Sump thickness vs tank thickness

[nfored]

I want to build a custom sump out of acrylic, I want it to be about 20 to 24 inchs tall. Do I need to follow the same thickness guidlines, my train of thought is this. Most parts of the sump would only buy half way full, with the exception of where the water comes into the sump. I was also thinking that since there will be about 4 dividers they will hve the side benifit of acting like braces. Also I figured by the time you add all the dividers and mediain the worst case the sump would only have total water of 3/4 the depth, but alot of that will actully be stuff, other then water.

well any way tell me what you think. here are the dems I want to build. 24x12x24

 

[basslover34]

When you turn off the power to your sump the water depth is going to rise even further still... Personally I would never go less than the height of the sump walls themselves as if by chance you over fill or you lose power you don't want to have a situation of not only water on the floor but a blown sump to try to fix when the power comes on...

 

[Pharaoh]

I would say that the wall thickness rules would not apply as aggressivly to sumps because of what you have previous stated. Not as much water, bio media in lieu of water, and additional support provided by the dividers.

 

[daleros]

You would need 1/2" for an aquarium that is 8'LX2'D.

With a sump you can get by with less if the compartments are close together. With short very panel lengths, you can use thinner acrylic. The CRYO calculator is good for this. For the tank length use the longest spacing between compartments. Think about those 5 gallon acrylic tanks that pet stores sell, very thin for the depth, but a very short sides.

Also, you have a point about the sump not being full unless there is a problem. The panel thickness for an aquarium are to prevent cazing and buckling over time. You won't have to worry about this with a sump.

If you compartments are only 12" apart, you could get by with 1/4" with proper top bracing.

 

[nfored]

When you turn off the power to your sump the water depth is going to rise even further still... Personally I would never go less than the height of the sump walls themselves as if by chance you over fill or you lose power you don't want to have a situation of not only water on the floor but a blown sump to try to fix when the power comes on...

I took that in to account when I said 3/4 full I figure, the sump normally 1/2 full and then power outage it fills to 3/4.

 

[greengiant]

correct me if im wrong but water pressure doesnt care what else is in the tank. there is a safety factor calculated into the tank because it can get abused and you don't want to go with minimum right? the chance of damage on a sump that is in a stand is much lower as it is protected.

 

[nfored]

the reason I am asking about this, is that I am having problems finding 1/2 " acrylic around me.

 

[basslover34]

correct me if im wrong but water pressure doesnt care what else is in the tank. there is a safety factor calculated into the tank because it can get abused and you don't want to go with minimum right? the chance of damage on a sump that is in a stand is much lower as it is protected.

Sumps get their own versions of abuse...rushing water can cause a greater force to be applied than "standing" water.... I personally wouldn't challenge the safty factors but will agree that there is alittle less need for the same factors to be applied.

 

[daleros]

the reason I am asking about this, is that I am having problems finding 1/2 " acrylic around me.

http://www.mcmaster.com/
http://www.thomasnet.com/nsearch.ht...g:+Acrylic&heading=60000403&navsec=prodsearch
Try here. You probably won't find it at your local hardware store.
You can use 1/4" acrylic for a 24" high tank if your compartments are 12" apart. They do this with frag tanks all the time. The worst problem with tanks is fatigue. There isn't as much fatigue with sump. I have 15 years experience with sheet metal design as well as a ME degree. This is very simple material science calculations.