Suggestions on how to fix baffles in sump

[jfolley67]

Well we have been looking over our sump...realizing baffles are just not high enough at the end prior to hitting the drain....there is a 3 set of baffles...water goes under/water goes over/water goes under to the last chamber....
however....
because the 2 high baffles that water is supposed to go over were not placed high enough, water goes under AND over them and has no effect at trying to stop any micro bubble action. I want to do a repair on this and make those baffles higher. Scott and I were thinking we could go get some acrylic and just basically glue/attach another piece onto each of the already baffles there to increase their height. How and what should we use to do this and make them stick without having to empty the sump water and such....suggestions needed PLEASE.
thank you!!

 

[jfolley67]

..or could it be our sump is too high....how much room do you all keep in your sump? seems like it has quite a bit of room now even with this issue.....this is a standard 40 gallon sump...

 

[crumbletop]

Julie,

You want the water to go over-under-over on those last baffles. you can add in acrylic panels the way you did stuff with Angela. I'll bet she has the glue you need -- I think it's weld-on 3 or something like that. If the panels are already set up for water flow o-u-o, but are just leaking under the "overs" then you may just need some weld-on 3 on those baffles to patch them up.

 

[jfolley67]

LOOKS like they were set up for under / over/ under.....oopsie but at the time we thought that this area would be in sump skimmer.....and we changed it....not sure what difference that makes.....can we use this stuff with the water staying in the sump?
looks like the first baffle is under...the next one is for water to go over and is to bottom of sump AND we could make this one taller....then the last one is under but being it is not tall, goes both ways.....as does the center one right now....
baffles right now not doing any good....
would it work to go from 3rd changer like this....

under
over
and under to the drain area? or do we need to add a 4th baffle? This would be the easiest fix way...either of these ideas....what do you think?

 

[crumbletop]

IMO, adding a 4th baffle in your return area would make the volume in that area pretty small, which means the topoff would have to fire very frequently. This isn't a big problem unless the topoff reservoir runs out of water -- then you'll get cavitation of the return pump. I would remove the last baffle altogether, and add a new "third" in front of the remaining two to make it over under over. Does that make sense?

You'll have to do that with the tank dry.

 

[jfolley67]

understood completely, but how do we get that last baffle out, it is in there solid...

 

[jfolley67]

how high do you keep you sump? if I lower sump water, could I just keep the baffles the way they are....under over under, would it make much difference? Just curious

 

[jfolley67]

just did some reading, Jack...
yes, really need to do as you state, add that baffle and remove last baffle....it is actually better it says to have more room in return area anyway.....
but how to do this full of water? and how to put baffles in that will stay quick without having to set? I will go and buy some acrylic today to make that baffle.....ugh, here we go again, I guess it never ends!

 

[crumbletop]

The last under will pull bubbles to the bottom which is not what you want. You might could cut out the last baffle. Since it is an under, you might also could just leave it in. When the water level drops it will push bubbles down again, but with the osmolator you should be able to keep the water level above it.

Re height of water in the sump, you mainly want to make sure you have enough room in there to accommodate the drains and back flow through the return pump whenever the power is cut. There isn't a set rule on actual height -- it all depends on the dimensions of the sump.

 

[Angela Short]

Opps. My sump was set up with the last chamber's baffel in the return section being a "under" from glass cages so I just copied there design. I have some acrylic to do the highth adjustments of the other baffels but its black. I don't see what it would matter though being just a divider so we can just chop that up to save a trip and money. I think the water highth in the sump is all dependent on the baffels, no? So can you lower the water highth without cutting baffels? I think taking water out will only make the volume go down in the retun chamber... I have the weld on also somewhere in the basement. Just give me a call I am kid free tommorow.

 

[crumbletop]

I have not used weld-on, but I think it sets reasonably quickly. Ask Angela on that one. It will all have to be dry, though. Leaving the sump not running for a day (or less) while you do this should not be a problem for the corals in the tank. You'll have to shut down the return pump and then essentially drain the middle section of the sump where you want to put the new baffle. I don't think you need to worry too much about how high/low your sump level is. With the exception of removing the very last baffle, I'd leave the rest of the baffles as they are.

 

[crumbletop]

BTW, Angela did an awesome job with those other baffles. None of them leaked and they were all very clean.

 

[Angela Short]

Messiest baffels in the world! I have no clue how I got mine in so clean and Julies in SO messy! I am sure we can get it fixed up though to work right. It was only my second sump attempt so naturally to keep with my record I will have to do it more than 1 time to get it right :lol:

 

[jfolley67]

Heck yeah, Angela, NO COMPLAINTS..you did an awesome job. I think we might have turned the sump around and put it backwards......ugh!!!

 

[Angela Short]

Its ALWAYS something! My hubby put mine in backwards also and we didn't notice till the main tank was on the stand. So the way we had to plumb it the sump is infront of the GFI so when it trips its a nightmare to reach with a tool to re-set!