baffles for a 20L sump build?

[glweek]

Hey ive got a 20l that i need some baffles made for, but i don't know what sizes or thickness they should be. do you guys have "standard" sizes or anything for making a 20l into a sump? i looked for some diy plans and the best i can find is 12x9 (2 pieces) 12x7.5 (2) 12x7(1) not sure on thickness though.

 

[dawgwe1]

1/8" thick glass works well. That is what I have used on the three different sumps I have made over the last couple years with no problems.

 

[user 26995]

In a 20 long you will not have enough water to put a lot of pressure on the baffles, so I agree that 1/8" glass will work great.

 

[trido]

Five baffles in a 20 long seems like a lot to me. I typically use either 3/16" or 1/4" for all my baffles. The reason I dont use 1/8 glass is that It breaks very easy. I'd really hate to cut my wrist on a (breaking) baffle when I was working on my tank. Most skimmers do best in 8"-10" of water so anything in that range will be fine. I actually have a bunch of already polished shelving glass in my garage that would be real easy to cut if you cant find a supplier close by.

 

[eww]

We usually use 1/4" acrylic for the baffles for the exact reason that Duane (trido) just said. Breaking thin glass in your sump as you are working is dangerous and quite simply a pain to clean up even if there are no injuries. Most of the time the water level differences between chambers is not that great so anything thicker than 1/4" is overkill. He is also correct in that 5 baffles seem to be a lot in a 30" long sump. At the very most I would think 4 (1 for skimmer wall and 3 for bubble trap) and you can actually get away with just 2. If you need material we have it in the shop and can cut you what you need for a minimal amount of money.

 

[eww]

At the very basic it could be something like this

 

[user 26995]

I couldnt find glass anywhere except a window shop and it was ridiculously expensive. I have been using 1/4" plexiglass from home depot.

I did use 1/8" glass in one of my sumps. Not sure where I found it. Its the 20 tall under my 75. As a matter of fact, it was the first one I put together 4 years ago and still using.
I would go with plexiglass if I had to redo it. That's what I used in the 50B that I used as a sump on my 180 gal tank.

 

[drewsky]

What do you recommend for glueing the baffles? I was thinking about using plexi in a glass tank?

 

[user 26995]

I used standard aquarium silicone. It held the plexi just fine in my 40 lon and my 50 breeder. You wont have as much water pressure in the 20L. You will be fine with silicone.

 

[LC Scott]

I used RTV-100 on my sump build.

 

[glweek]

nice, what are the dimensions of your baffles?

 

[LC Scott]

I think they are 9 in for the first three and the last one is 10 in.