Baffles in Sump

All the baffles in my sump are starting to come apart. They are breaking off where I siliconed them. My question, Is there anything I can do to fixed this? The ONLY way I can take my sump out is if I completely take apart my tank (which is FOWLR)...or break the sump via shattering the glass (it's a 55 gal tank).

Should I break down my tank to get to my sump or is there a better way of fixing this issue?

 

Would it be possible to just dry out your sump, and silicone it quickly... the tank should be alright while it has time to cure? thats what my first approach to this situation. I assume you are capable of getting under your tank and silicone em back on.

 

Both seem pretty extreme...

What about using superglue gel or some reef expoxy to hold them there?

 

One of my baffles started to come loose in my sump. Lol my quick fix was putting a extra pump part in there for support. Maybe you could cut some PVC to size and build some supports? Only if the silicone is still preventing water from leaking through. Otherwise the baffles are useless. Just an idea..

 

when i had my 90 running the sump i had started to leak. only thing i could do was pull the main tank off and replace. i have to say, that is alot of work, i mean alooot.
if i was you i would drain the sump and try to fix it while it under the tank. your main tank should be fine for a few days without the sump.

 

agreed with try working on sump under tank...the tank should be fine with the flow of powerheads for a few days before sump is back up and running

but if you must take out your best bet maybe not to smash it but cut away the silicone and pull out the sheets of glass piece by piece and maybe save them for another project like making a coast to coast overflow or baffles in a different sump?

 

Thanks for the responses, it has given me some ideas on how to fix it. I will try to superglue/silicone and seal it after the holidays.

Can't do the Coast to Coast overflow since my tank is predrilled. If I HAD to take the tank apart, I would buy a premade sump.

 

I would still recommend keeping glass if you can from old tank if you took it apart if not you someone could put it to good use lol

 

What about this for getting your sump out? I am about to attempt this to get a large sump in under my 72 bow front. Completely over engineering my version with joint brackets, a 12 ton jack (instead of the wedges), 2 x 12's etc. Not taking any chances, but it's a HECK of a lot easier than taking down my tank.

Marc's Super Sump Scroll down to see how he gets it under there.

Just a thought - and don't hold me responsible if it doesn't work I'm going to be only slightly take the weight off the front of mine to saw out the center board. Glass doesn't flex, so I'm guessing too much movement = bad. My plan is to take of the weight, cut out the center board, slide in the new sump, and then toenail back in the center board with a new backing 1x 4 just to make sure.