new project, need HELP.

[watercrawl]

You can cut acrylic with an acrylic cutter:

http://www.swisco.com/Acrylic-Sheet-Cutter/pd/Do-It-Yourself-Tools/75-024

You score the acrylic and then bend it at the score to break it. It won't be a clean cut like with a table saw, but it will work.

I used standard PVC pipe cement and my fish are all fine.

Premade overflows will continue to flow water to the sump until the water level in the main tank falls below a certain level and breaks the siphon. So, yes, it will continue to flow for a little while after the pump is shut off. It's this backwards flow that is one of the major concerns for floods if the power goes out or the pump stops working. You need to make sure your sump is large enough to handle the return water. Once the system is in place, you should kill the power to the pump and see what happens. If the sump overflows (obviously stop it before it actually does), you need to change something.

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

ok so i have a change of plans. i think i might just go with a new 30 gal tank from my lfs. i was wondering how do i figure out how tall the baffles should be inside the tank. thanks.

 

[watercrawl]

It depends on how you want to configure the sump. The baffle that makes the pump holding chamber needs to be at least as tall as the minimum water depth for the pump to function properly. Past that, there were so many different configurations when I was studying the topic to make my own that I almost went crazy.

My sump starts with a tall piece of glass that's roughly 1" off the ground and 3" from the top (so about 12" in my 16" tall sump) and that forms the bio-chamber with the drip plate and mechanical filtration and what not.

Next baffle is sealed to the bottom, is roughly 5" tall and squishes a roughly 2" thick sponge (I bought sponges for an AC70 and they fit nicely) in between it and the baffle previous from the bio-chamber. Sealing this one to the bottom forces the water to rise through this chamber and through the sponge.

Next baffle sits about 1" off the bottom and is roughly 6" tall and this is followed by a baffle that is sealed to bottom and is roughly 5" tall overall. These two are a fair distant from the first two and this middle chamber is where I put my heater. These two baffles create a bubble trap and the chamber for the pump.

Since the highest baffle that is sealed to the bottom is 5", my minimum working water depth is 5". If the water ever fell below that, the water would not run into the pump chamber. I try to keep the water level around the 7" mark, leaving a little more than half of the tank empty for outages/failures if they ever happen.

I have a Google Sketch-Up design if you want to see it just PT me or something with an email address.

 

[watercrawl]

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

THANKS. i actually drew something up and has no baffles, man i hope i can start this project sooon.

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

another question, when i start up my sump for the first time, how much should i fill it with water?

 

[carsona246]

enough to cover the pumps, I forgot how large your tank is, but a good portion of water will still go in your sump after the power shuts off. After you see how much wiggle room you have you can add more/less water

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

enough to cover the pumps, I forgot how large your tank is, but a good portion of water will still go in your sump after the power shuts off. After you see how much wiggle room you have you can add more/less water

my tank is a 130 gal.

 

[jcardona1]

You'll need extra water in there the first time you start it up, as the youll need water to fill the plumbing, and raise the level in the tank to the point where it starts draining into the overflows.

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

btw is there any way i can make sure a 30 gal can fit through my stand? i was thinking of making a 30 gal out of cardboard or poster board just to make sure. any other ideas?