Buliding a 180g sump filter
- Thread starter h0ckeyfreek20
- Start date
Dang regular silicone sticks nylon well? I was told that nylon and similar hard plastics do not glue well with silicone at all? wonder if I can get away with using aquarium silicone instead of chancing it with the poly-weld
Really? figured you were kidding since ceramic needs specialty bits and probably more brittle than anything..?
I never like to permanently bond anything inside a sump, because as experience and knowledge are gained things evolve, and I always find I change things over time anyway.
If it is bonded it just makes it all that much more difficult to change.
A drip tray can simply be placed in the sump in container weighted down with lava rock or some other media, especially in a sump the size of a 180.
I also never use baffles anyway, I find them confining, get ain the way of my arms during maintenance, and flow isn't any different with or without them.
I just place biomedia in mesh bags in the line of flow, which makes it easy to lift them out when cleaning of gunk is needed.
If it is bonded it just makes it all that much more difficult to change.
A drip tray can simply be placed in the sump in container weighted down with lava rock or some other media, especially in a sump the size of a 180.
I also never use baffles anyway, I find them confining, get ain the way of my arms during maintenance, and flow isn't any different with or without them.
I just place biomedia in mesh bags in the line of flow, which makes it easy to lift them out when cleaning of gunk is needed.
Ah true that is a great idea. My problem is I need to drill hole-saw holes in the sheets so I needed something more machinable
That's exactly what I have now in my 180 sump. (2) 2" drains --> (4) filter socks --> 50 gallons of stacked media bags --> (4) laguna 4200 return pumps. It works awesome!
Except when the water runs over the media bags instead of through the media. The drip trays definitely won't be glued. I want easy access to the media. Will probably put blue bonded pad and filter floss on top to cut down splashing noise.
I know exactly what you mean about constantly learning / upgrading systems haha!
---my main reason for changing things,is I find the filter bags get nasty way before the media does. So if I can contain all these small particles of media, I can eliminate the bags
Yea that is what a lot of people have said but in practice when i used it, it stuck just as well to the nylon as it did to the glass. One thing that i have found that helps it to stick also it to go over where your going to put the silicone with some 400 grit sand paper and that helps it to stick better, at least for what i have done
Thomas
Thank you for the insight!!
I might just try aquarium silicone to be safe. If the polyweld is toxic I'm chancing my entire stock and my filter could become a useless box. And my filter can't be removed without lifting the entire stand haha
