Redid the entire sump.

Discussion in 'General Reef Topics' started by montecarloz38, Feb 8, 2010.

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  1. montecarloz38

    montecarloz38 Fire Shrimp

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    Ok so I had a few drinks after work last night. Then I had an epiphany.
    Desided to redo the whole sump to eliminate the annoying sound of water coming down the vacuum hoes.

    Here is how it looked before, but with out the outside pump, I sold that long time ego and used a submerge-able pump.

    [​IMG]

    Then I disconnected everything, washed the sump out, rinsed out the bio balls (in salt water of course). Replaced the vacuum goes with plastic hoes from home depot. Although my issue is that they are not very flexible and are actually restricting the water in one section as you can see from the picture. But at the top there is about an inch of free space so I do not think its backing up the flow. What this did was eliminate empty space inside the hoes so less sound travels. Not to mention the hoes is much thicker then the original one.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    (napkin to check for leakage)

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    (costume coralife 65 skimmer return instead of the annoying bubble trap box)
     
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  3. mirandacollc

    mirandacollc Flame Angel

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    Looks great. Imo I would take that 90 elbow off and have that hose go straight into the sump. That kink in the hose looks very restricting and is askin for a clog/overflow. Other then that is looks great.
     
  4. montecarloz38

    montecarloz38 Fire Shrimp

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    Was thinking the same thing for the elbow but not sure how to remove it. There is a rubber seal underneath which comes off, but the actual elbow is not screwed in, but rather is forced in from what it seems. It rotates freely and is not tight at all. Maybe Ill try to force it out tomorrow and see if home depot sells a straight pvc that size that is threaded so I can tighten in inside the sump.
     
  5. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

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    Metal hose clamps?! I would get those off ASAP. They can cause you a ton of nightmares down the road if you try to keep inverts.
     
  6. montecarloz38

    montecarloz38 Fire Shrimp

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    Explain please and what would you recommend ?
     
  7. mikejrice

    mikejrice 3reef Affiliate

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    Salt water is extremely corrosive and most everything in most metals is very toxic to all inverts. I haven't found any clamps that are that great and are safe. I have some of these little clips that you have to squeeze shut. I've heard some people crank down on big zip ties also.

    I would take the elbow off the drain line. Than you shouldn't have enough pressure on either end of it to need a clamp.
     
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  9. Robman

    Robman Great White Shark

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    That kink in the return is going to eventually close, and your tank will overflow.
     
  10. montecarloz38

    montecarloz38 Fire Shrimp

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    Ok fixed the problem before and accident happen. Went to Lowes and got a much more flexible hoes. As soon as I got home the water was all the way to the glass tops. You guys were right; THANK YOU!
    Just glad I did it tonight and not in the middle of the night hehe.

    Will use zip ties tomorrow and get the metal clamps out... Thanks again.
     
  11. mirandacollc

    mirandacollc Flame Angel

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    Zip ties are not tight enough they make a sinch clamp that is out of nylon. look into them as you will have another mistke with zip ties. I can say I tried the zip tie thing and it has not worked.
     
  12. NUGIO

    NUGIO Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    have you thought of using PVC instead of flexible hose? that way you dont have to use metal hose clamps and no flow restrictions