SkiFletch
New member
Why oh why can't major mishaps come when you have time on your hands? Why do they always have to happen when you're booked out for weeks in advance and dont have time to fix problems?
Long story short, my sump tank failed again. Some of you may remember that the same thing happened to me about a month ago. Part of my seam split in the makeshift 10g sump I was using. I repaired it since it would have been so much of a pain to remove the tank as best I thought and it wasn't enough. Never is when working with silicone, glass, and water pressure, but figured I'd try. Only spilled a little over a gallon on the stand/floor so I'm not loosing sleep over it. However, I now pretty much have to re-do my sump. And this time I'd rather do it properly. I'm not looking for anything fancy here, but I want something thats going to work.
As I see it, I'm faced with a few problems. #1, the tank is an allglass 45 tall. Dimensions 3x1x2' LWH. That leaves me a footprint area of 34x10" to place a sump in. A 10g is EXCEPTIONALY limiting and other than an equally limiting 15tall is the only thing that will fit in the stand (with the limiting width factor). I dont have the option of upgrading or moving anytime soon, so consider me stuck with this tank size as un-ideal as it may be. Problem #2 is that the tank is full of livestock and cannot be mettled with too much, therefore all modifications must be done in-place. And last but not least is that flipping middle support on an allglass stand which prevents me from fitting a long custom sump tank inside.
I am NOT going to use a glass tank sine repair is too difficult compared to acrylic (I love solvent welding). That leaves me with seemingly 2 options. First, buy pre-cut acrylic and build the sump in-place. Second, re-inforce the longitudinal support, remove the center vertical support, and pre-fab a custom acrylic tank to slide in place. Either option presents a lot of work, and neither is simple from an engineering point of view. I'm leaning towards removing the support cause if I ever do need to service the sump, it will be a PAIN to do with building the tank in-place.
Either way, I would like to know if there is anywhere locally (prefferably no farther than rochester) that I can buy pre-cut 3/8" acrylic sheets? Or, are there any mail order locations where I could purchase such an item? My reason for choosing the thickness is because its easier to solvent weld when thicker, despite of course the increased cost. I'd rather this tank didn't fail
Also, if I do decide to remove the center support member, do you guys think re-inforcing the front frame with slotted steel alloy would prevent bowing of the remaining support members and allow me to remve that center piece?
As always, I appreciate your help
Long story short, my sump tank failed again. Some of you may remember that the same thing happened to me about a month ago. Part of my seam split in the makeshift 10g sump I was using. I repaired it since it would have been so much of a pain to remove the tank as best I thought and it wasn't enough. Never is when working with silicone, glass, and water pressure, but figured I'd try. Only spilled a little over a gallon on the stand/floor so I'm not loosing sleep over it. However, I now pretty much have to re-do my sump. And this time I'd rather do it properly. I'm not looking for anything fancy here, but I want something thats going to work.
As I see it, I'm faced with a few problems. #1, the tank is an allglass 45 tall. Dimensions 3x1x2' LWH. That leaves me a footprint area of 34x10" to place a sump in. A 10g is EXCEPTIONALY limiting and other than an equally limiting 15tall is the only thing that will fit in the stand (with the limiting width factor). I dont have the option of upgrading or moving anytime soon, so consider me stuck with this tank size as un-ideal as it may be. Problem #2 is that the tank is full of livestock and cannot be mettled with too much, therefore all modifications must be done in-place. And last but not least is that flipping middle support on an allglass stand which prevents me from fitting a long custom sump tank inside.
I am NOT going to use a glass tank sine repair is too difficult compared to acrylic (I love solvent welding). That leaves me with seemingly 2 options. First, buy pre-cut acrylic and build the sump in-place. Second, re-inforce the longitudinal support, remove the center vertical support, and pre-fab a custom acrylic tank to slide in place. Either option presents a lot of work, and neither is simple from an engineering point of view. I'm leaning towards removing the support cause if I ever do need to service the sump, it will be a PAIN to do with building the tank in-place.
Either way, I would like to know if there is anywhere locally (prefferably no farther than rochester) that I can buy pre-cut 3/8" acrylic sheets? Or, are there any mail order locations where I could purchase such an item? My reason for choosing the thickness is because its easier to solvent weld when thicker, despite of course the increased cost. I'd rather this tank didn't fail
Also, if I do decide to remove the center support member, do you guys think re-inforcing the front frame with slotted steel alloy would prevent bowing of the remaining support members and allow me to remve that center piece?
As always, I appreciate your help
I guess I'll weigh the cost differential between say 3/8, 5/16, and 1/4" thick acrylic. I'd really like to go as thick as I can afford though to make SURE I get a leak free solder weld. Piece of mind is worth a lot 
