Sharkey18 July 25, 2012 Share July 25, 2012 Oh man, so sorry. Do you know what caused it to bust? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flooddc July 25, 2012 Share July 25, 2012 ouch! sorry to hear about that. It could have been worse. I personally don't like acrylic! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zygote2k July 25, 2012 Share July 25, 2012 looks like one of those cheap acrylic sumps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davelin315 July 25, 2012 Share July 25, 2012 Ouch! Now that's a tank failure! I was going to suggest that you get a shallower sump so that you can reach into it as you barely have any room at the top to reach over and get into the sump if you need to do any maintenance so now's a good time to make that suggestion since you've got to replumb. More importantly, do you know why the sump cracked? If it's got anything to do with the uneven floor then your tank is also susceptible to the same type of cracking. If it's not fully level and supported evenly acrylic will bend and crack, just like your sump did. It could also split at the seams even if they're perfectly bonded as they are still a weak spot when compared to the rest of the tank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocko918 July 25, 2012 Share July 25, 2012 Looks like it cracked because in the pictures you have small strips of wood for support. Was that to raise it up? The sump needs to lay flat on the bottom. If you need to raise it up use a sheet of plywood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT July 25, 2012 Share July 25, 2012 Good eye man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd July 25, 2012 Author Share July 25, 2012 (edited) Really! That was a good eye. I was raising it for ventilation, thanks for the tip, I think you nailed it! I am really bummed at the moment, its been hard finding a sump substitute and really can progress until I do. Looking for something ideally acrylic (or pre drilled glass) about 48"x 16 x 16. I consider something like this perfect. My link Dave Looks like it cracked because in the pictures you have small strips of wood for support. Was that to raise it up? The sump needs to lay flat on the bottom. If you need to raise it up use a sheet of plywood. Edited July 25, 2012 by stankyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd July 27, 2012 Author Share July 27, 2012 Just ordered a 65g (48 x 18 x 17) acrylic tank from glasscages to finish this off picking up 8/4. now the wait begins! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd August 6, 2012 Author Share August 6, 2012 ok, so the new sump is in place, a pretty nice fit but worried it wont have enough water to run my new skimmer. We shall see, it will be weeks before I need it. Connected the sump to my external iwaki. Replaced the missing 0-ring on the pump output, eliminating a leak. Had to replumb the chiller to be on the output of the pump instead of the return line from the overflow. For some reason, the overflow was just not cutting it. Thanks Coral Hind for the advice on the chiller earlier in the thread. I also went flexible hose which lets me see whats going on in there. Leveled the tank stand completely so the overflows are working much better. Remaining Issues Adjust overflows to allow more water in the sump for the skimmer and to avoid sucking air into the pump (happened twice for a second each). Next up Install RO/DI and float valve. Try this bad boy with salt water sand and rock and begin to cycle. I bought Argonite for the display. Can anyone reccomend a decent source of play sand? All I saw in home depot / lowes was really yellow and large grained. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd August 9, 2012 Author Share August 9, 2012 Water test has passed Electrical - pump, lights, chiller, skimmer hooked up and functional Washed off the rock and the aragonite i purchased last week (really nice stuff). Rock collection and my number 1 helper since we had our first tank when she was 3. the rest of the recent photos Tomorrow I'm adding salt, sand and rock to start the cycling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech August 10, 2012 Share August 10, 2012 Adjust overflows to allow more water in the sump for the skimmer and to avoid sucking air into the pump (happened twice for a second each). What do you mean by this? The display tank overflows do not set the water level in your sump, they set the water level in your display. If you skimmer needs deeper water, you need to raise the baffle height in teh skimmer area of your sump. This will address the pump issue if you mean the skimmer pump. If you mean the return, you just need to add more water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd August 10, 2012 Author Share August 10, 2012 What do you mean by this? The display tank overflows do not set the water level in your sump, they set the water level in your display. If you skimmer needs deeper water, you need to raise the baffle height in teh skimmer area of your sump. This will address the pump issue if you mean the skimmer pump. If you mean the return, you just need to add more water. Your absolutely right, poorly written sentence on my part. Adjusting the overflows will adjust water level in tank when the pump is on and the sump when the pump is off. My intake sucking air problem is a matter of sump level when tank is on so i need as high a level possible in the sump when running but not too much to overflow the sump when the pump is off. I hope that's right. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypertech August 10, 2012 Share August 10, 2012 Yes, sounds right, but here is how to make those adjustments. Step 1: Set the overflow box so that the display tank level is where you want it. Ignore the sump level here, the main concern is that the display level is right. Step 2: Set the baffle height for the skimmer section. It needs to run right. Step 3: Turn on the pump and fill just enough water that the pump isn't sucking air. Step 4: Turn off the pump and let the siphon break. If the sump might overflow, adjust the return nozzles so that the siphon breaks quicker. If there is plenty of space, fill up the sump till you have a fair margin of error. Step 5: Turn on pump, mark water level in return chamber of sump. This is your maximum normal operating level that will not overflow in a power outage. Step 6: Turn off pump and verify that siphon breaks and sump does not overflow. Don't forget the skimmer in the test. When the skimmer stops, water/foam in the body can add a little bit to the sump volume. Step 7: Setup ATO based on mark from earlier. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd August 17, 2012 Author Share August 17, 2012 Sand, rock and salt installed, waiting for it to clear up. The aragonite has SOOO much dust even after being rinced. I am pleasantly surprised how much the rock I had in my 220 fills the 300. cycling has begun, had significant amonia/nitrate/nitrite readings but going in the right direction. Next up, improving the lighting, soundproofing the stand and installing the auto top off. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Incredible Corals August 17, 2012 Share August 17, 2012 Very cool tank. Can't wait to see the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surf&turf August 17, 2012 Share August 17, 2012 Looks good!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd August 23, 2012 Author Share August 23, 2012 Cycling is in full swing, we had snow crab the other day and I tossed in some left-overs. Clouded up quite a bit. Here are some pics of the rock work, i also added 4 96 watt 10k power compacts cause I had the ballasts taking up space in the garage. it looks something like this model - http://www.directaquarium.com/product-p/8020.htm before the PCs' and after Also bought a sump light but have no chaeto, anyone selling? Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd August 28, 2012 Author Share August 28, 2012 (edited) I had a tremendous amount of micro bubbles in the display so I added sock filters to my return pipes. this helped only a bit so i added a bubble trap by adding 3 baffles in the typical design this worked great at keeping my return pipe and skimmer bubbles controlled. I can actually see it working. Now my problem is there is a waterfall of about 3 inches from the last baffle into where my return pump is and the bubbles are worse than ever! note the tunze was moved to the other side of the baffles. Should I lower the height of the last baffle? Raise the water level to reduce the waterfall height? ? For now, I put a plastic basket with some filter media and rock and that seems to have completely addressed it but that looks pretty ghetto. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Dave Edited August 28, 2012 by stankyd Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan S August 28, 2012 Share August 28, 2012 (edited) You should be able to just lower the last baffle - or remove it entirely. I think it's just the 1st 2 baffles that remove the bubbles. Edited August 28, 2012 by Ryan S Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EZTimes September 1, 2012 Share September 1, 2012 I have enough extra feather caulerpa in my 100g refugium to stock a few tanks and you can have what you need for free. Near GMU in Fairfax just send PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmatt56 September 1, 2012 Share September 1, 2012 I added white egg crate to separate the 2nd/3rd chamber. That keeps the macro back and allows you to raise your ato sensor and water level. I got the idea here http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/glass/index.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd September 5, 2012 Author Share September 5, 2012 Thanks to EZTIMES generous offer of calerpa, my micro bubbles are completely gone! Will be adding the egg crate because some of the algae is making it's way through the baffles. Thanks everyone! Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der ABT September 5, 2012 Share September 5, 2012 if you have some extra plastic that you used for baffles. just silicon in a piece at an angle so the water is not falling straight down but at slight angle into the lower chamber. i did this by mistake the first time and now do it in all my sumps....just lets the water flow in easier and its also easier to just add an extra piece rather than take off the last baffle and redo it. main cause is the amount of flow you have thru the sump...seems a little high or maybe thats just me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stankyd September 7, 2012 Author Share September 7, 2012 if you have some extra plastic that you used for baffles. just silicon in a piece at an angle so the water is not falling straight down but at slight angle into the lower chamber. i did this by mistake the first time and now do it in all my sumps....just lets the water flow in easier and its also easier to just add an extra piece rather than take off the last baffle and redo it. main cause is the amount of flow you have thru the sump...seems a little high or maybe thats just me. Actually, its all cured now but what i did do was place egg crate in between which keeps the calerpa at bay and has the same affect. Great tip, Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tomtom2245 September 8, 2012 Share September 8, 2012 You said your bubble issue is in the last sump section with the return pump right? If that is the case, then shouldn't just raising the water level in your sump fix that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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