29g sump design

[jmccown]

Do any of you guys have a 29g sump on your systems? I am going to be building one this weekend and would like to see pictures of one to get ideas for the baffle placement as well as the size of the baffles. I would like it to be 3 sections 1 for the water coming in with a place for a filter sock, another for the refugium and a third for the return and to place media such as carbon in there. I am going to be possibly setting up a reef tank in my 150g tank. Someone fostered my big queen trigger this weekend to a 1000g tank so I am likely going to a softy reef. Another question - is it possible to keep some low light corals under fluorescents until I can get better lighting? I've seeded my tank with an additional 150lbs or so of live sand from another members' reef tank for a 3-3.5" sand bed across.

 

[LowCel]

Here is a link to my old one including the measurements. There are pictures of it in my photo gallery.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/showphoto.php?photo=70956&papass=&sort=1&thecat=500

 

[jmccown]

Thanks Bruce, that is exactly what I was looking for.

 

[jmccown]

What is the length of the baffles anyone? I see by Bruces' sketch the height of each piece, but what were the length of the pieces?

 

[LowCel]

Measure the inside of your tank to get the length of the pieces. Also have the corners "knocked off", which is just slightly rounded on the bottoms to allow room for the silicone bead that seals the tank together.

 

[jmccown]

Well I did measure mine, I est. a little more than 11.75". But I didn't know whether it should be a really tight fit or leave a little gap for the silicone bead. Is Lowe's the best place to do the glass?

 

[phljess]

I would not use glass for the baffles. I would use lexan from Lowes. Baffles should not be under much stress, so I do not think there would be a blow out. Lexan is much less likely to break.

Also a good way to know how large to make the baffles is to cut a piece of cardboard and see if it fits well, then make get your baffles cut. You will want your baffles snug but not tight. Especially if you use acrylic because it swells a little when emersed in water.

 

[rnhrtfan]

I just did this whole thing with the glass.. don't know about in KY but the glass panels where were IMO expensive....4 pcs. 11 7/8" x 13 were anywhere from $45-$60 depending on whether or not the glass store required a min. order....Lowes will cut the glass but will not polish the edges so they will be EXTREMELY sharp...if you can get the lexan to adhere to the glass you can probably save some $$$ there as well as be able to pick them up at lowes w/o worry of getting cut.....I used glass only because I got it free....just my .02 worth

 

[phljess]

Yes you will have to sand the lexan or the glass. The whole bit about lexan not adhering to glass is a farse. It is fine to use in a sump. But you would not want to use it as a tank wall. Sump baffles should not have enough pressure on them to cause the lexan to come loose.

 

[coralreefer]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12127913#post12127913 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rnhrtfan
don't know about in KY but the glass panels where were IMO expensive....4 pcs. 11 7/8" x 13 were anywhere from $45-$60 depending on whether or not the glass store required a min. order

:eek2: :eek2: :eek2:

I don't recall the price but the lexan from Lowes is pricey too.
We got 5 1/4" pieces of plexiglass from a local glass shop custom cut to 12x12 for around $13.00.

The whole bit about lexan not adhering to glass is a farse. It is fine to use in a sump. But you would not want to use it as a tank wall. Sump baffles should not have enough pressure on them to cause the lexan to come loose.

True. All you are doing is using silicone, that does adhere to glass, to hold the acrylic in place.
We had to take the baffles out to reseal our sump last spring. It took most of the evening to cut them out after they'd been in place for about 1 1/2 years.

 

[LowCel]

I just called around to a few glass shops, if memory serves me correctly it only cost me around $20 - $25 to get the pieces cut. It wasn't to pricey at all. I ended up having the place over in Dunbar cut mine for me. I think I used 1/4" glass. Just have the panels cut about 1/16" of an inch shorter than what the inside dimensions of your tank are.

 

[jmccown]

Well, I got a local glass shop to cut them for $6 apiece - 1/4" glass. The lexan was more expensive - $15 apiece.