acrylic sump box

[jhale]

My first Acrylic Project

well here it is the first real thing I have made using acrylic.

the plexi is 3/8" thick and the box was made to hold a skimmer on loan to me from Herman, it's the DAS BX-3, an insanely powerful skimmer.
unfortunately my present sump walls are too high to fit the skimmer in so this is a remote sump to sit in front of it to house the skimmer.
it will be fed via a pump in the sump and will flow back into the sump though the hole you see in the side. I will be making a trough to bring the water back to the sump, it will be tilted at five degrees to make sure it flows the correct way.

more pics, sorry about the crappy phone pics, it's all I have right now.

the tools used were

?10" table saw
?6" jointer
?laminate trimmer router,
?random orbiting sander.

 

[jhale]

one more pic,

this is where the water will be exiting.

 

[herman]

Looking forward to see the effects the skimmer will have on your tank. This might also be a good chance for you to play with ozone. You can use one of the three motors to inject the ozone.

 

[jhale]

ozone is coming
but it's going to be fed through it's own reactor.
I'm going to make it with Frank at his place, sometime soon.
Now that I've made something with acrylic I'll be able to help him, and know what I'm doing.

 

[ctxmonitor]

white arylic?

 

[jhale]

yes, it's white translucent plexi.

 

[jhale]

so far so good. it passed the wet test.

in the future this can hold a ca reactor.

 

[herman]

I am back awake now. Ready to mollest the mods once again.

I actually like the white. I would love to have a sump with a white bottom cause you can see the accumulated crud better.

 

[jhale]

yes clear acrylic is overrated , why not make a tank with just a clear front and the sides all one color? or just the back and bottom. that would br great for a BB tank.
A black acrylic bottom.

 

[herman]

They do. Most custom tank builders in Germany use welded PVC all around. Clear in the front and colored elsewhere.

 

[jhale]

once again, behind the curve, sigh.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

yes clear acrylic is overrated , why not make a tank with just a clear front and the sides all one color? or just the back and bottom. that would br great for a BB tank.
A black acrylic bottom.

clear is the least expensive material thats why it's used.

Jon maybe we can get together Xmas week sometime Jim is off also.
weekends are real tough both my sons play travel Ice Hockey.

I'm picking up some 3/8 material this week for my sump and a couple I'm making for other members.

the work on your sump looks nice, clean and top notch!
I would sit that sump or any acrylic tank on either a piece of rigid foam insulation or better yet a rubber mat.

 

[jhale]

thanks Frank,
that means a lot to me coming from you
though if the acrylic was not white, I doubt it would look as clean, I was not stingy with the weldon. I also sanded down the acrylic. this is a trick i use for my furniture when I want the look of milk glass, but not the cost or hassle of going to the glass shop. 220 grit gives a beautiful surface to the plexi, it ends up glowing in the light, back lit it looks awesome. it was not important for the sump, but I wanted it to look good in my stand.
I'm going to have to raise the box off the floor of the stand a bit, so I can use a rubber matt on top of the stand.
also the skimmer might have to be raised in the box to compensate for the water level.

I can wait till the end of the month, I still have to get the ozone equipment.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

I think you'll appreciate the ozone set up I'm making.
I've built an large air dry I esitmate will hold at least 4lbs of media
the reactor for the ozone will be plumbed with a reactor for the carbon. I dont for see and 03 escaping to the air or outside of the reactor.

I'll post some pictures of the work I've done a little later on

the ORP in my tank now is between 330-370 the higher just before the lights come on the morning. it averages around 355 most of the time

I cant wait to get the O3 up and running

 

[jhale]

the ORP in my tank now is between 330-370 the higher just before the lights come on the morning. it averages around 355 most of the time

I cant wait to get the O3 up and running

how thick is the tube that you used for the O3 reactor, and how wide is it?


what are you going to set the orp at with the ozone?

sorry the thread got off track, but it's my thread, lolz

 

[NYPDFrogman]

LOL
5.5" tube
I'd like to get the orp steady at 400MV which I dont think will be a problem
I ordered 5 gals of bioballs to fill the reactor
I'll have one made by the time we get together and if we have to make improvements we will!

lookinbg foward to it

 

[jhale]

LOL
5.5" tube
I'd like to get the orp steady at 400MV which I dont think will be a problem
I ordered 5 gals of bioballs to fill the reactor
I'll have one made by the time we get together and if we have to make improvements we will!

lookinbg foward to it

5 gallons of bio-balls? whoa- how big is the reactor :bigeyes2:

no wonder you said no O3 will escape, lmao

 

[jhale]

fyi, my stand is only 30" tall inside. lol.

 

[NYPDFrogman]

5 gallons of bio-balls? whoa- how big is the reactor :bigeyes2:

no wonder you said no O3 will escape, lmao

I ordered xtra price was much less when you bought 5 gals

the reactor will hold 1 gallon
ther eactor is about 25" total
all I need now is a pressure gauge

 

[herman]

Frank,
Looking forward to see this reactor man. I have asked this b4 but never got an answer. In the past I have kept the orp at 400mv but a natural reef lies around 500mv. Is there a reason why people never really go over 400mv?