hummers diy sump

[hummer]

heres my pic. i drew of a sump comments and new ideas needed

[JustDavidP]

Hummah-me-friend...

Instead of feeding the fuge from the pump returning to the display, feed it from the overflow too... like this...



Do you get the idea? If not, ask away... your design (the box) is JUST like the one I use...but your plumbing differs.

Dave

[JustDavidP]

Also...rather than drilling for a return from the fuge to the pump chamber, consider making overflow slots like you'd see in an overflow box. This will ensure that the larger flora and fauna, found lower in the water column, stay put and don't clog the return to the other section. It allows the smallest micro-crustacean offspring and other floating planktonic matter to flow over the wall into the return chamber.

At a minimum, you want your fuge wall lower than the outside walls of the sump-fugium in case of clogging etc.

Dave

[JustDavidP]

If you don't want to cut overflow slots into the wall, you could simply drill multiple holes, like I did for this sump.



D

[Iconz]

D,
Where do you get your acrylic? Also, is that 1/4" or 1/8"?

Sorry to hijack your thread, Hummer.

-JD

[Sweetpea]

BTW Hummer, I really liked your drawing! The print is too small for me to read (I think I mentioned in another post that I need glasses! ); however, I wish I could draw out the ideas in my head the way you have here!!!

[hummer]

dont worry iconz . manards has big sheets 1/4 thick 4X6 for $78.00 and 2X4 for $33.00 .... i just cant find the glue (welldon 16) for my plexe glass thanks sweetpea that was sweet(hehe)of you little play on words tryed to make it bigger by cut and past but it turned out too be cut and losted...lol and thanks for your pics of yours and you input justdave

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by hummer

thanks sweetpea that was sweet(hehe)of you little play on words tryed to make it bigger by cut and past but it turned out too be cut and losted...lol

No worries! I know the time is drawing near for me to make the leap and visit the optometrist, lol! I have had all kinds of ideas in my head, but I have never been able to draw them out like you did with your sump pic above...

[JustDavidP]

I use a company in Boston called J. Freeman.

Keep in mind that the acrylic you get at the Home Depot, Lowes, Manards etc. is not of the same quality. There is a big difference between extruded and cast acrylic.

If you are making a simple sump or other "non display" type of project, you can use the "Home Improvement Store" (Extruded) kind of acrylic. However, I highly suggest that if you are making large "tanks" or any display, that you use cast acrylic.

Extruded is cheap, and easy to make. However, by virtue of the process, contains imperfections (may have distorted viewing panes) and weaknesses.

Just my two cents...

OH.. and you can pretty much tell which is which by looking at the wrap...those that are extruded are typically coated in a peel off plastic wrapping while those that are cast are typically protected by a paper film with plastic underneath.

Dave

[dakar]

Cast acrylc is typically found by a plastics dealer (sometimes glass shops carry it as well) just look up 'plastics' in the yellow pages. For a sump 1/4" extruded will work just fine as long as you take your time and know that you may have to drop in an extra support brace to stop any bowing.

Around here I get cast out of the plastic shops 'junk bin' for cheaper than I can buy extruded from place like Menards or Home Depot, they sell it by the pound rather than by size, more often than not thier 'scraps' are large enough for our needs..