Glass or acrylic for my sump cover?

[M.E.Milz]

I have a large sump (36"x26") that has been built like a regular glass aquarium, including standard trim along the top thereof. I need to add a cover to reduce noise and eliminate slpash. The top will include several 1.5" bulkheads and smaller holes for various plubling fixtures.

Acrylic will be easier to make, but will tend to warp unless I glue the edges down along at least some of the sides.

Glass will be more difficult to make, but will be much cleaner and probably more rigid. However, I am concerned about the glass breaking because of any stresses from the plumbing fixtures.

Any thoughts?

 

[danmhippo]

Acrylic, definetly. You might be adding this and that down the road and need to make changes accordingly. Why do you have that much noise from the sump? Can't you put another baffle where the water comes in to reduce splash and cut down the noise? I used to put a large net by the incoming hose to catch all the bubbles and splashes.

 

[Anonymous]

hi.
Acrylic, definitely. Use a thicker acrylic if you have problem with wrapping, but it is still much lighter and easier to drill hole than glass. You have to gingerly put a glass lid down if you don't want to chip/crack it, but acrylic one you can abuse. You can clean the acrylic as easy as glass, since you don't have to deal with coralline algea like inside the tank. Worst come to worst, you just take it out and wash it with a vinegar solution. Besides, who want to be cut by a glass cover?!?

 

[M.E.Milz]

Thanks guys. I was leaning towards acrylic, and your comments made the decision that much easier.

 

[M.E.Milz]

BTW, I don't know that the sump will be that noisy since the tank is not yet set up. But I am trying to anticipate problems, and fix them now while it is still easy to do it.