Acrylics Project - 30g Rimless Sump

This is the design for the sump at Grove & Platt dental.  Right now I have all the pieces prepped and started bonding last night.  Forgot to d/l from camera so right now just a rendering



A lot of things not shown, this was just so I could locate the hole for the bulkhead. Everything is 3/8" except the bottom, which is 1/4".


Left back is the intake section which will have 3 1.5" pipes, one with a Cepex valve for the siphon line, then a screen divider before the feed pump for the Algae Scrubber, then 3 baffles with lots of space in between (for 3000 GPH of flow). I calculated that there will be a little under 1.25" over the top of the first baffle, but bubbles shouldn't be an issue with the siphon running full.


Long return section will house the ATS bubble eliminator (designed only in my head right now) and then just a slow journey to the pump intake, a 2" bulkhead to a Reefflo Dart return pump. Water level will be maintained by an ATO in a 5g bucket next to the sump. Haven't figured that part out quite yet. But anyways, the sump is sized for capacity in the case of a full 5g accidental top-off followed by a power outage.


More pics as the build continues...

 

At this point I'm not completely sure. At least one sump and an in-tank refugium/overflow box for an HOB filter for sure, and I'm building a frag tank that Matt/ninja will be using.

 

I'll let you in on an inside secret. Bryan / Santa Monica has developed a newer version that is due for release in the next few months. It promises to be more efficient, effective, and easier to maintain. I talk to him regularly and can never get any details out of him, except that he is going to let me know the minute the patent issues are all taken care of. Until then, he has suggested to me that instead of developing a line of scrubbers based on the vertical waterfall design that is currently the dominant design, that I wait until I see what he has come up with. If I like it, then anyone I just sold the other style to would then have an outdated scrubber. So I'm taking his advice - it's worth a few months of waiting...

 

As promised, a few build pics

One panel set



Walls done



Nice bubble-free filleted joints. The overage will be flush-trimmed.



Not every joint turns out perfect. There is a trick to getting a bubble-free joint. The first trick is don't get bubbles in the joint. I shot a bubble into the joint (just a bonehead "I knew better than that" move) and tried to get it out, but just made it worse. So the second trick is don't pull out your hair over one bubble. Just let it go man. Luckily the joint turned out near-perfect (a couple of tiny bubbles don't kill it). This is thanks in part to using a custom solvent mixture that increases the working time (which also increases joint strength by allowing a longer soak time), so else it would have been back to the drawing board.



Here are the baffles. Bonding this assembly to the rest of the tank tonight, then a quick flush trim, bonding the bottom panel and another flush trim, then rounding and polishing the edges and it's done.

 

Baffles bonded in place. Did the 3 bonds to the back last night and the one to the end this morning.

 

Glad you enjoyed my humor!

I ended up with another joint that didn't look so hot, but it's on the middle (up) baffle and it's not really that important. I could have pinned the joint and made it perfect but didn't want to wait for the other 2 baffle joints to cure, so I just wicked it in and called it good.

 

Bottom is on

Next, trim off this lip all around

...after waiting about 20 hours...

 

All done, save for maybe a little buffing here and there

 

A little over a year, but most of that has been research and self-training.

My Dad has been building display cases, risers, etc for antique collectors/dealers for several years, but that doesn't require quite the same level of accuracy.

 

Added a baffle to reduce bowing on power outage. 1/4" or bow when it got within a few inches of the rim was just too much for my taste . 36" is just too long of a span without a baffle or eurobrace.

Will also accomodate a screen to block any thing from the pump intake