Planning DIY Algae Turf Scrubber tank

Here is the start of my sump tank. I had the middle baffle drying for a day, so i removed the cd cases that held them up. Yeah, so it slid back to the bottom of the tank and had to pull it back up to re-tape it. :-8 I hope it'll hold back the water. Any way here is the set up of my ATS. I made the screen 9"(wide)x13.5" long hooked up to a 370GPH pump. In my return I'm adding a Mag 7.

 

Well yet another trip to Lowes, I've dry plumbed all my fittings. I have added a check valve on the return line, along with ball valves on the inlet, return, ATS, and additional return back to the sump. Now I'm just waiting on my silicone to be completely set before a water test. Also I took off one of the reflector lights just to mess with the ATS. It's been a fun DIY learning project. Now to see if it all works. ;D

 

So I water tested my sump baffles and they are leaking a bit. Should I be concerned later down the road? I am pretty impatient and want to set up my piping and such.. Ugghh

 

I have added some pictures of my sump tank and ATS all set up. So, shortly after I made enough water and started the Mag 7 pump, and Eshopps overflow my baffles completely detached. So i'm just running my sump tank with the ATS, and return pump and yes i have a small micro bubble issue. It sucks becasue i did not use union fittings into the tank, so I will have to drain the sump tank and re-silicone the baffles back in place. Anyone know if good silicone to use for this? I bought the clear window and door GE silicone from Lowes. I feel like I need something stronger!

Also I did not realize I needed an additional heater, so went to my LFS (Inland Aquatics) and was able to pick up a used one for 5$! And I found a tiny drip leak on the first 90 elbow from the overflow box. I have been layering PVC cement and it has seemed to have stopped.

 

The GE silicone works great. I used it on my sump with zero problems. Are your dividers glass? It looks like they are, if so you shouldnt have had any issues at all. I used acrylic dividers and the silicone worked fine, glass should be even better. Dont be afraid to cake it on there.

 

Yes i think i didn't put enough on, and yes they are glass plates. What had happened to the raised middle baffle, I removed the cd cases I had it standing on after 24 hours and the glass slid down to the bottom of the tank twice. So i pulled it back into position and duct taped it. Thinking it was ok, I guess it wasn't. I think i'm going to wait a few weeks before trying it again, just due to the hassle of removing all the water. But i'm gonna have to use a lot more next go around. Thanks for the advice.

 

Well small update on my ATS tank. After starting my return pump, and overflow all the baffles just let go and broke free. I was pretty pissed about it, but just let it flow anyway. Actually I have no micro bubbles with out them in so not bad. I have been running the sump tank for 2 days now and there is small green specs of algae growing all over the screen so thats a pretty good sign. The pic attached is when i was making salt water to fill the sump tank. More updated pics of the turf scrubber screen at first cleaning.
Not sure why the computer flipped the picture backwards but you can get the picture of it set up.

 

Here is a walk around YouTube video of my system.

 

Here is my screen after week 1. Looks pretty dirty, but hopefully some green algae can accommodate the screen soon. It looks like where the lights were pointed directly at the screen is didn't grow as much. I moved both lights back an inch or two.

 

Your on the right track. Abou the same as mine looked after a week. Yes you are right about the bald spot in the middle, probably the lights too close.