Help me Make a Sump

[wattsupdoc]

You'll do better to use glass for the baffles. Silicone doesnt stick to plexi very well, some have luck, but not myself. The single pane sheets work fine, but they are a little thin. Measure the inside of the aquarium, be as exact as you can. You can do this from the outside of it. Looking into it. Then go have a glass shop cut you some pieces. Look for silicone wich does not have any mold or mildew resistance. 100% pure silicone. Likewise, if your not sure of what your looking at, just get the the aquarium grade stuff. It's more expensive, but only a few bucks, and you'll have piece of mind. I have used both and find no difference in them.

 

[drpaul84]

bah that means ill get raped on price lol, i hate depending on a shop to do somethin for me cause then they have me by the balls,

 

[drpaul84]

dumb question....why dont i just cut my own glass? lol....where can i buy a sheet of glass?

 

[wattsupdoc]

It shouldn't cost much more than 20-30 bucks for the glass, cut. Of course you can cut your own, but by the time you buy the glass, the glass cutter, then the risk of it not cutting right..... My Lowes here cuts glass, but they only stock single pane sheets, I have used them,(single pane) with so far no ill effects. But Still a little nervouse with it. I think I paid like 13-15 for the sheets cut at lowes. Look up a shop in the book and call 'em see what you looking at for these cuts. You can use the plexi, but like I said, it doesnt bond very good at all.

 

[drpaul84]

ok lol ill talk to our glass guy at work see how much its gonna hurt lol

 

[drpaul84]

just ordered the mag drive 9.5 an the overflow, might start setting it up this weekend, depends on how i feel lol, gotta go get the pvc an stuff from the store an do the plumbing, im nervous!

 

[drpaul84]

doc!!!!! got the tank overflow an pump today, dropped down the lower platform, tomorow im gonna go to lowes/home depot to pick up the pipe an unions an valves, then gonna find the glass anyway since i was lazy i took a pic using my phone , didnt feel like comin up then back down lol, skimmer fits good pump fits good, they take up half the tank, so that leaves a lot of room for the fuge!

 

[drpaul84]

ok heres more pics

 

[drpaul84]

hey doc when you get a chance to get back into my thread, quick question!
for the auto top off, i found that float valve online says its a bulk head fitting, is that what you used looks almost identical but you have yours mounted up on top, so you just took the bulk head float valve an just glued it on the top right? now, what part of the ro/di do you have it on?
the pure water or just the ro water? im asking because will the ro/di water have enough pressure to travel that distance? and what will i do just put in a Y fitting after the DI chamber an have one for filling my ro/di water and the other one go to my auto top off? help me out!
heres my ro/di

 

[wattsupdoc]

Lookin good!

That 30 long is gonna make a sweet fuge!

Use the purest water from your unit. I Dont have DI, but just RO. So either is fine, but you want to use the best water you have. Just get a "t" fitting for the line to the fuge. I did just glue my valves on top. I used super glue gel, gooped it up really good, and held it in place for like 2 hours. Dont let go of it that whole time....Just kidding., hold it for about 5 minutes till it sets up good. It wont come off, you'll really have to yank on it to come off. Then get a piece of poly tube thats big enough to thread onto the stem that leaves the valve and then slide over the float pert. If you need to extend it that is. Use a smaller diameter hard airline tube to stiffen that up good, just stick it inside the polytube.
Makes sense?

 

[drpaul84]

yup makes perfect sense, my only concern is flow control and what if the vavle fails, whats to stop it from just keep on topping off till its topped off and over flowing lol, OR, do i just turn the ro/di unit on once a week and let it top it off on its own , or however often i need it to top off instead of luggin the bucket to the room, like turn on the ro/di to top off for 2 hours let it do its thing then turn it off

 

[drpaul84]

im gonna be goin to home depot lowes in a couple minutes to pick up the piping glue primer and all the fun stuff....im really nervous lol....lots of water gonna be flowing!

 

[drpaul84]

doc i made another diagram just want to make sure im on the right page before i go out an buy all the supplies...here is the overflow design the return one is a little more complicated im gonna start that now

 

[drpaul84]

 

[drpaul84]

ok measured the tanks width and its a pubic hair shy of being 12" wide on the inside....
so i need to get
4- 6x12"
1- 8x12"
3- 11x12'
1- 10x12"
so 9 pieces of glass i am going to HD now wish me luck
just got word lowes cuts the glass so looks like im headed there lol funny thing is they are next to each other like directly next to each other...side by side properties...

 

[wattsupdoc]

Looks fine to me. There is the possiblity of the valve failing. But I have not had any problems with it. You could if you want, just turn it on for an hour or so everyday, but I wouldn't worry about it myself.

 

[drpaul84]

just got back home an wow my head an wallet hurts 200 bux spent there glass cutter didnt work so i got my own glass an gonna cut it myself its already 12" wide so its easy an i got one thats 10x12 so no cut there....i didnt think bout the little teeth to make...how can i do it with glass.....an finding the right fittings was hard....everything was in the wrong place so it was hard finding everything......but i hope i got everything i need

 

[drpaul84]

ok we have a problem, wtf do i use off of the bulk head on the overflow??? is it a special thread?? nothing i have fits it, 1 1 1/2 1 1/4 wth!!!!

 

[drpaul84]

ok well i figured out that a pipe goes in it! lol...now do i glue the pipe in there? what do i do if i have to service the bulkhead.... also i tried the glass cuttin an oops lol there goes 3 dollars lol...

 

[wattsupdoc]

Yes, you'll have to glue it in there. Use a union if you want to be able to remove it. Or a ball valve with the union on it. You dont need to cut teeth in the glass. Just let it flow over it. If you want to keep critters from being able to go past a baffle, just silicone in a piece of gutter gaurd or plastic screen of some kind. I personally dont worry about it much. Likewise filling those sections with LR rubble will prevent critters and be beneficial.
Cutting the glass is going to be interesting. What did you get for a cutter? Your scoring it and then breaking it right? Be sure your getting a good straight, deep score.