Need help, silicone broke on baffles

[droyal1110]

Hello,

 

Recently my baffles on my return side of my sump came unglued and just kind of collapsed which ultimately minimized my return area and expanded the refugium portion. My mistake was gluing acrylic to glass using silicone. So I come to you today to ask what can I do to fix this issue. As of right now everything is still in operation however the water levels are off and it kind of threw the equilibrium off for the tank. I've heard of some people just reapplying silicone in the water and just letting it cure even longer, has anyone tried this and had success? I was thinking of using a ton of frag glue (super glue) and hoping for the best.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Chris-]

Just measure the inside of the sump and go to a glass shop and get a peice of glass cut. Should not cost more than $6.00 .

 

How did it throw the equilibrium off?

[Charlie]

Silicone generally needs a dry area to stick and cure. I also think that if you applied it in your sump, the chemicals that it outputs would be harmful to your system. If you don't want to take down your sump, you could use some of the underwater epoxy that we use for corals. I know that Blue Ribbon Koi sells some as does Drs. Foster and Smith. BRK is close to Warrenton and they could sell you what you need.

[Coral Hind]

Acrylic will work just fine but you have to make sure it is thick enough so it will not bow. When they bow is normally when they pop out.

 

If your current baffles do not bow you can reuse them but silicone pieces of thick glass to the sides and bottom of the tank to help secure the baffles from moving. The glass pieces will act as stops.

 

If you do go the glass route it will porbably cost you more then $6 and you will need to make sure it is think or it may crack. The normal picture frame glass is just too thin.

 

The surface will have to be cleaned and dry to apply the silicone. I would also let it cure properly before filling with water. That is more for strenght and not for any chemicals.

 

I have never been able to get the underwater epoxt to stick to glass.

[flowerseller]

Acrylic will work just fine but you have to make sure it is thick enough so it will not bow. When they bow is normally when they pop out.

 

If your current baffles do not bow you can reuse them but silicone pieces of thick glass to the sides and bottom of the tank to help secure the baffles from moving. The glass pieces will act as stops.

 

If you do go the glass route it will porbably cost you more then $6 and you will need to make sure it is think or it may crack. The normal picture frame glass is just too thin.

 

The surface will have to be cleaned and dry to apply the silicone. I would also let it cure properly before filling with water. That is more for strenght and not for any chemicals.

 

I have never been able to get the underwater epoxy to stick to glass.

 

I agree with most except I'd pick a spot you don't want the underwater epoxy to stick and place it there.

[droyal1110]

It threw the equilibrium off because it altered the water level in the sump and pushed my ATO sensor to the side, so now the water level went down and the sensor moved down allowing the salinity to go up enough to irritate me but not enough to wreck anything... on top of that there is less space holding the return section so the ATO is constantly running, I realize the evaporation rate is the same I just don't know why this is the way it is.

 

So the general consensus is to drain the sump and glue glass in? =( This saddens me deeply, I really wanted to avoid the trouble and avoid disturbing the fuge, it had been doing so well.

[Chris-]

If you stick it all in a bucket with a power head then dump it all back in, it should bounce back in no time. Only takes a week for the nitrification to start back up. When I restarted my 90 DT with cat wiz in it (long story) I got bubbles 3" below in the sand within the week.

[droyal1110]

Well my main concern is letting the tank run without a skimmer for that long, plus restarting the fuge. I think it would be safer for me to scrap the fuge, buy new sand, put the chaeto in the display, and all the extra live rock in the display, and just start all over. Sorry but kind of funny about the cat wiz

 

I'm always afraid of a tank crash related to disturbing the balance to suddenly or disturbing the sand bed. The worst part is its impossible for me to remove the sump without breaking down the display, not in one piece anyways.

 

I think I'm just going to take this time to shut the sump side of things down, following a decent water change, redo my sump baffles, replant a fuge, redo my plumbing and return, probably buy a new skimmer. I love doing this stuff... minus the cramped area I'm going to have to do it in.

[Chris-]

Okay, first, i am gonna have to throw a yellow flag on the play. You never said anything about having to take the DT out to take the sump out. Gonna have to throw in a penalty for that, lol.

 

Is there any way to put a tub next to the tank and plumb it that way? Band-aid fix of course.

 

Yes, I had my sand drying outside for a few weeks with my last ick outbreak. When I was ready to start putting it in my DT, I was like, dang, this stuff smells like cat pee!? I was thinking it was maybe like when you leave wet cloths in the washer for too many days, but, the sand was dry? It kept getting stronger until I realized, hey, 6 cats running around in the neighborhood loose, guess what!? By then I was starting to fill the tank with RO water. 2nd 5 gallon bucket, too late. Not like I could do anything else anyways. Nitrites never went down for 3 weeks. I finally totally drained the tank and refilled and cycled in the week after. Gonna be making some trips to the Chinese restaurant shortly!

[NemesisElite]

Yea unfortunately there is no way to remove the sump intact. I think three or four days of no fuge and no skimmer should be ok. My biggest issue is cleaning out the fuge portion. Nothing sucks more than trying to remove wet sand... Especially when it's full of bristle worms and in a tight area. I'm really just procrastnating now haha.

 

As for the cat pee, hahahahahahahahaha. Im sorry but that really does suck. At least you caught it when you did rather than still fighting with it, who knee what affects it would have on a tank.

[Chris-]

Heh, I figured it needed some ammonia anyways and it sure got its fair share, lol.

 

P.S. rubber latex gloves from the cleaning section at the grocerie store are your friend

[Grav]

sure grip 50 will hold it in place. add silicone bead to inside to keep water in.

[Jon Lazar]

Nothing sucks more than trying to remove wet sand.

 

Us a Lee's specimen container to scoop up sand. It will scratch the heck out of the container, but works great otherwise.

[Coral Hind]

Us a Lee's specimen container to scoop up sand. It will scratch the heck out of the container, but works great otherwise.

 

I have used that one too. I also use my large fish net to scoop it out.