29 Gallon Build

[showjyr]

I can get 1/8" and 1/4" in the black color I want but as small as it needs to be I was thinking 1/8" would be sufficient.

No I'm not sure I know the table saw trick. I was going to use a very fine tooth plastic blade or turn it around backwards or use a router.


PS. We've got about 9 inches.......4 to 6 more expected.

 

[SkiFletch]

I'd use 1/4", you'll find its MUCH easier to adhere that. Also, if you have one nearby, check your local home depot, there's now a silicone designed to work on acrylic and plastics

As for the trick, what you do is stand the piece you want teeth in vertically on-end. Set the blade height for around 1/2". Then pass the vertical piece of acrylic over the blade. It'll cut a nice square groove into the acrylic. Then chew away at the opening, slowly widening it. voila, nice clean square hole

 

[showjyr]

I'll use 1/4 then as I'm going to have to use 1/4 for my baffles in the sump anyway. Thanks for the tip on the silicone. I'll have to swing by Home Depot this weekend and see if I can find it.

I'll have to try that with the acrylic when it comes time to make my weir and overflow baffle for the fuge. I want to put teeth on that also to help my macro stay where it's supposed to.

 

[SkiFletch]

Its a GE silicone and in the smaller squeeze tubes. Got a red label and it might be by where they have plexiglass, not with the rest of the silicone caulks and such... Depends on the store

 

[showjyr]

Going Saturday to pick some up and get my clear acrylic for the sump baffles. I can silicone acrylic baffles in a glass tank for the sump right?

My diamond hole saws arrived today and all my stuff from Marinedepot should be here on Saturday or Monday. Saturday I'll also pick up a new 10gal for the sump and new 20 gal. I still don't know if I'm going to build another stand or buy one.

Next I'll have to find the things I need to make a gravity top off that will fit in the stand.

The flexible PVC I got to plumb the tank is going to fit the pump and bulkheads via a threaded barb insert but for the check valve on the return side it's a slip on. Can I just glue this with PVC cement? I also thought I would put a ball valve in the drain side so I could control water height in the weir and this will most likely be slip on as well.

 

[SkiFletch]

Yeah, you can use any old silicone for the baffles, doesn't have to be perfeclty water tight and doesn't support any physical weight. Take care with siliconing the weir though, don't skimp or rush that part. That needs to seal

Gravity topoff huh? I'll be curious to see what you come up with.

If you got the check valve from marine depot or any aquarium supplier then yeah its prolly PVC. A ball valve on the return is a great idea. An even better idea includes unions on either side of the check valve (if the valve is not itself allready a true union check valve). Then you put your ball valve above the check valve. And when you want to service the check valve, close the ball valve, use the unions to free the check valve, clean it up, re-insert it, and go nuts . Unions are your friend

 

[showjyr]

No need to buy the expensive stuff for the baffles tomorrow then. I'll also find some unions for the check valve and run a ball valve on both drain and return.

As far as the ATO what the hell was I thinking. Why go gravity when all I need is a float switch air pump and sealed container. I can easily wire a float switch to an air pump , run the air feed from the pump into the top portion of the sealed container filled with water, then run a water feed line from the bottom of said container into my sump. When the float switch in the sump turns on the air pump the air pressure will force water out the other line. I can place the container below sump level to prevent siphoning.

Tadaaa! Now Ski, find a potential problem. Could you also point me in the direction of a reliable float switch?

 

[SkiFletch]

Floatswitches.net makes good commercially available float switches in the states here, just remember they are only rated for 50watts I think, so don't put too much current through them. ATO is dangerous, you have to be very careful whensetting one up. Your idea is intriguing though, never thought about using an air pump. A few concerns with it:

First, no redundancy and safety. Even good float switches WILL fail eventually. Snails get on them, algae clogs them, calcium deposits, a whole myriad of ways. Gotta use at least two switches and wire them so that they do not fail in a direction that would cause the air-pump to run constantly. Rapidly crashing your sg can be disastrous for your tank.

Second, using 120VAC through the floatswitch is a little dangerous for your tank if one of the switches seal fails, you've got main 120V in the tank, ouch

Thrid, you'd need an air check valve on the line from the pump to the tank. If there is no check valve, when the pump turns off, water will want to move back into the topoff tank and displace air through the air pump. Gotta have an air check valve in there to prevent that.

Fourth, I'm not sure how much pressure a small air pump can create. It would need to be capable of at least 10psi to be effective.

Finally, as andy has posted on this forum, using float switches only causes the system to lack hysterisis. Meaning water level drains in the sump, air pump comes on for a few seconds, raises water level, pump shuts off, few minutes later it turns on. Pump cycles a lot which isn't good for the switches, or the pump.

 

[showjyr]

Damn.....I asked you to find "A" potential problem. You give me 5. I'm gonna have to come up with something else.

Idea 2: Two lines(one slightly larger than the other) are fed into a sealed container. One simply empties into the tank/sump while the other acts as the switch. Positioned so that it is at the precise water level desired, when the water level drops it allows air into the container allowing water to flow out. As soon as the water level reaches the "switch line" it will prevent air from entering the container thus stopping water from flowing out. I'm pretty sure the the feed line would have to be the smaller of the two to prevent water being sucked from the tank into the container.

Sounds good in theory and uses no power......but will it work?

 

[SkiFletch]

humm, can't picture it, anyway you could even make a little paint diagram

 

[showjyr]

Ok did this kinda quick and I haven't used paint since I was a kid but here goes.

I was thinking it would work on the same principal as a gas can with the vent. You know how if the vent is closed it will gurgle and flow poorly. By making the feed line very small and air line large it should stop flow entirely.

 

[showjyr]

Well Ski.......?

 

[SkiFletch]

Oh I get it, so the topoff tank is sealed all around. Seems like it would work really well actually. Just make sure you use really wide tubing for the air line. How do you plan on keeping a seal for the filling for the topoff tank? Self sealing QDs?

 

[showjyr]

Haha, woops forgot to mention that the topoff container would be sealed. As for how to keep it sealed and still be able to fill it I haven't found the exact container. What are self sealing QD's?

Any container I could find that would have a rubber seal on the cap would work. It has to stay relatively small because I want it in the stand so I was thinking around 3 gal. One of those plastic jugs used for drinking water while camping would work but I can't find one. If I could make one out of acrylic that would be air tight and get a large air control ball valve to use for filling that might work too.

I was planning on using only airline size tube for the fill line and something like 1 inch for the air side...sound good?

I was kinda surprised when you found nothing wrong with it, you've got me thinking I may be onto something.

EDIT: Just found this. With a few mods it could be perfect.Ebay

 

[SkiFletch]

Self Sealing Quick Disconnects. cole-parmer.com and I think mcmaster.com might also have them. Not cheap but perfect for this application.

That bottle you linked would work, but it'd be tough to modify with those rough surfaces and proprietary valve.