55 gallon sump [Archive]

btacker

Fri, 30th Sep 2005, 11:07 PM

I am turning a 55 gallon tank into a sump / refugium. Would it be better to use acrylic or glass for the dividers?

Also, if you know of a good place to buy the material in Austin, I would appreciate it.

donniekim

Fri, 30th Sep 2005, 11:27 PM

Glass, cause acrylic don't silicone for crap

jlam

Fri, 30th Sep 2005, 11:35 PM

It would use acrylic its easier to work with and stronger and lighter than glass and you dont have to worry about getting cut. All you would have to do is make sure the pieces fit and glue and let it dry for about 3 days and water test. You can get the materials from most hardware store's like lowe's, home depot for what you are looking to do, but if you want a place to pre-cut your pieces or if you are looking for thicker pieces more than hardware carries then regal plastics. I used them to build my whole sump and they did all the cuts and everything for about 150.00 and its a 60 gallon sump with 3 sections and all I had to do is glue.

Jason

jlam

Fri, 30th Sep 2005, 11:39 PM

IMO, I have to disagree with donniekim cause I have made many sumps with acrylic glued on glass. The only thing that makes it hard is using really thin pieces smaller than 3/8 thick because you cant get a good bead of silicon on it.

Jason

LoneStar

Sat, 1st Oct 2005, 02:26 AM

On my 55 gallon tank I have a 30 gallon glass aqurium I bought to turn into a sump and fuge. At my job, I use ABS plastic. I cut 2 sheets out for dividers in the tank and used silicone to hold them into place. Worked great :) Its no show work but for a sump that is hidden, it performs very well ^_^

If I had the money, I would get a acrylic sump. That way it would be easier for me to modify by drilling holes in the future......

::pete::

Sat, 1st Oct 2005, 08:18 AM

I also used acrylic as baffles in a glass tank with silicone. It worked just fine.

btacker

Mon, 3rd Oct 2005, 08:01 AM

Thanks guys. I will give acrylic a try.

Henry

Mon, 3rd Oct 2005, 10:21 AM

acrylic siliconed to acrylic doesn't work very good, but acrylic to glass is ok

btacker

Mon, 3rd Oct 2005, 10:57 AM

What would be a good thickness for the acrylic? Someone said something about 3/8?

Also, what is the ideal spacing between bubble trap baffels?

witecap4u

Mon, 3rd Oct 2005, 12:28 PM

3/16 or 1/4 is more than thick enough for baffles....