home depot questiob

[leoskee]

From my experience a leak in the baffle joint eventually turned into a complete separation. It might not sound like a big deal to some of you but if you are using sand in your sump and the last baffle holding the sand is breached you will not be too happy with your pump churning up sand into your tank instead of water.

Glad to hear that Loew was able to help you. Take your time glueing them and make sure you use adequate amounts of silicone. And one last thing, let it cure!

 

[HAVIC]

I got my glass cut from lowes. However lowes only carries 2mm thick glass (picture frame glass thickness) It have cracked one baffle and would opt for something a little thicker. Disconnecting my skimmer caused the baffle to break. It is still functional so I have not replaced it.

Also I have read the using acrylic in a glass tank is a bad idea as the acrylic will expand in sump do to the temperature and can possible crack your glass sump.

see thermal expansion section in this link and below it for indoor applications they give you the expansion per degree increments so you can cut accordingly
http://www.ridoutplastics.com/design.html

So basically if you are going to use acrylic as your baffles in a sump, Do not cut it snug, leave a little wiggle room.

 

[charile1]

Be very careful when getting silicone! Both Lowes and HD carry GE Silicon I*
The star after the one is very tiny and although I was aquarium safe I* is not.

DAMN DAMN DAMN....please try me this is not true.

It didn't mention mildew resistant or anything.

 

[zxknight]

the glass from lowes is verry thin, mine is 2.5 mm, so far I have not broken any pieces.

 

[joseney21]

the glass from lowes is verry thin, mine is 2.5 mm, so far I have not broken any pieces.

this is why i like going to a glass shop. i always get glass that's at least 1/4" thick. take off about 1/8"-14" from width and fits just fine.

 

[leoskee]

The glass that Lowes sells is fine for sumps. Unless you are creating a section that has to hold a lot of volume they should be okay. As far as breaking, well, its only common sense that thin glass will break easier than thicker glass. Does that mean you have to spend more money on thicker glass? No, unless you know you are going to bang things against it and run the risk of breaking it.

Again, for a standard sump created in anything from a 10 to 30 gallon tank I would not worry. Now if you are moving into the 55 gl range and up I recommend thicker glass.

 

[zxknight]

here are moce pictures of my sump