Acrylic baffles in glass tank ?

Frogbone · 03-06-2005, 06:19 PM

Can I install acrylic baffles in a glass tank rather than getting glass baffles ?

If so, what's the best way to bond acrylic to glass ?

Jeremiah · 03-06-2005, 06:21 PM

Yes, and silicone...

Frogbone · 03-06-2005, 06:26 PM

..simple enough

Thanks !

PS: slowly getting all my crap together, so one of these saturdays.....

Skipponator · 03-06-2005, 08:32 PM

That's what I did. Just use lots of silicone.

Mikehenrytts · 03-06-2005, 11:30 PM

takes a ton of silicone, but worked good for me.

Beng · 03-07-2005, 12:44 AM

And also if you want nice straight line/professional finish looking, make sure you use
masking tape, otherwise you will get silicone smear here and there.

Beng

Frogbone · 03-07-2005, 07:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Beng

And also if you want nice straight line/professional finish looking, make sure you use
masking tape, otherwise you will get silicone smear here and there.

Beng

awesome tip ! thanks !!

Frogbone · 03-07-2005, 01:45 PM

any hints on special techniques to put in these baffles? What's the best way to apply the silicone ? How do you hold the baffles in place ?

Graham · 03-07-2005, 02:57 PM

I put the tape in, so I know they'll be straight (line up with baffles). The baffles that rest on the bottom should hold into the silicone by themselves - I've never had a problem. The baffles that allow water underneath, I prop up on a small piece of 2x4 or somethig about 2" tall. Again, they should set into the silicone and not really move if you're careful. They should be cut to fit to the tank anyway so that it's a pretty snug fit, give or take 1/8".

Run a bead down each side of the tank and slide one end in, then the other. Run your finger up the seam to smooth it out and you should be good to go. Have some paper towels on hand.

Frogbone · 03-07-2005, 03:38 PM

not only will I run my finger up and and down, I will also dunk it in soapy water first

(that's a hint to myself)

I had the baffles cut to size and the fit perfectly

11.75"x10" x 1/4" acrylic, $3.70 each. Is that a good price ? I got six of them and the price for cutting is included. Called it in and picked it up a couple hours later

If that is a good price then I will recommend that place...

Jeremiah · 03-07-2005, 04:17 PM

I just bought a peice of 1/4" (can't remember the dimensions but have some left over) at home depot for about $1.97 and scored it with a knife and a straight edge and it broke pretty cleanly. Good enough for a sump anyway.

Frogbone · 03-07-2005, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeremiah

I just bought a peice of 1/4" (can't remember the dimensions but have some left over) at home depot for about $1.97 and scored it with a knife and a straight edge and it broke pretty cleanly. Good enough for a sump anyway.

I have looked through teh home depot acrylics and I never found what I needed. Small pieces were always 1/8" and thinner and teh 1/4" was always huge sheets and spendy. I also thought that the material they carry has a "softer" feel to it. Seems to me like it's really cheap plexiglass.

Frogbone · 03-08-2005, 07:32 PM

Now I need some help with placing the baffles in the sump.

This is a 29g AGA glass tank. I drilled the holes for the bulkheads with a diamond tip Dremel tool. All three holes took about 15 minutes. It was a piece of cake.

As you can see, on the left there are the two bulkeads that go to teh external pump for the skimmer and the skimmer return.
On the right hand side is the bulkhead for the return pump. I drilled that in teh front of the tank so it is easier to plumb in a valve and piping to the return pump. The picture is actually taken from the back side of the sump.

Now the big question....you see the two sets of three lines which indicate the baffles. They are just a little bit lower than the skimmer return.
I will end up with three compartments, the left side is the tank drain / skimmer area, a middle compartment and the right side tank return.

How big should the compartments be ? I kinda want to make sure that I have enough volume in the return pump area. I will install float switches in there for auto top off. In the middle I want to install the heater, probes and UV pump.

Where would you place the baffles ? What would you add or change ?

PS: What should the spacing be between the baffles ?

Graham · 03-08-2005, 07:50 PM

It depends...the more flow you want to put through the sump, the longer the path you want the water to take from overflow to tank return. The problem is that while baffles will help, the main determinant is the length of the sump. Even if you cram it with baffles, too much flow will just push the bubbles along right to the return pump. There needs to be an area that allows settle out with slack current where the bubbles can rise from the current. I would suggest as large an area as possible in between the two sets of bafflles and as high a sump water level as you can and still accomodate a power outage situation.

With mine, I have the water go under the first baffle, then 2" along it goes over the next one. There's almost 3' of length to the return side baffles and the water goes under-over-under (2" in between) and finally to the return compartment. I've found this setup to give me the best results. As for spacing between baffles, I'd make sure you can at least fit a hand or siphon in between them. Also, the closer they are, the less velocity the water will lose and that can equal less bubbles being able to rise up.

Frogbone · 03-08-2005, 08:11 PM

You lost me there Graham.

Going by the picture I posted, the baffles should be from the left:

drain from tank / under-over-under / large area / under-over-under / return to tank

Is that right ?

I just had a look at teh sumps at Melev's Reef. All his baffles appear to be over-under-over.

I am royally confused now