HELP!! Broken Sump!

may have trouble with the auto valve if its to thick and the compressing of the 2 sheets together?

 

ok so can I get a safe epoxy at Lowes as well as the Acrlyic. Also depending on what I get will this have to sit over night? No heaters on in the tank right now..

 

That is what I use to seal baffles very good choice. I would put a section of plexy glass inside and out using this be sure so make the surfaces as flat as you can before you seal another option could drill it out and put in a bulkhead with a a balvalve attached for later upgrades FYI I use a hole saw drill bit and have never had a problem.

 

i'd go get a bigger bulkhead,like 2'' and dremel around in there to make it fit where the damage is if thats possible?

 

ok - so I tried to go the bulk head route and the cracks just went beyond the bulk head so I just patched it.. It kills me as I am a pretty picky person and for this thing to be 2 1/2 months old and to have this happen just really bothers me. Anyway Karma to all that helped me! This has been a heck of a day.. and to think it all started with a water change...

 

if it makes you feel better, my first sump was a 20 long that i siliconed 6 1/4'' baffles into,, the silicone expanded and cracked the dang tank! luckily i was watching at the time and had a "backup" learn as you go! thats the "fun" of it!

 

Just thought I would chime in on all the great suggestions on this thread. Thanks to all.

 

I agree.. I can tell you there was a part of me that wanted to guy buy a new one. That's how sick I was. One more question. I ended up using a perfecto aquarium silicon. It says it fully cures in 24. Do you think I need to wait that long? I already moved a PH and a the heaters to the tank so I'm prepared to just wasn't sure what everyone thought.

 

Silicone will NOT work well on acrylic. Using that is asking for disaster. You need to use Weld-On #4 for acrylic if you want to repair it.

 

Silicone will work fine for patching I just wouldn't want to build a sump with it. And yes you should wait that long or at least I would.

Next time someone runs into this problem if you take a small bit and drill a hole at the end of a crack it will terminate or stop the crack dead in its tracks. Then you can patch it without any fears of the cracks expanding. This same procedure is done on windshield cracks before repairing them works great...