Acrylic for DIY sump
- Thread starter aravindk
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fade2black
Premium Member
Depends on the size of the sump. That is going to dictate the thickness you need.
lemures-ex
New member
It also depends how you brace the sump. I'm no expert but I personally wouldn't want to go much more then a 10-15 gallon area with 1/4" without bracing it.
DKreefkeepers
New member
I build sumps everyday, its what I do. If you are building a sump from that one sheet it can not be very big and 1/4" will be fine. Next, do not waste your money on cell cast, get extruded. It is much cheaper and will hold up just fine. A lot of people say to use only cast acrylic. The people who really know what they are doing and use the stuff on a regular basis will tell you that extruded will be fine and will cost half as much.
Thanks guys. Approximate dimensions of my sump would be 48 X 22 X 16. I know I cannot build this sump with just one sheet of that acrylic. I just mentioned that to see if that price is fair enough to pay for that size of the sheet.
I havent thought about extruded thinking that it is cheap material.
Given the dimension of my sump, will 1/4" thickness do? Can I buy extruded for this thickness and will it hold up just fine?
I havent thought about extruded thinking that it is cheap material.
Given the dimension of my sump, will 1/4" thickness do? Can I buy extruded for this thickness and will it hold up just fine?
greenstarman
New member
Crazing is not an issue with extruded?
fade2black
Premium Member
Personally, I would never build a sump out of extruded. At some point in that sumps life it is going to be full, and that is NOT the time to find out that cutting corners (using cheaper acrylic) is the cause of 50 gallons of saltwater on your floor. I don't know of any reputable tank builders that would build a sump from extruded. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you can do it and it very well could work for years. But are you willing to take that chance?
sump specs
sump specs
Attached is the sump design. The measurements are not final, still playing around with different compartments.
My display tank is a 72g bow front which is in the first level and the sump is going to be placed in the basement, if that makes any difference in the acrylic that I should go for.
As you may see the design is simple to begin with to add more upgrades later on. The fuge wont be part of this sump. I am planning to build it separately and place it on top of the sump.
Pl. post your comments on the design and the best acrylic that would suit my project.
Thanks.
sump specs
Attached is the sump design. The measurements are not final, still playing around with different compartments.
My display tank is a 72g bow front which is in the first level and the sump is going to be placed in the basement, if that makes any difference in the acrylic that I should go for.
As you may see the design is simple to begin with to add more upgrades later on. The fuge wont be part of this sump. I am planning to build it separately and place it on top of the sump.
Pl. post your comments on the design and the best acrylic that would suit my project.
Thanks.
greenstarman
New member
If "C" is only going to be used as a return area why T off the drain from the tank. Also from "A" to "B" any reason you have baffles there? You could do away with those and give you more room for a bigger skimmer. Just thoughts.
Since the overflow is coming back from one level above, I thought the velocity of the water would be quite high. So I wanted put some rubbles in first compartment A to break the bubbles. Then I put the two baffles to feed the skimmer somewhatslower. I agree that I dont have to keep compartment A as big as compartment B. Probably I can reduce the first compartment size to half (6 inches) to give more room for the skimmer compartment.
The drain water needs to be pumped up too. So I figured that using this design I can use the pump that is normally used to pump the water back to the tank, to drain the water during water changes.
Do let me know if you see any flaws in this design.
The drain water needs to be pumped up too. So I figured that using this design I can use the pump that is normally used to pump the water back to the tank, to drain the water during water changes.
Do let me know if you see any flaws in this design.
Aravindk,
I'm not sure of your location but please look in your yellow pags for a local plastic distributor, you can find *much* better pricing than $11/sq ft for 1/4". You should be able to get a full 4 x 8' sheets for $5-6/sq ft retail which would give you all the material you need for your sump.
As for extruded vs cast. hmm, not sure whether to take issue with a previous post or not so won't... but extruded does *not* cost haf of what cell cast does, if you are smart and shop around *a little* - you can get extruded for ~$4/sq ft retail. However, every bit as much stress is going into the sump as a display tank and since most folks underbuild sumps anyway - probably more (heck - it's only a sump right?) use the best you can. Can extruded hold up? sure can but can also craze easily and fail. I'd follow fade2black's advice and not take any chances with this.
Using the pricing above, a full sheet of cell cast should cost $160-192 retail, extruded should run $130 or so retail, difference=$30-60. A cheap insurance policy. If you have problems finding material, lemme know.
FWIW, for cast material I recommend *only* Polycast, Acrylite GP, and Plex G; in this order.
For your sump, I'd get rid of the baffles between A & B, no reason to get rid of bubbles only to shoot the water into the skimmer, which will just create more bubbles anyway
Just have the outlet from the tank drain submerged in the skimmer chamber and you'll be good. Either keep this as a larger chamber for larger skimmer (as previously posted) if desired or make the return area larger.
If you plan to use a eurobrace on the top of the sump (please say you are), then 1/4" will be fine.
HTH,
James
I'm not sure of your location but please look in your yellow pags for a local plastic distributor, you can find *much* better pricing than $11/sq ft for 1/4". You should be able to get a full 4 x 8' sheets for $5-6/sq ft retail which would give you all the material you need for your sump.
As for extruded vs cast. hmm, not sure whether to take issue with a previous post or not so won't... but extruded does *not* cost haf of what cell cast does, if you are smart and shop around *a little* - you can get extruded for ~$4/sq ft retail. However, every bit as much stress is going into the sump as a display tank and since most folks underbuild sumps anyway - probably more (heck - it's only a sump right?) use the best you can. Can extruded hold up? sure can but can also craze easily and fail. I'd follow fade2black's advice and not take any chances with this.
Using the pricing above, a full sheet of cell cast should cost $160-192 retail, extruded should run $130 or so retail, difference=$30-60. A cheap insurance policy. If you have problems finding material, lemme know.
FWIW, for cast material I recommend *only* Polycast, Acrylite GP, and Plex G; in this order.
For your sump, I'd get rid of the baffles between A & B, no reason to get rid of bubbles only to shoot the water into the skimmer, which will just create more bubbles anyway
Just have the outlet from the tank drain submerged in the skimmer chamber and you'll be good. Either keep this as a larger chamber for larger skimmer (as previously posted) if desired or make the return area larger.If you plan to use a eurobrace on the top of the sump (please say you are), then 1/4" will be fine.
HTH,
James
I will start looking for acrylic locally and post here if couldnt find one.
Also Eurobrace: What is it? I have seen in Melev's website where he runs a strip of acrylic around the top edges. Is that what is called a Eurobrace? I thought that was added more for aesthetics. If that is not Eurobrace, can someone please post here what is a Eurobrace?
Also Eurobrace: What is it? I have seen in Melev's website where he runs a strip of acrylic around the top edges. Is that what is called a Eurobrace? I thought that was added more for aesthetics. If that is not Eurobrace, can someone please post here what is a Eurobrace?
DKreefkeepers
New member
no the eurobrace is a lot more then aesthetics, its adds strength to the whole thing. Also internal baffles will add strength to the walls. I have built over 100 sumps and other misc. projects for people over a pretty long time span and have always used extruded acrylic, I have yet to have one fail and I have yet to have any crazing appear in any of them. Mark on this site (Melev) also uses extruded if I am not mistaken and look how many sumps he has built. You guys act like the stuff is so weak and can possibly fail by just looking at it sideways. I know that Acrylics knows what he is talking about and it is probly safe by any means to follow his advise on pretty much any acrylic based project. I am not trying to argue on what he should or should not use at this point but rather just trying to establish that extruded acrylic is a fine choice for a lot of projects including sumps. Who in this thread actually has any exp. with both cast and extruded or is just speaking on what they have read?
fade2black
Premium Member
I have quite a bit of experience since you asked. Click my red house.
DKreefkeepers
New member
That makes 3 of us, anyone else?
IMHO, the bottom line is that extruded costs about a buck/sq ft less than good cell cast acrylic. Why on earth would you risk it when cell cast is 20x more stable and only 20% more expensive? Net extra cost on this sump is $32 or so and crazing is something he just won't have to even think about. I've never said extruded will fail in all cases, but good cell cast is inherently better, much better, and not much more expensive, and in this hobby; it is my humble opinion that if $30 means that much - may be the wrong hobby. BTW, not being snotty - just stating my opinion
I know Mark uses FF, he and I have talked about it, he's simply used to it and obviously comfortable with it. His choice and that's okay. But when recommending material for pressure vessels, I recommend material stable enough to handle pressure. There is a rather large difference between what is "good enough to work" and what is best. I try to recommend what I think is best, if folks choose not to take that recommendation - no worries, I'm not insulted, but *I* sleep better at night knowing I have made the best recommendations I can
James
I know Mark uses FF, he and I have talked about it, he's simply used to it and obviously comfortable with it. His choice and that's okay. But when recommending material for pressure vessels, I recommend material stable enough to handle pressure. There is a rather large difference between what is "good enough to work" and what is best. I try to recommend what I think is best, if folks choose not to take that recommendation - no worries, I'm not insulted, but *I* sleep better at night knowing I have made the best recommendations I can
James
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