Can I raise my dividers in my sump?

Bulldog39

New member
I had my 30 gallon tank made into a sump by my lfs and they made the dividers like 4 or 5 inches tall. Worthless the water is higher then them.

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why did they made them 5'' high?
My best guess they are either stupid or just wanted my money. I paid $80 and took 2 weeks. Also didn't paint back of my tank and $60 to make my plumbing and it like $15 in hard pvc and I wanted braided flex pipe. After 2 weeks just wanted my tanks back. So have to redo all of it so total of 300 down the drain

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I'd redo everything myself. Use this as a learning experience, and never give another penny to that LFS.
 
Can I add to them or have to redo them?

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You don’t need to completely redo them unless you really want to. Adding to them, might not be 100% leak free but it would accomplish what you want and it doesn’t need to look pretty or be completely seal proof really. Honestly, I would most likely redo it properly the way I wanted.

I'd redo everything myself. Use this as a learning experience, and never give another penny to that LFS.

I agree with this. If they took this little care with your stuff you can almost guarantee they didn’t do the plumbing right either. Make sure you use PVC primer before you use the glue, and always chamfer the pipe. When you make your connections, add primer to both the fitting and the pipe, then add glue in the same fashion, then insert all the way until the pipe bottoms out in the firting and turn 25 degrees and HOLD for 30-45 seconds. This is the proper way to glue pvc.
 
Yeah also got to put some shutoff in cause they didn't. Almost made me not even want to start but I can fix it. Will just cycle and maybe add a fish or 2 while I get all the stuff I need to fix it. Thanks

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Yeah also got to put some shutoff in cause they didn't. Almost made me not even want to start but I can fix it. Will just cycle and maybe add a fish or 2 while I get all the stuff I need to fix it. Thanks

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Don't let the store discourage you. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and shop for your equipment and livestock elsewhere.

There are tons of people and reef store owners that are willing to offer help, advise or even equipment for free if your in a bind so don't let these guys ruin it for you.

Turn this into a positive. You re-plumbed your tank by yourself and if anything were to happen, you could be confident you would know how to fix it by yourself. I know the lost money stings a little, but honestly there are more good apples then bad in this hobby and unfortunately you met a few bad ones right off the bat.
 
just an idea. ebay sells dividers kits to build your own sump as well. might be less hassle to just buy those kits in your case. and maybe used another aquarium. or just a used sump all together!?
 
If u are already cycling the tank u don’t really have to start over. The tank will be fine with only powerheads & u can put the heater in the tank itself while u take the sump offline to get it how u want.

I would redo the baffles. The only extra work involved would be getting the baffles out. If u don’t want to take the baffles out then u could just place your new baffles next to the existing ones.
 
how high is the 30 gallon tank ?

you typically want the skimmer section level to be about half the tank height.
I can find 2 types of 30 gallon tanks, one 13" and another 17" high.
on 13" high tank, 6" should be right height, and 8" for the 17" high tank.

as to "water is higher than the baffle", that means the sump has too much water. the solution is to reduce amount of water in the system, not increase the height of the baffle.
 
It's 17 and my water level in the sump is about 5 inches above the baffles. Tried taking water out it just lowered my tank level

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Sump water level shouldn't effect DT water level unless your return pump is coming out of the water. What kind of overflow are you running?
 
Eshope but I need a ball valve to tune it cause it running full cycle open and has air in it. Getting that this afternoon

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yeah, DT level is determined by the overflow weir and independent of the sump water level.
I think you meant the overflow water level changed, not the DT water level. and that is correct. If you are using a DC pump, you can just dial up the dc pump.

the baffle could be higher, but there is no reason why it cannot be made to work at 5". and you may need to tweak your herbie drain a little (or dc pump adjustment).

if you run the sump water level at 10" on a 5" baffle, make sure you can keep the water level constant with ATO/float switch. Assuming you can keep the water level constant, the only possible issue of not fixing the baffle is micro bubbles from the skimmer going into the return pump section.

I think 8" or 9" water level should be right for that sump height (whether you fix the baffle or not), and works for most skimmers.
 
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