Egg crate

[ColinAbi]

This might be a dumb question but I'm going to put some egg crate in my sump and was wondering how do I keep the egg crate in the same position? Do I seal it , etc?:eek2:

 

[Gorgok]

Put it in, put a rock/skimmer/pump on it, done?

What are you trying to do with it? Unless you have really good flow its probably heavy enough to keep itself in place.

 

[Cdodge1]

Small pieces of rock? Or take magnets and put two on either side of each corner as an anchor?

 

[ColinAbi]

I just want it so big pieces of micro algae don't go in the pump.

 

[ColinAbi]

For the small peices of micro algae I have some needlepoint plastic

 

[sleepydoc]

Micro or macro algae? Micro algae will go through the needlepoint plastic.

How do you have your sump designed such that you need the egg crate in the first place?

As far as securing it, I assume from your description that you're placing it vertically? You could either silicone it in place or put two strips of glass (or acrylic if applicable) on each wall to make a channel that it would slide into.

 

[rfalvey89]

cut PVC to go side to side in sump.
drill holes in PVC .
Zip tie Egg crate to PVC

 

[ColinAbi]

i ment macro

 

[Gorgok]

You can also make it into a box around the pump (or the macro). The stuff is acrylic apparently (uncle mentioned it in some thread); i tried weldon 4 on it, works great. You can make a free standing box around either with pieces of it bonded together, plus it looks neat as hell (compared to zip ties!).

I made a box ~21" long, about 5" wide to sit around all my plumbing in my external overflow box. Now even if some dumb fish decided to go explore the sump they would have to go through the eggcrate in calm waters (no risk of getting bashed/sucked against it) to get down there. Anything that does fit through will easily fit through the gate valve too.

 

[ColinAbi]

Do you have any pictures of the box?

 

[ColinAbi]

Also whats the best way of cutting the egg crate?

 

[sleepydoc]

I just used a wire cutter. I suppose you could use a saw, though.

 

[woodnaquanut]

Wire cutters if I'm too lazy to take the crap off my table saw.

Table saw if I want precise, smooth cuts.

 

[ColinAbi]

Ok thanks

 

[ColinAbi]

Is there a way I can post a picture from my gallery. It's the sump design

 

[sleepydoc]

If you click the 'go advanced' button there's a paperclip button that lets you attach images to your post. If you have it on a picture hosting site like Photobucket, the site will give you a direct link that yo can copy. click the 'Insert image' button over the compost window and paste in the picture address.

 

[ColinAbi]

Ok thanks here is the sump design.

 

[Gorgok]

Do you have any pictures of the box?

I rough cut it with flat cutting wire snips, but in the middle of the next box instead of right at the wall. Sometimes they cut great, but then the next box can shatter for no reason it seems, so i just use the snips to rough cut. I got rid of the left over fingers with a belt sander.

 

[ColinAbi]

I rough cut it with flat cutting wire snips, but in the middle of the next box instead of right at the wall. Sometimes they cut great, but then the next box can shatter for no reason it seems, so i just use the snips to rough cut. I got rid of the left over fingers with a belt sander.

It looks very nice. How tough was it to glue?

 

[Gorgok]

Really easy actually. I put a piece of masking tape to hold the shape of the pieces, squirted in some glue, watching it flow into the mating spots, added a little weight and let sit for a few minutes. Flipped it over, added the other side the same.