually you can get the silicone to hold strong enough that they will last, even though silicone doesn't adhere to the acrylic that well. I'd just redo it, dry time 24hours!

 

[returnofsid]

I'd recommend switching out the baffles to glass and using silicone. Reasoning is because silicone isn't a good adhesive for acrylic and most adhesives that work with acrylic don't work well with glass. Good luck and hope it goes well. Oh and silicone will need a 24 hour curing period.

 

[theJ]

24 hours oh crap. I'm kind of scared to let it run without a sump for that long.

I would need to be prepared for temp, flow, and nitrates if something bad happened, I think i could handle that.

As far as glass vs acrylic, the acrylic+silicone -did- last me almost a whole year. Glass would definitely be the best choice for longevity. That's a tough decision because we are looking at moving in about 6-9 months. I will have a new sump around that time anyway. Then again if we don't move I would need to run this sump for maybe another year from now. That being said I never want to go through this again.

 

[returnofsid]

I think you'd be fine with your sump off for a day or so. Add a couple temporary power heads to your display tank for flow and oxygen exchange. You could move your heater to your display for the time being as well. To help control a nitrate spike, consider not feeding your fish for a day before hand and during the day of curing time. Your tank will be just fine without food for a couple of days. If you have live rock or live sand in your sump, keep it alive in a garbage can or plastic tote with a power head running. Have all your supplies ready ahead of time and map out all your steps to make it go quicker. You'll be just fine!!

 

[Scooterman]

Although I never really had issues with the acrylic baffles being siliconed, I know that with a steady pressure they can come apart, that glass would adhere better. It shouldn't be a big problem If you plan ahead & just place your heater in the main display, & If you don't have any other flow than the sump return then you need to add a pump or phs to keep your water moving. A little planning, you can get your sump redone & cleaned up without much big issues.

 

[trido]

E6000 my friends....

Multi purpose adhesive. Appears to be a mix of silicone and acrylic glue. Ive used it for several reef applications including my last two sumps without problems. It can be purchased here.

 

[DonW]

I got tired of baffles. On my last tank I just left them out. Is it possible that you could just skip them altogether.

Don

 

[dnjan]

I have acrylic baffles in a glass sump, plus head difference on either side, and have had not problems for years.

Before siliconing the baffle in, I siliconed in a vertical piece of acrylic about 1/2" wide. Full height of the baffle. I did this on both sides of the tank, and then siliconed in the baffle so it was pushing (when the water pressure from the height difference was applied) against the vertical acrylic pieces. This significantly increased the surface area for the acrylic to adhere to.

 

[trillyen]

what about aquarium epoxy cpulsnt he use that while the sump is still running

Ive did that before, dont know about epoxy and acrylic though it may not work

 

[theJ]

These are all very awesome ideas. I have thought about different glue, but I think the problem comes from letting the chamber run dry, and 12 gal of water was pushing on the weak glue coverage. I have though about no baffles either, but my chaeto would get sucked right into my pump and give me more issues. I have not tried the E6000, that sounds like a nice blend for my application's needs.

As far as running sump-less for a day or so, I agree the tank will most likely be just fine without it, its not like anything magical is really going on down there anyway. I just need to plan and be prepared for what is needed, like finding a spot in the display to hang the heater, and add a couple maxi 9's for some additional flow/agitation.

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions, I will let you know how things roll

 

[ecobalance]

Remove it

Remove it first with a blade and if no bubbles are getting to the return pump then problem solved.If you make the second baffle removable then you won't be so likely to rip it out when your shoving your grubby paws in there(since we all know thats how it really came loose lol)It will also alow you to raise it slightly when there is carbon in there,and not loose flow.