Relocating a sump baffle

[mikerobart]

I have decided that I am not happy with the performance of my skimmer... and despite 6 months of tweaking, adjusting water level, meshwheel, needwheel, etc etc it is still not producing the way I want it too. I am thinking there may be something wrong with the sicce pump, but either way I am pretty resigned to replacing it with a sexy new Bubble blaster HY-3000, which should be a better match for the extreme 200 body.

I should also mention, there is no way to remove the skimmer from my sump or stand, or remove the sump from the stand without moving taking my 90g off the top... not an option.

There is a chance I will need to move the baffle between my skimmer chamber and fuge if the bb pump won't fit as it is ( probably won't fit.) This will also allow me to be able to work more easily in the sump and relocate my carbon reactor etc etc.

I was thinking I will siphon out the sump, dry it as best as possible with a towel / blow dryer.... clean it up, and then try to cut out the baffle. Can I just use a sharp knife, cut it out, and re-silicone a few inches to the right? If not I may just smash it out with a hammer, clean up, and use an eggcrate divider instead.

Thoughts ?

[FocusFin]

Smashing it out is almost as much of a pain as cutting the silicone and pulling it out. Broken siliconed glass is awkward and messy.

If you take a bit more time and care you can cut it out without much difficulty...depending on how much room you have to manoeuvre. I find a staright blade works best so you can slip it in between the baffle and the tank wall.

[mikerobart]

Alright cutting is probably the plan. Thanks for the tip. I am really tight on space !

[johnrt]

Having just taken apart a 120 gallon. . .

I found using the single sided razor blades that you can find in hardware stores and snapping off the thick metal guard off the back, you can slide the blade between sheets of class and wiggle it along. Use pliers to hols the ends of the blade. You will break several. This is easier to do if you trim off most off all the accessible silicon with a box-cutter blade from the Dollar-Twenty-Five Store (this is not a great game for people who are fond of their fingers).

I also tried piano wire, but real piano wire, from the Ottawa Music Centre on south Bank, is too thick. You want steel guitar wire. You attach it to a dowel and pull it between the sheets... well in theory. We got it done with the blades.

[Snider82]

i just re did my sump,  i used a long bladed exacto knife.  first i sliced off what i could and pulled it off by hand,  then i ran the knife between the tank and baffle a few times.  it went pretty well for me but i had all the room i needed.  and as for putting them in place.. i didn't silicon both sides, and have no leaks.     i may have to do it again in the future for the same reason.. (upgrade skimmer)   

[mikerobart]

Thanks for the tips guys... I wonder if I can use the Merkur DE blades I use on my razor  . On second thought... maybe the hardware store ones + exacto is best.

[Hookup]

i just re did my sump,  i used a long bladed exacto knife.  first i sliced off what i could and pulled it off by hand,  then i ran the knife between the tank and baffle a few times.  it went pretty well for me but i had all the room i needed.  and as for putting them in place.. i didn't silicon both sides, and have no leaks.     i may have to do it again in the future for the same reason.. (upgrade skimmer)   

Glad it went well... You are waiting 72hrs for the sillycone to cure right!??!? 

Photos of the before and after maybe?  Or some hot-chicks even?

[mikerobart]

Totally forgot about cure time  . I'll have to have the sump/ return offline for 3 days ?!?!? Yikes.

Maybe I should just make some sort of an eggcrate baffle between the fuge area  and skimmer section that doesn't need to be siliconed in. That, or nix the fuge altogether and just have a two chamber sump. I know the macro is beneficial as a nutrient sink but it seems to trap detritus as well. I guess when I add a sock that will be less of a problem.

I always liked the idea of a fuge with macro. Hmm.

[Snider82]

LOL well..   i did it a while back i guess.   i posted pic's im my build.   and i only let it 48 hours to cure .. oops...  no losses tho or phospates or any problems

[Hookup]

LOL well..   i did it a while back i guess.   i posted pic's im my build.   and i only let it 48 hours to cure .. oops...  no losses tho or phospates or any problems

48 is minimum... 72 is for the paranoid (me)... proof that 48 works... well done.

[Hookup]

Totally forgot about cure time  . I'll have to have the sump/ return offline for 3 days ?!?!? Yikes.

Maybe I should just make some sort of an eggcrate baffle between the fuge area  and skimmer section that doesn't need to be siliconed in. That, or nix the fuge altogether and just have a two chamber sump. I know the macro is beneficial as a nutrient sink but it seems to trap detritus as well. I guess when I add a sock that will be less of a problem.

I always liked the idea of a fuge with macro. Hmm.

3-days is no big deal...  you've got heat in your tank (put the heaters in... ) and flow from your circulation pumps... 3 days is nothing.... i had mine off for weeks with no effects...  The only thing you'd be loosing is some skimming... which isn't working now anyhow amiright?

48 is min wait time, 36hrs is for us paranoid folks.

[bongo]

for good measure... do a water change just before

[Vincenzo.]

Mike do u have a center brace for ur stand? Its very sinple to take that brace out and re install it with the proper shoring when u do it. Ull prolly need less than 2  2 X 4's. First u measure under ur stand the length (in the front) cut 2x4 to size. And measure from top of inside stand (incl 2x4) and cut 1/4 or so bigger (do this again for second support) and wedge them in. Remove center brace..

[mikerobart]

No center brace on the stand... it's just that the actual width of the opening of the doors is not enough to remove the sump. And believe it or not, the skimmer can't come out either because even with the sump pushed to the back of the stand, there is not 8" between the top of the sump and the top of the opening for the doors.

It's a black perfecto stand... I just put the sump right in the bottom to have max height, but because of little wood triangle braces in all four corners (poor design imo), the entire footprint is not actually usable space for a sump. In fact... the center cross brace that sits under the 90g display even had to be removed to get the 36" long sump in.

I guess another option is to bust up the sump, remove it, remove the skimmer, and go with a smaller sump or a separate sump / fuge arrangement that will allow easier access to skimmer / sump area and better working room.

The current sump is (I think) 36" long, and 12" deep... and probably 18" high. Which I think is about 33 gallons.

I think if I had put in say an mdf floor over the corner triangle braces I could gain a few inches of usable sump space but might not be worth it.

[mikerobart]

I think I really do need to maybe take a new look at my whole under tank area and maybe a new smaller sump or even a custom sump is what I  need.