Baffled about Baffles

[skatezen]

I've tried twice to baffle my sump and both times i've failed. Can someone please give me some input on how the do it and still maintain a clean appearance. This is my sump design.

Thanks
Jeff

[NateHanson]

Can you elaborate on how you failed the first few times? That might help folks to suggest improvements.

In my glass sump I just get 1/8" glass panels cut, then put a bead of silicone where a baffle should go, swing the glass into place, and then run a bead along all seams and smooth it with a finger. In hard to reach places (like between baffles) I use a 3/8" tube on the end of the caulk gun to apply silicone, and use another tube to smooth the bead.

Does that help?

[paine43]

where can i get the glass for it nate?

[skatezen]

I guess how do you keep the baffles straight and keep the top baffle the "under" baffle from falling? Do you use spacers at all?

[Piscevore]

yeah, cut a couple little slices of pvc and put them underneath.

[NateHanson]

Tina, any glass shop will cut pieces to your specifications. Look in the phone book. I recall that there are a couple right on Rantoule in Beverly. Prices are usually around $5/baffle.

Jeff, I use masking tape to hold things in place while the silicone dries, and I use a piece of wood to hold up the "under" baffles. I don't use spacers between the baffles.

Nate

[ScottM]

yup
I am drilling a tank and doing an overflow tomorrow night at rays but can swing by after. want me to come by?
If you haven't siliconed it in, id suggest using strips and making the baffles all one piece. easier and cleaner. sorry about tonight. got tied up at work.
let me know.

[nunofs]

Having faced the exact same issues a couple of months back, I think I can offer a couple of suggestions:

- the first baffle you put in place will be easy because you'll have access from both sides and you can run the silicone easily, and smooth it out with your finger
- for the other baffles here's the trick I used: run silicone where the baffle will be, and then push the baffle against it so that you get good adhesion (you'll be pushing the baffle and the silicone along the bottom and sides of the sump about 1/8 or 1/4); then, on the exposed side you'll still have access to run the silicone easily and smooth it out
- you can/should use a spacer of some kind to keep the center baffle raised... just remember not to glue the last baffle before you've remove the spacer ;) (yes, been there, done that :D )

Btw, it helps if the baffles are cut to size are are tight against the sump walls and bottom. Otherwise, use a bit of tape along the top to hold them in place.

Nuno

[nunofs]

Looking at your layout more carefully, there are two things I would change slightly:

- the leftmost baffle (the one between skimmer and refugium) should be higher than the first one on the right side... because when your sump fills up due to a power outage, you don't want the stuff in the fuge to flow back into the skimmer compartment. If you have that baffle set at say 8" due to skimmer constrainst, then lower the baffles on the right hand side...

- I found that having a fourth baffle on the right hand side helps a lot with the bubbles... with only 3 baffles, the last step will be a "waterfall", which may cause some bubbles of its own... on the other hand, if the last (rightmost) baffle is raised, the water will flow under it, the bubbles will be contained behind that last baffle and no waterfall will happen

Also, if you're planning on running carbon in a bag placed between the baffles, make the spacing between two of them around 2", to be able to accomodate a bag easily (I have 1" spacing and it's very tight).

Nuno

[nunofs]

Actually, let me add something else... if you're still in the planning stages for this sump, think about switching the refugium and the return compartments around... by having a split drain into the fuge (which would then flow into the return compartment over a baffle), you have better control over the flow rate inside the fuge... with the current setup, whatever flow you have in the sump will be the flow you'll have in the fuge.

Nuno

[ScottM]

FWIW, I have found that the more flow in my fuge the better, same with brighter lighting.

[skatezen]

Nuno,
Thanks for the tips. Scott, tomorrow night probably won't work cause I'll be working, but I can always try to get out of working the night shift or I can try to get out early. I'll keep you posted. If not maybe sometime this weekend. I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get the baffles and the overflow in. I however could use some assistance putting the plumbing in. I went to HD tonight to get a pipe cutter and they were out of the good "cheap" ones. Savko came in today I should have everything I need to plumb it except for a few things which I got at HD. I'm putting in the Savko order for the new black parts tonight. Need anything?

[skatezen]

Nuno I really like the 4th baffle idea I think I may do that I have just enough acrylic for one more. The only thing in the fuge will be a tumbling ball of cheato so I'm not to concerned about the stuff in the fuge going into the skimmer area. The flow in the sump is only going to be about 400 GPH.

[DLCanuck]

Hey skatezen

Check out this thread, maybe it will help out.



http://216.235.242.50/forums/showthread.php?t=6511

[paine43]

Tina, any glass shop will cut pieces to your specifications. Look in the phone book. I recall that there are a couple right on Rantoule in Beverly. Prices are usually around $5/baffle.

Nate


hey nate thanks i will give then a call tomorrow
tina

[ScottM]

did you get the clear acrylic? make sure you have unions (screw) at the clear sections so you can clean them.
lets plan for the weekend.

[skatezen]

Got the clear. I should have enough unions I got 2 x 1" True Unions, 1 x 3/4" True Unions, 2 x 1" Screw Unions, 5 x 3/4" Screw Unions

[skatezen]

Sunday is looking like the next day I'll have to work on this since I'm moving friday.

[paine43]

whats a good height for baffles?

[DLCanuck]

My tank is a 75gl and I did the baffles for the refugium at 12 inches and the other baffles that separate the water that come in and to return side I did it a 2 inches of the bottom off tank and about three inches from the top.

[NateHanson]

whats a good height for baffles?


Your "over" baffles (the ones that sit right on the bottom of the tank) will determine the water level in your sump. The most important thing is to make sure that they are low enough so that the sump has enough empty space in the top to hold all the water that will flow out of your plumbing and display tank when the return pump is turned off, so you don't get a flood. You can guess at this (my 15g sump fills up about 2 inches) or test this by putting your empty sump-tank (no baffles) under your tank with your return pump in it. Fill the display, and fill the sump so it has a few inches of water over the pump. Turn on the pump. The water level in the sump will drop to a certain point. Mark that with tape or a marker on the outside of the sump. Then shut off the pump. Water will drain back into the sump and raise the water level. Mark the new level. The difference between those levels is how much space you need above your highest "over" baffles in your sump.

Nate

[nunofs]

Another constraint for the height of the baffles is the ideal water level for the skimmer, if it's an in-sump skimmer... that's what determined the height for my baffles, as the EuroReef needs to be in 6 to 8" of water (of course you can have higher baffles and raise the skimmer, but in that case you run into the issues described by Nate above, and want to make sure they're not too high or the sump will overflow in a power outage).

Nuno

[lactrain]

Here is how Installed the baffles in my sump .... what i did was lay out the position of the baffles using a permenant magic marker on the both sides of the sump. I then placed the baffles in and postion on the lines and taped the in position using masking tape. I then used silicone spot tacking the baffles in postion and allowed them to dry removed the tape and siliconed it up thoroughly.