trble81 January 10, 2009 Share January 10, 2009 All, I finally dug out our old 20 gallon long tank that we were going to use for a sump. Now I need help. I've never built a sump (or used one for that matter) so I figured posting will help. The internal length is approx 29.5 inches and the internal width is 11 13/16". I've also attached pictures (one empty one and one with the skimmer that I'll be using...a GSA shorty). So here are my questions: 1.) Home Depot or Lowes should cut glass/acrylic to the specified length, right? How about how wide do they have to be? 2.) What type of silicone should I be using to secure the baffles? 3.) Where should the baffles be placed? This will be a sump only (I have a HOB 'fuge that I'll be using on the tank), so an extra refugium "space" will not be needed. The skimmer should be in the first part (where the water from the plumbing comes in), right? In the picture, the shorty basically takes a little less than half the space. Any/any help would be greatly appreciated. I figured that posting and getting opinions and advice from people who have done this is better than me trying to wing it. Thanks in advance!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 10, 2009 Share January 10, 2009 (edited) The glass they sell at Lowes/HD is too thin. I used it and it was a big mistake. Lowe's/HD does sell .220 or 1/4" acrylic, and will cut it for you. That will do the job. Use 100% silicone. No mildew killing ingredients. You can buy this at Lowe's/HD if you are careful, or you can buy the same thing in a tube from LFS for more $$. "Aquarium Sealant". Put the baffles in the middle of the tank. Use 3, spaced about 1-1.5" apart. Raise the center one about 1" off the bottom. Cut them a tiny bit short to fit in the width of the tank, and fill the extra gap with silicone. You will need to knock the corners off the bottoms of the 2 outside baffles to make space for the sealant already in the aquarium. Use a lot of silicone. tim Edited January 10, 2009 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trble81 January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 Will the silicone adhere to the acrylic? For some reason I though I read somewhere that it'll adhere to the glass, but basically jut "hold" the acrylic in place (which is fine, unless someone was trying to increase the strength)... The 3 baffles will allow the over, under, then over again of the water movement. Is the "height" of the baffles (the acrylic itself) dependent on how much water you intend on having in your sump? Man do I have a lot of questions... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 11, 2009 Share January 11, 2009 (edited) Will the silicone adhere to the acrylic? For some reason I though I read somewhere that it'll adhere to the glass, but basically jut "hold" the acrylic in place (which is fine, unless someone was trying to increase the strength)... The 3 baffles will allow the over, under, then over again of the water movement. Is the "height" of the baffles (the acrylic itself) dependent on how much water you intend on having in your sump? Man do I have a lot of questions... The silicone will adhere to the acrylic, but not as well as it does to glass. This is part of the reason I cut the baffles a little short. Then you can get the silicone all the way around the edge of the baffle, making a U-shaped silicone. You don't need to do that though. Just a good amount of silicone on both sides and it won't go anywhere. The higher the baffles, the more water you will have on the intake side of the sump (it will always be at the height of the first baffle. Also the more potential for water on the output side, which will be higher and lower at different times. More water is a good thing. You just don't want to make them so high that when the power goes off, your sump doesn't have enough extra room in it to handle the extra water that will come into it and potentially overflow. I would probably go with about 4 inches from the top. Also, some skimmers have ideal water height recommendations. You can raise your skimmer by putting it on a stand, but you can't lower it. One of the reasons you put the skimmer on the intake side of the sump is because the water level there is always the same. So, make sure your first baffle is at least the minimum water height recommended for your skimmer. If you are using a recirculating skimmer, water height is not an issue. tim Edited January 11, 2009 by extreme_tooth_decay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trble81 January 11, 2009 Author Share January 11, 2009 Tim, Thanks very much for the help. The skimmer is a GSA shorty and I've sent an email to Dan to veryify the water height necessary. Working on this may give my wife the impression that I'm handy....may.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
extreme_tooth_decay January 12, 2009 Share January 12, 2009 Tim, Thanks very much for the help. The skimmer is a GSA shorty and I've sent an email to Dan to veryify the water height necessary. Working on this may give my wife the impression that I'm handy....may.... I think Dan's skimmers are all recirculating so it shouldn't be an issue. That pic looks like it is a recirc skimmer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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