DIY Sump Baffel Thickness

[jlfalin]

I am getting ready to convert my 125 gallon aquarium into a sump for my new tank. The sump will have a small area where the water enters from the fuge. The flow goes from the overflow of the tank, to a 150 gallon fuge and then into the sump. This will be an area to remove air from the overflow from fuge to sump. Then I will have a large area for my skimmer and manifold pump. Then the return section. My question is how thick should the baffles be for a standard 125 gallon aquarium. 1/4, 1/3, 1/2?? Baffel material will likely be acrylic.

 

[Reef-junky]

Are the tanks glass or acrylic? Glass and acrylic don’t bond very well. I’ve seen people pull acrylic right off of glass after trying to bond it together. In any case you would not need 1/2 thick baffles.

 

[jlfalin]

Tank is glass. I will be using silicone to hold the baffels in place. I understand silicone doesn’t bond to acrylic but I will use a large amount so the mound of silicone will hold the baffels in place. I was more worried about bowing and potential failure. In all reality the acrylic won’t be holding back much water so the pressure differential from different heights of water will be low. I will be moving 1500-4500 gph through this area though so it needs to be able to handle that flow.

 

[Reef-junky]

Not sure why you are trying to move that much water through the sump 5 to 3x is the norm. The baffles may pop out over time because of the weak bond hard to say then again in a high flow sump they may not stay at all. Glass on glass is really the way to go.

 

[jlfalin]

I will be doing the triton method which requires 10x turnover through fuge/sump. I understand this is a lot of flow. Much more than I have ever put through a sump but trying to follow their recipe. My tank is 475 gallons. I will start with the higher flow close to 10x and turn down if I don’t like it. As for sump I have never had any issues with glass tank and acrylic baffles. Have probably done this 5-10x without issue. Granted those were 10,20, and 40 gallon aquaria but the silicone held the acrylic just fine. I just want recs on what thinkness people would use in this situation. If it’s thick enough that it has minimal flex it will be just fine.

 

[George Lopez]

1/2" works for me but I'm not flowing that high and it aldi depends on how wide the sump is front to back at 12" 1/2" works for me

 

[redfishbluefish]

Silicone does stick to acrylic (and glass) if you use the right stuff.....and Home Depot sells it!!!

Don't go to the paint department where they sell most silicone caulks (and other caulks). You need to go to where they sell acrylic sheet goods. In my store it's with storm windows. You will find a special 100% silicone that bonds to plastics....and looks like this.

This is the silicone you want to use.

 

[Reef-junky]

I’m pretty sure 1/2 is way thicker then what you need but if you don’t mind spending the extra money then go for it. I would use 1/3.

 

[Reef-junky]

Silicone does stick to acrylic (and glass) if you use the right stuff.....and Home Depot sells it!!!

Don't go to the paint department where they sell most silicone caulks (and other caulks). You need to go to where they sell acrylic sheet goods. In my store it's with storm windows. You will find a special 100% silicone that bonds to plastics....and looks like this.

This is the silicone you want to use.

+1

I’ve heard of that stuff never used it though.

 

[Reef-junky]

This is 1/2 inch acrylic that I made my ATO tank out of. I had a hard time drilling a hole in my acrylic sump which is also 1/2 inch.

 

[George Lopez]

Sorry I meant 0.220 not half

 

[bblumberg]

I don't see why 1/4" would not be sufficient for baffles. Acrylic will swell a bit so you need to consider that. I'd just go to a glass shop and have them make you glass baffles from 1/4" plate.

 

[Ferrell]

Glass is cheap too and bonds better. I think I spent $30 for 6 pieces all cut to size. No bowing no failures to worry about. Just my$0.02

 

[lmm1967]

You will think the plexiglass is fine - and it will be for a while. Then it will swell, absorb water slowly, change shape, bow & bend - and then fall over. Most likely will take many months or a year but when it does you'll be rebuilding your sump with glass baffles.

If you use 1/4" glass baffles to start with - you'll be smiling for years to come.

This is all from direct experience BTW.

 

[jlfalin]

In my experience I have had sumps built out of glass aquaria with acrylic baffles that have worked for years, and when the tank is taken down the baffles couldn't be ripped out if I wanted too. I have had multiple sumps like this with no issues. The key is using enough silicone. It has to have a huge bead of silicone to hold it in place, so it's not as neat as a bead you would see with glass baffles but it works. Seeing as this will be in a fish room I don't really care how it looks, I am only concerned with function and ease of maintenance. Also, I have always cut my baffles ~ 1/4" short to leave space for any kind of expansion and contractio, therefore I have never had a cracked aquarium. If you do a search there are several people that make acrylic baffle kits for standard aquaria on the market. If this was such a bad idea they wouldn't be able to sell them and therefore they would no longer be available. So as I have originally decided I will be doing an acrylic glass hybrid.

My main question was in relation to bowing. If the acrylic bowes it could pull away from the acrylic with the change in shape and this could lead to baffle failure. Because of this, I have decided to use the 0.5" acrylic. This will minimize bowing against my high flow rates and as long as it doesn't bend it should build a sump that I will use for years.

I will be sure to follow up with pictures as the baffles are cut and secured into place. I am getting excited since I should soon have water growing through my fuge and sump for the first time.