55G Sump Build

gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
I think you have taken as many steps as you can to be successful with the plexi. Me - wont ever do it again! Glass all the way. With that said...looking forward to your stand build. That 55 looks tall! If I had it all to do over again on my stand build I would have given it about 2 to 5 more inches on the inside. Keep us posted. Will you do a different build thread for the stand?
BTW Melves Rocks! Thats what I used when I did my sump! Your Sump looks great.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Thanks for the compliment, Mike. But, you guys skeered me into it...I'm going to re-do it using glass baffles.
Since I'm going to invest all this money and all my time setting up this system...the last thing I want is to have a failure a year or two down the road. I'd rather be safer than sorry.
The stand...I'll probably start building in about another month or so perhaps. The 55g is pretty tall for a sump so I plan on building an oversized stand. My tank is a 125G Tall so it's 5'ft long...the new base cabinet/stand will be 7'ft long and a few inches taller than my current one which is about 34"...the new one will be 36" tall and I'm going to build it in such a way that there will be more room inside of it from top to bottom, front to back as well as side to side while still being sturdy enough to handle the load. The extra room should leave me with enough to install a modest ATO system as well as a few other pieces of equipment in the future.
For the Canopy i'm actually going to incorporate cabinets on each side of the tank that tie into the canopy so essentially the canopy and side cabinets will all be one piece. Then the top canopy with the side cabinets will be secured to the base cabinet (but still be easily removable with an extra hand)...then I'll tie it all in with some nice trim work...essentially making it look like one big piece of furniture.
Absolutely...I'll make another thread for the stand and post pics. One of my favorite things to do sometimes is just search through pictures and threads to see what other people are doing/building. It helps get the creative juices going when I'm trying to come up with some of my own ideas.
I'm going to be moving next weekend so the wife and I have alot to get ready for. I need to go over to the new place this weekend to set up my quarantine tank that will house my livestock while the DT is down. Gonna be crazy busy for a while...but will definately keep posted as things progress.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
I dont think you will regret the change to glass in the long run. Cabinet sounds like a great project. Good luck with the move .
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I want pics......I want pics......
I know what you mean about seeing other pics and it gets your thinking....That's how I've somehow talked myself into incorporating a rounded corner, and doing it out of wood.....I want to even bend the doors......I just need to see more pics......
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Shawn, your build is getting more and more technical by the minute lol. The rounded corner on your tank would look really nice though, for sure. I thought you already made the doors? I know the feeling though...I'm still working out the details for the new stand...I keep changing everything, it keeps evolving. And since I'm going to re-do the sump, I'm going to make a few changes there too, I think.
That is a beautiful stand...don't know if mine will be quite as fancy but it should be close. Not to sure about that canopy design though, how do they open it, or do the just get up there on a ladder to feed? Also not sure if I want mine to lift up or open up with doors...hmmm.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
I stayed tagged to that "Fancy Stand Build" thread over there.....Some really amazing work.....I think the front does lift up, but the detail work is so incredible you really can't tell where it separates......
I had be working the door frames and panels, and doing little things here and there....I just finally got the door panel inserts installed. Couldn't find the components I wanted to use originally, but that's typical.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/3278747
Curious..... How much space did you leave on each side of the baffles?
Well...none!

Actually I've already broken it down since I was going to redo it. But my dimensions were...
Media section - 6"x12"
Skimmer section - 13"x12"
Bubble Trap - Baffles set 1.5" on center
Return Section - 10"x12"
Fuge - 15"x12"
I had a little change in plan...I went out the other night and picked up a new 50G that I'm going to use for the sump. It has the same footprint as the 55G but the 50 is 2" shorter so I figured a little extra headroom under the stand will be nice when it comes time to plumb and install equipment. Then I'll just keep the 55 as my QT once I eventually put my livestock back into the DT.
I am probably going to make one little change to the sump and make the skimmer section about 1.5" bigger to accomidate a skimmer that I'm considering. I'm back and forth on which one that I want...I may need to pick your brain and see what you think if you don't mind.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Sorry for a late response. I was looking at some info from a good acrylic fab thread, you should leave 1/8" gap on both sides and you'd be perfectly fine.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/3278822
Sorry for a late response. I was looking at some info from a good acrylic fab thread, you should leave 1/8" gap on both sides and you'd be perfectly fine.
Sorry...missunderstood your guestion. I realized it after I went back to work. Yeah I think I posted earlier in the thread that I had cut them a little short and actually that's exactly what I had cut them at...1/8" short, maybe even 3/16" since I went back for a second clean up pass on each piece. The idea in my head was that it would be better not to try and wedge them in there so that they wouldn't bow and that way I could basicly bed them in the silicone, especially the pieces for the bubble trap. I'm going to try and get the glass cut to the exact same measurements...or just cut them myself.
 
gill again68

gill again68

Active Member
Your gonna be so happy with the glass. I got my glass cut just a little to big but I fixed that with my diamond blade on my tile saw. I think in the long run that extra 2 inches of height is gonna be a big difference. If your not careful you will get your tank height all jacked up trying to make a big tank fit under a stand and still have room to work. My 40 gal breeder is about an inch and a half to tall. Every time I clean my skimmer I have to deal with that and it sucks. Works but sucks.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by Gill again68
http:///forum/post/3278885
Your gonna be so happy with the glass. I got my glass cut just a little to big but I fixed that with my diamond blade on my tile saw. I think in the long run that extra 2 inches of height is gonna be a big difference. If your not careful you will get your tank height all jacked up trying to make a big tank fit under a stand and still have room to work. My 40 gal breeder is about an inch and a half to tall. Every time I clean my skimmer I have to deal with that and it sucks. Works but sucks.
Thanks, Mike.
Just gotta make these last couple of tweaks to it and I'll feel more confident that it should last me for many years without probs. I've been crunching numbers like crazy lately getting everything figured out with what I want to run in the set up as well as trying to incorporate as much room as possible in the new stand for any equipment I may run in the future. When it's all said and done I should have just enough room to do everything that I want to do (I hope). lol
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by acrylic51
http:///forum/post/3278958
James from Envision acrylic had answered the question a couple days ago about baffle size.
hmmm...so a 1/4" off the total width of the inside of the tank and I would still be good with what I used...in his opinion? I still have the pieces.
 
2quills

2quills

Well-Known Member
Originally Posted by bmkj02
http:///forum/post/3277197
IMO, after awhile that plexi will start giving. There wont be pressure equal on both sides cause the water moves in a certain direction towards the pump and thats the direction it will fail. It should last you maybe a year but back to the drawing board you will go. I had the same problem and its just that the silcone does not adhere well to plastic/acrylic to glass. If you have a glass tank then the baffles should be glass and the silicone will last for well over many years. If you have a acrylic tank then the baffles should be acrylic and glued together with Weld-On. The taller you go with the baffles the more flex you will get and more chances of it giving way. I did it the same way on both my tank and my girlfriends tank and they both went out at the same time which was about 8 months. I went to a local glass glazier and they cut the size and thickness I need for $40 for both of my tanks and two years later not a problem (knock on wood). Good luck either way. It does look sweet.

Came back for a re-visit on this. You say that silicone wont adhear to the acrylic very well...yet is adhears to glass better? I'm wondering what kind of silicone were you using? According to Marc from Melevs Reef he said that I would be fine with acrylic baffles in a glass tank as long as I use the adhesive silicone that's safe for aquariums. Just wondering what you had used.
 
acrylic51

acrylic51

Active Member
Silicone will be fine securing the baffles in a sump. Marc is quite experienced with dumps and acrylic. You need to roughen the acrylic to get it to adhere, and the possible issue with blowing out the glass can be avoided by properly cutting the baffles to the correct size according to James who probably does the best acrylic work around. I advise follow the experts dvise when in doubt.
 
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