Leaking Sump/Fuge

Speak of the devil, the 3rd baffle in my bubble trap just gave out... I was only testing but it's going to be a pain in the ass to pump out all the water and re-seal...

How much silicone are people using? I thought I had a ton on there but the baffle still gave out...

Pac

 

I built a sump a couple weeks ago and had a pinhole leak and decided it was no big deal, the walls didn't last 2 hours before they came down. I am now waiting for the new silicone to cure for a full 48 hours before i put any water on it and i used a 3/8" bead of silicone. I'll let you know if this holds tomorrow.

 

Keep me posted. I figure that I'm going to let dry for 24 hours, re-seal and wait 24h+ and then try again...

Pac

 

Question for you, is this an all acrylic job? Or is this acrylic baffles in a glass sump/refugium? Are you gluing with cement or just using silicone ?

 

I believe it to be a glass aquarium and I'm using solely silicone. Am I missing something?

EDIT: Sorry; and the baffles are acrylic.

Regards,

Pac

 

i think this may be your problem. silicone only works well with glass to glass. with acrylic you use weld-on but only with acyrlic to acrylic. there is something that supposed to work well with acrylic to glass. i see if i can find it. the other option would be to get a glass shop to gut you baffles. i was surprised how cheap it was. i think i got some for like 4.00 each

 

Damnit; after reading Crimson's post, I looked into bonding glass to acrylic and it's basically useless and I risk breaking the sump/aquarium due to the acrylic expanding/contracting with temperature change. Back to the drawing board...

This is taking WAY longer than I thought.

Thanks for the posts everyone.

Pac

 

kinda creepy, i just rushed back here to say the same thing. it hit me right after that last post. i think the stuff is titan bond, but you are right with the heat expansion thing

 

Ok, you guys were up past my bedtime but it seems like you might be on to something new - update us when you can, or ask more wuestions - this forum has people that have done it all.

 

Just as a quick update, I've done my research and have concluded that I did insufficient research and therefore lost about a weeks worth of time and wasted money on silicone.

I will be moving forward with EPDM strips as per this article which should give me both a water-tight seal and flexibility:
baffles

I should be able to purchase and apply tomorrow. I'll let everyone know how it works out.

Pac