leaky Posted April 13, 2002 Share Posted April 13, 2002 I am building a refugium. I have a 10 gallon glass. I am running water from the display tank into a 5 gallon acrylic tank with a Pro 2 powerhead which pumps 90-160 gph. should the pipe for the return(drilled hole in tank with pipe leading back to the display tank) be the same size as the pipe attached to the powehead coming from the tank? how big should i drill the hole? any thoughts? Link to comment
Neo Posted April 13, 2002 Share Posted April 13, 2002 leaky, my first guess will be that the backflow pipe needs to be bigger, but the height difference between refugium (above?) and tank will make a big difference... If I understand it correct back flow will be by gravity? Neo Link to comment
leaky Posted April 13, 2002 Author Share Posted April 13, 2002 couple more questions... 1- how thick should the acrylic be for 2 gallons of space? 2- can I use aquarium silicone with acrylic to bond the pieces together, and if not what kind of glue or cemente should I use? Link to comment
quiksilver5768 Posted April 13, 2002 Share Posted April 13, 2002 hey leaky, I basically just finished making the thing your decribing. I used contact cement with silicone sealant as a tight seal over it. Silicone sealant alone will not hold it well enough. If you can find weldon though, I would highly recommend that. The only reason I didnt use it was because I couldnt find it anywhere. Link to comment
skipm Posted April 14, 2002 Share Posted April 14, 2002 If you use acrylic cement like Weldon then you won't need anything else to seal the tank. You can order it from www.usplastic.com. As far as the thickness of the acrylic goes, as long as the tank is not over 12" high then 1/4" will be thick enough but remember you may need to add a frame of acrylic around the top to keep it from bowing under the weight of the water. Link to comment
skipm Posted April 14, 2002 Share Posted April 14, 2002 I decided to go to the website I mentioned to find the cement and it was a pain to use their on line catalog. Use the search feature and look up "acrylic cement", they have 2 different cements in stock. They have Weldon 3 which has the consistency of model glue, and the other cement (states not IPS Weldon) has the consistency of water. I have both of these products and they work great. With the water like cement you must take the time to make perfect joints that are smooth with no gaps between the peices you are joining, the Weldon 3 is a little more forgiving with small gaps. If you want to order either of these, after using the search feature, they are the last items on the list. Link to comment
leaky Posted April 14, 2002 Author Share Posted April 14, 2002 alright, thanks guys. hopefully they sell weldon here in canada...... so 1/4" acrylic and weldon to seal it. this weldon will not release any harmfull toxins or anything?? Link to comment
quiksilver5768 Posted April 14, 2002 Share Posted April 14, 2002 No...just mkae sure whatever you use (if you cant find weldon) is waterproof. Not water resistant...water PROOF. If it is just a resistant then it is not meant to always be under water...Just like a watch. If you keep it under water it will eventually break down. Not many things will say Aquarium Safe on it if you dont get it from an aquarium store. Just make sure it syas waterproof. Water proof bonding cement and other glues that say they attach to acrylic or other types of glass will work to hold the acrylic and not release toxins in the water. My sump is up and running with 3 compartments in one of those 5 gallon Top Fin flatback aquariums. I will post a pic up when I can so you can see it. Since mine is basically the exact same as your were describing you want to do. Link to comment
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