Reefs.org Forums

[Urban.E23]

Hi everybody'

I am making a DIY sump for my 54 gallon corner tank and I already have acrylic which i'm cutting today and i have
a tube of marineland aquarium sealant but I'm fairly sure that i read somewhere to not use the sealant on the out side edges cause it wont be strong anoff...

Does anyone know what i should use?!

Thanks

[Ben]

You need to use weld on, it is a chemical solvent. Weld on 16 comes in a tube and is a bit thicker, but I prefer #4 and use a needle applicator to put it on. Like these http://cgi.ebay.com/Solvent-Bottle-Appl ... 27bd4f0068 You can also get the weld-on on ebay. Melevs site goes into methods for glueing, but I used the guitar string method. This method involves setting the pieces of acrylic together, using a thin guitar string cut into pieces placed alone the edge. You put the weld-on into the edge and it wicks under, pull the string and hold in place. The trick is both to make sure the cuts on the edges of the acrylic are perfectly smooth, and to be sure the edges bond with no bubble (or very very few). Aquarium sealant (silicon sealant) will not work for an acrylic sump, it works on glass but not acrylic.

Melevs site should answer all the questions.

http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sump ... _sump.html

[Urban.E23]

Hey,

I ended up going back his site after i posted this and found out the info his site has become my go to spot for intel,
Is it absolutely necessary to use the pin method or can I just do it with out and should i glue both sides? I didn't see that info on there.

Also is there a rule of thumb on the spacing of a sump this is what I got so far...

22"
--------------------------------
| /
15" | / 16 half
| /
|------------------------/
18"

The return was going to be on the left and was going to be about 10" of the 22" then I was going to start the bubble trap them the remander of the sump would be for the intake and a protein skimmer and heater and reactor

the sump is agled cause I'm trying to make the most on the space It's also going to be 17" high but I'm not sure how high I should make the bubble trap I'm thinking 13' that leaves 4" for a safe zone in case of a flood lol

Is there anything else I'm missing?

[Ben]

You don't necessarily need the pins, but they help the weld-on wick under the acrylic edge. With out you may not get the glue to wick completely. The weld-on will create a joint that is very strong, and if it wicks all the way through the joint as it should gluing both sides is not needed.

Have you decided on a return pump? I don't leave to much room in the return section, personally I would find out which return pump I wanted, and leave the section an inch or so wider then needed to fit it in there comfortably. This will give you the maximum space for a skimmer, etc. I would look at examples of sumps online and use that for a general judgement also.

Are you planning on making a bubble trap, like on melevs site where the return from the tank flow into it and then the water come out the bottom? If so just make sure it is higher then the baffles you use so it is above the water level, forcing the water to flow under it.

My LCD monitor blew yesterday so I bought my TV from my bedroom down to my computer. The screen is huge and after a few beers this is hurting my eyes now lol.