High Tide Aquatics

Peter's Garage Tank

Coral reefer said:
Baffle out if skimmer section is usually two pieces. First under(gap at bottom) then second over for reduction of micro bubbles I think.
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That's the way I made a couple.
Interesting thing, I picked a 40B sump in the East Bay and the baffle with the bottom gap is in the middle, it has three baffles. I normally use three baffles, the middle one is the one that sets the water level. Some other comercially available have two baffles and a foam block and the fancier new ones, adjustable height baffles!
I made a sump few years back with no baffles, the bubble trap was a horizontal skimmer platform; I'll look for a picture and post it, photobucket wants ransom now...
 
Thanks Mario! I watched a really good BRS video and have the basic idea. One last question: with the baffles only 12" wide can I use Plex. or will they bow and fail?
 
It's true that silicone doesn't bond well to acrylic but in a sump there's not a lot of pressure built up because there is water on both sides of the baffle. Glass would be preferred but is harder to work with. You can also use e6000 instead of silicone with the acrylic which will bond to it.
 
Why will it expand? Water absorption?
I second e6000. I like to mix in a little super glue with it so you get a quick stick while you wait for the e6000 to cure all the way. I think you'd be ok with some thicker acrylic. Usually can find scraps at tap. Black is good if you are separating a skimmer from a fuge
 
Coral reefer said:
Why will it expand? Water absorption?
I second e6000. I like to mix in a little super glue with it so you get a quick stick while you wait for the e6000 to cure all the way. I think you'd be ok with some thicker acrylic. Usually can find scraps at tap. Black is good if you are separating a skimmer from a fuge
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Yes, it does absorb water. I think if you left 1/16" on both sides it would be fine.

scuzy said:
Plex make sure you have room for expansion. As acrylic will expand and crack the tank.
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Have you seen it actually crack a tank?
 
I take it E6000 is reef safe based on several posts that I have now seen. Just want to confirm this? I'm thinking about using it for a project.
 
Peter and I had a busy afternoon. We did a rough build on the table to hold the frag tank to the left of the DT, got the canopy built, drained the frag tank and re-drilled the bulkhead hole so we could add a larger drain. Now we can run twice the water through the frag tank. We got the frag tank moved and hooked back up. The set-up still needs some finishing touches, like wire organization and paint, but the bulk of it is done. While moving everything around, I realized we have a plex 2 chamber sump that we can use til we get the 55g baffled. Next on the list is to make a stand on the right side of the DT which will hold the sump. We already have an ASM G2 skimmer and an Eheim return pump rated at 350 gph and some chaeto. We are just waiting for the 800 gph overflow box to be delivered on Monday.
Cheers! Mark

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Acrylic does expand under water. I used plexi baffles in glass sumps but allowed a gap and preferred to use silicone instead of adhesive E6000 because silicone is easier to remove than E6000. The purpose of the silicone was merely to keep the baffles from moving.
 
DAMN! A moment of inattention and now literally 20,000 pods swimming on the garage floor 'cause I knocked a 5 gallon culture over. At least it is in the garage.
 
As soon as we get the overflow box, the sump is ready to run. We built the bench to hold it, have it in place with the skimmer, heater, and return pump in it. Picked up all of the supplies to plumb it and changed out 20 gallons of water from the tanks and poured it in. Plugged everything in to check for leaks (ran the return right back into the sump) and it is running and skimming. Put the 120 watt equivalent 5,000k LED light up and added Chaeto. We will just let it run for a couple days and hopefully Monday we can skim our reefs.
Cheers!
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So what is the total volume of the system that it will be hooked up to? How much does the return pump....well, pump? Do you have a gate valve somewhere to control the flow?
 
Flagg37 said:
So what is the total volume of the system that it will be hooked up to? How much does the return pump....well, pump? Do you have a gate valve somewhere to control the flow?
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The frag tank is 20g plus 65g for the DT (minus rock) plus 25g for the sump tank - so approx. 100 +/- gallons. The return pump is 350 gph and we will use a CPR CS100 overflow box rated at 800 gph. No gate valve, we will just run it wide open. I have never had a sump before, I think this is going to work?
 
About 3 weeks ago we split in half a large colony of Zoas that we had in the DT. Half went back into the DT and half went into the frag tank. When I compared them today, the polyps on the frag tank half are easily twice as tall. I am guessing that the cause of this difference is less usable light in the frag tank making the polyps stretch to get more light? I have also noticed that the frag tank has a little GHA, where the DT does not. Too much "white light" in the frag tank? They are plumbed together so it can't be water parameters. Both tanks have good circulation. Other frags in the DT seem to be out performing matching frags in the frag tank. I added additional t5s to the frag tank - 48 more watts of actinic. It makes sense?
Cheers! Mark
 
The difference in algae could also be a difference in algae-eating inhabitants depending on what is in your DT.


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