sump upgrade

[Jnance]

and dngspot, in that pic you posted of the fuge does the water run right to left?

 

[moortim]

I have an acrylic overflow siliconed into a glass tank. The silicon bonded to the glass is almost irremovable while the silicon on the acrylic will kind of flake off when you rub it with your finger. It still works just fine and I have inadvertently put quite a bit of pressure on the overflow without breaking it off. It is not as strong of a bond but still works, I just keep an eye on it and am a little more careful around it.

 

[Reefergeorge]

so whats this i hear about acrylic not adhering to silicone?

That's what they say, but when I got a new sump and removed my acrylic baffles from the old glass sump. It really took some effort to remove them. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[dngspot]

Acrylic tends to shrink and expand, over time it will come loose from the silicone.

My water flow moves from left to right in the sump pic.

 

[Reefergeorge]

Acrylic tends to shrink and expand, over time it will come loose from the silicone.

If you have a constant or close to constant temp why would it shrink and expand?

 

[dngspot]

I believe it may have something to do with age or uv.

 

[Scooterman]

It is true, the surface of acrylic makes it difficult to adhere to, I guess If your using highly polished acrylic it is even harder but unless you apply steady pressure to pull it apart they seem to hold up well, I never had issues, also I use silicone GE I, which is pure silicone no additives, so it may work better.

 

[Jnance]

should i put my skimmer in the "fuge"area? i think thats the middle part right? or could i put it anywhere in the sump? (according to the design of dngspots posted pic on the previous page.)

 

[dngspot]

I have seen folks put the skimmer in all sections of a refigum. If you put the skimmer in with the plants you may have a problem with the pump taking in the plant matter. There are fixes for this but, I like my skimmer in the tank drain end, so I do not have this problem.

 

[moortim]

I like putting my skimmer in the first section of the sump where the water drains in from the tank. There are all sorts of opinions on this but if you place the skimmer in the fuge or after it in the return section then copepods and other good critters in your fuge have a harder time getting to the display tank. They already have to run the return pump gauntlet without getting sucked up by a skimmer and expelled as skimmate.

Tim

 

[Jnance]

so i learned alot real quick, i bought the thinnest acrylic i could, (save money) and it just bent under pressure of the water and broke pretty much every seal.. kinda humorous.. i have to rip it all apart and do it again. this time im using glass for the baffles though!!!

 

[dngspot]

I would recommend that you use 1/4 inch glass. I have had a problem with my first fuge with 1/8, as I filled the first chamber the glass broke then the water from that chamber broke the next glass and so on. It sucked to watch that happen

 

[Scooterman]

I used 1/4" plexi from the local glass shop they cut to fit my needs, It is still doing well! Cheap too!

 

[Jnance]

i cant find any 1/4" glass anywhere. not even at the local glass stores. is that wierd or what? they said they wont even cut 1/4" glass. ill keep looking though...

 

[moortim]

How big is your sump? The baffles on my sump are not even close to 1/4" (maybe 1/8th) in a 29 gallon sump and I don't have any problems with bowing or pressure.

Tim

 

[Jnance]

my sump is twenty nine too. yeah im gonna give the thinner glass a shot. its way stronger than that thin acrylic i used...