Acrylic dividers in a glass sump

[Mike S]

Im building a sump for my 120 gallon tank out of a 29 gallon glass aquarium. I was going to use acrylic for the dividers but I've read somewhere that silicone won't adhear to it. Is that really the case and if so how do you go about installing multiple dividers? It would seem that once you install one there wouldn't be enough room to silicone both sides of the next piece. Can you get away with just doing one side?

Thanks

Mike

 

[Paul_N]

I made one a few years back using a 29gallon glass tank and acrylic dividers. It ran for 4 years flawlessly until I sold it. The bond between the silicone and acrylic will not hold as long as with glass but with a sump you are not dealing with that much pressure on the seems. Honestly you can just as easily go to a place that sells glass and have them cut three pieces for dividers. I actually put the two outer baffles in first so I could silicone both sides of those very well. I then put the silicone on center baffle itself and slid it down in then used something long to press silicone against the seem. It wasn't pretty but it worked. Here is a pic of mine:

 

[Mike S]

Thanks Paul,

I'm going to call around to a few glass shops today and see what I can find.

 

[Mike&Terry]

We used acrylic baffles in our old 125g sump. The acrylic baffles were sandwiched between acrylic strips. This is not the best pic, but I think you can get the idea :


nt 1297 by terryl93, on Flickr

We used the sump for 5 years without any issues.

 

[Dowtish]

I have heard the same thing about acrylic not bonding well with glass. But everybody I know has done it anyway with no issues. I think it comes down to the fact that the tank isnt full and the water movement isnt crazy. However, I found a local glass shop that will cut me 4 baffles for cheaper than acrylic.

 

[Mike&Terry]

That's great Chris. The bond will definitely hold much longer with glass vs acrylic.

 

[shred5]

Yea I agree with Paul. I have used acylic many times. Glass would be best but a sump dividers do not need to hold any pressure or be water tight.

Dave Polzin

 

[Mike S]

Glass did end up being a little bit cheaper than acrylic and was able to get a local glass place to cut them to my exact needs.

 

[Dowtish]

Glass did end up being a little bit cheaper than acrylic and was able to get a local glass place to cut them to my exact needs.

Right on!