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sump advice

P

puffer036

I am a newbie looking for some help. I am not really a DIYer but am willing to give it a try. Anyway, here goes. I am going to attempt to build a sump/fuge out of a 29g. tank( 30x12x18H). How thick should the glass for my baffles be? Is 1/4" sufficient? Also, how far apart should they be spaced? Is there any way to determine what size to make my individual compartments? I really like Rich T's design that feeds the fuge right from the skimmer output. Rich, Can you tell me what brand of skimmer that is? I have a Magdrive 7 that I would like to use as my return pump. Will this be o.k.? That's all I can think of right now. I'm sure that I will have more questions before it's over. Thanks for any help.
 
J

jazzsam

I got the small glass from lowes for the baffles and it holds just fine. They should be 1 inch apart.

I had to get thicker glass for the refuge becuase that exploded on me. I got 1/4 inch and it worked great.(cheap at a glass store) It really is cheap and easy BUT you can never put too much silacone on. You don't want a leak and have to drain it and do it again. (I had to do that becuase I did not use enough silacone)
 
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puffer036

Thanks for the reply Jazzsam. I think that I am going to go with 1/4" for all the baffles. I will definitely remember to use excessive amounts of silicon. Thanks again.
 
J

jazzsam

One other thing to mention. The raised baffle is supposed to be up 1 inch but if I did it again I would raise it just a hair more than that. I found that when I put too much flow into the skimmer side of my sump it will go over that baffle. Not must more than an inch but just a hair more.
 
T

TNT_Tile

I would think that the hight would be determined by the amount of flow going through it. Im no expert and have no idea, but I went 2" on my 55 gal sump I just did.
 
J

jazzsam

TNT_Tile said:
I would think that the hight would be determined by the amount of flow going through it. Im no expert and have no idea, but I went 2" on my 55 gal sump I just did.
Click to expand...

That is very true. It is based on the flow but I am really not sure how I would measure it but I have a LOT of flow and 1 inch was just a hair too short when I put everything to one side.
 
C

chase33

First time I heard of 1" not being enough. I have dual overflows rated at 600 gph and tremendous flow through my sump. My middle baffle is 1" above off the bottom and I haven't had any problems (knocking, I mean banging on wood).

BTW, I agree that you should be very generous with the silicone. It doesn't hurt and better safe than having to come back and add more or do over.
 
J

jazzsam

chase33 said:
First time I heard of 1" not being enough. I have dual overflows rated at 600 gph and tremendous flow through my sump. My middle baffle is 1" above off the bottom and I haven't had any problems (knocking, I mean banging on wood).

BTW, I agree that you should be very generous with the silicone. It doesn't hurt and better safe than having to come back and add more or do over.
Click to expand...

i agree. If i would have known i would have used much more the first time around. Just give it time to fully cure. If you use a lot it will not cure as the directions say.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

Hey sam I'm doing my 55 gallon sump right now ... and what i did was I made my middle piece of glass 4 inches higher than the water level so this would keep the water under the baffel instead of over it, so anyone reading this might also try that as well as keeping the 1" bottom opening.

What I would like to know is what did you guys use to keep the baffels exactly 1" apart and 1" off the bottom of the tank?
 
C

chase33

I used two lego blocks to raise it 1" off the bottom. I first applied the glue to the walls of the sump about 1" apart. Then I placed the glass on the in onto the silicone and then I siliconed the sides again. Hope that explains it.
 
MikeNapoli

MikeNapoli

I just finished .. I ended up using old VHS movie tapes. I think they were South Park Vol 1 and 2 .. not sure you needed to know that.haha

Anyway i'm a little light headed because I cleaned the inside of my tank with white vin. about an hour before I started and the smell got to me pretty bad.

I'll wait until tomorrow to check how I did and thursday I'll water test it.
 
J

jazzsam

NapoliNewJersey said:
Hey sam I'm doing my 55 gallon sump right now ... and what i did was I made my middle piece of glass 4 inches higher than the water level so this would keep the water under the baffel instead of over it, so anyone reading this might also try that as well as keeping the 1" bottom opening.

What I would like to know is what did you guys use to keep the baffels exactly 1" apart and 1" off the bottom of the tank?
Click to expand...

I like that idea. Once again....... You live and learn. I don't think the 1" has to be that exact but the video tape idea you used sounds like a good one to me. I actually used some scrap wood.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I posted this a pic a while back. This is how I made the baffle that the water goes under. I left the 2 legs on it so I didn't have to worry about wedging anything under it.

baffle.bmp


To get the proper spacing between baffles, I just drew vertical lines on the tank with a Sharpie and made sure the baffles lined up with them.
 
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