My sump and plumbing work!!!

[midiman]

I can't believe it! I spent all afternoon cutting pvc for my return lines and gluing them together. I put the whole thing in motion with my sump design, and ..... it works!

I have a few pics on a webpage with brief explanations. Will elaborate later.

Cool, if I do say so myself.

Comments and critique are welcome. I haven't fully glued the compartments in the sumpyet , so they can be changed if someone has a better idea.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vze1m67e/Building_a_sump/building_a_sump.html

 

[foma2000]

sweet. looks really good

 

[Serge]

Looks like it was well planed. Well done!

 

[seaham358]

Looks nice...... What kind of skimmer are you looking at? They are large so you might have a tight fit in the center chamber. Remember the skimmer needs room for a pump also.

 

[midiman]

What kind of skimmer are you looking at? They are large so you might have a tight fit in the center chamber. Remember the skimmer needs room for a pump also.

WIll use the AcqaC urchin. According to manufacturer's description of the "footprint", it will fit in the opening. However, I haven't glued the final pieces in yet. In fact, I learned something else this morning: I couldn't get the sump out of my cabinet because of the exact fit of the plumbing. I had to rip out the bubble trap baffles to get the pump out! :x

Today it's off the the hardware store for a pvc union so that I can break the thing down easier. This will give me something to do today as mother nature have some snow in store for us here in NY.

Live and learn.

I'm also going to build PVC supports for my live rock. We'll see....

 

[Salttanker]

Nicely done.

Just a thought. I would have the fill line about center of the sump. Room for error - If the pump fails, you will want to have enough breathing room to help prevent an overflow. Looks great though!

Mike

 

[midiman]

Just a thought. I would have the fill line about center of the sump. Room for error - If the pump fails, you will want to have enough breathing room to help prevent an overflow. Looks great though!

I thought of that, so I filled the sump and tank without the filter running, then did some on-and-off tests, including yanking the overflow box's siphon out until the pump ran dry. Both the sump (when the pump was off) and the tank (with the loss of skimmer siphon) had enough room to hold the excess water, but in the latter case, it was a close call. That's why I want to reduce the size of the compartment that holds the pump, so that less water will flow to the tank in the event of siphon break at the skimmer.

BTW, during the first wet test, I had forgotten to put a siphon break in on the return pipe. I caught the error at the moment of sump overflow .

The sad thing is that I probably won't get any work done on it today - I'm out of silicone and we're having the "Blizzard of 2005" here in NY.

 

[seaham358]

your using aquarium silicone right?????
glad to see your taking your time setting it up and making sure things run right.

 

[midiman]

your using aquarium silicone right?????
glad to see your taking your time setting it up and making sure things run right.

Yes, but it really doesn't seem to like to stick to acrylic - I'm using acrylic baffles in a glass aquarium. I'm going to double-goop it (new word?) and test each compartment separately. The key baffle (the most baffling baffle? ha-ha ) is the one that isolates the pump from the rest of the sump - in case of siphon beak at the overflow box I want minimum water in that chamber.

 

[midiman]

I braved the elements and went out to buy the silicone - I still have two teenie little leaks, so I have to finish today. Now I need to start thinking about the sand and rock. I've still yet to mix my very first salt water solution - will go get a suitable container on the way home today.

Spending money a little at a time rather than all at once is helping me deal with the "sticker shock" of this new endeavor. I just hope having the tank finally in place will be as rewarding as all of the research and prep has been.