My DIY Sump was leaking!...

Discussion in 'I made this!' started by Todd_Sails, May 8, 2014.

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  1. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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    I began to notice a small drip from under my sump- which is up on a stand in the basement.

    It was only dripping from one area, and very slowly, so I just put a bin under it and would just dump 2 or 3 cups right back into the sump daily.- My SG has stayed constant.
    IN reality, these Rubbermaid Ruoughneck 50g containers were NEVER meant to actually hold liquids- only to be a large storage bin. This is the second one, that after about 2 years, had sprung a slow leak.

    This morning I went to swim practice, when I left the overflow was working fine, power on, Etc.

    I come home and my wife said the power had gone out, and there was some water on the floor in the basenet sump area.
    This had triped my GFCI on the DT powerheads.- I quickly got the flow going again on the DT.
    She told me she dumped the bin out- in the drain. NO problem, the bid is only about 2 gallons.
    I had thought she meant the bin had overflowed.

    So I evaluated the situation, and saw the the drip was faster now. Also, when the power goes out, the sump also drips some from the previous hand indentations in my Rubbermaid, Roughneck container. A slow drip.
    There was less than a quart of water on the floor- the cement floor in my basement sump area.

    Well, I decided to bite the bullet and change out my sump!
    I drained the sump down some into my mixing bin, Cut the power to the retrun pump and drained the entire sump/skimmer area to the bin.

    Here's how it looked
    [​IMG]

    After draining, with skimmer bin and RP removed,
    [​IMG]

    My new/larger sump bin that I've had emplty for months. This IS meant to hold liquids- and very thick and sturdy too.
    [​IMG]

    New sump bin on slightly modified existing stand, took off another foot of head height as well for the RP.
    [​IMG]

    Then I mixed up another 10g of SW, and added it to the sump after I got things flowing again.

    I also fabricated a way to put my DIY ATO in the new sump as well.

    It's one less bin I'll have for my current 125DT to the 180DT- but I'll have enough I think anyways.

    All is well on Todd's Reef- fish are swimming happy, coral looks good, like nothing happened.

    Oh, and last night I traded Monti frags for another BTA- but's that another thread.
     
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  3. Marshall O

    Marshall O Giant Squid

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    Nice work Todd! Bonus on the extra volume too.
     
  4. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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    great job Todd! that looks like there was a good amount of work involved.
     
  5. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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    Yes, it's all about the volume ;-)

    Thanks, it actually wasn't bad at all, everything was already plumbed.
    I quickly modified the existing sump stand.
    All the plumbing was already there.

    It's a nice piece of mind knowing that this container was made to hold liquids- without and framing support. And now in power outs, no slight leakage either.
     
  6. Todd_Sails

    Todd_Sails Giant Squid

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    Heres the DT for the sump

    [​IMG]
     
  7. RoloSaez

    RoloSaez Millepora

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    nice looking tank. Glad you got it back on track.
     
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  9. zesty

    zesty Sailfin Tang

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    That's got to take some of the worry away. Looks like a nice sturdy tub.
     
  10. oldfishkeeper

    oldfishkeeper Giant Squid

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