WTB Glass or Acrylic

[snaggle]

I am looking to buy some to make my new sump. I have no clue where to buy some. I will mix and mach if you have a small peace you do not need and are willing to sell to me :lol: .

Also what thickness do you need to make a baffle in a sump? And how do you attach it in side the tank? Can you silicone acrylic to glass? And what kind of silicone do I use? I know it is GE I or GE II?

Brad

[rusty]

the silicone you need just needs to be 100% silicone

[Rikko]

You can silicone acrylic to glass, but it's not a terrific connection. It's totally inappropriate for a pressure application (ie. an acrylic base and glass sides on a tank) but holds up perfectly well for zero pressure/impact settings like a sump baffle. As Rusty said, check the type of silicone you buy. You want either Silicone I or Silicone II - do a little reading to find out which, I've forgotten. One is safe for aquarium use and the other can be rather toxic.
For glass, just look up glass in the yellow pages. Typically you'll find a few and even autoglass places sometimes cut and sell plate glass and just don't advertise it because it's not a significant enough part of their business. They might carry acrylic as well. I've heard of a few folk getting scrap acrylic from bigger glass/plastics suppliers, but that can be hit and miss.

[Rikko]

Oh, and as for baffle thickness - honestly, do whatever you want. I definitely wouldn't suggest thin glass, but there's no reason why it won't work. The risk involved isn't worth it, however, in case you were to smack your skimmer into it while cleaning up or the like. A sheet of acrylic or 5mm of thicker glass will be fine.
Just cut the baffle to size so that it either fits snugly in the sump or has a little bit of play (a little play is better imo) and then run a bead of silicone along all edges and smear them with your finger. The seal will hold up fine once it's cured (there's really no pressure to speak of against it, so the silicone is more for making the edges watertight than to support it) after 24 hours.

[mr_alberta]

Try Architectural Clearing House on Gateway Blvd. It just south of Argyll Road IIRC. They have a bunch of recycled glass there. The glass will need some cleanup though.

If you are looking for Acrylic, try GE Polymers or Johnston Industrial Plastics. I think glass would be cheaper though since you can get it usually for much cheaper than acrylic. Of course, it all depends on the thickness of it.

If you go to Garf.org, there should be a tank building calculator there that will tell you the thickness you need.

For my sump, my baffles are 1/8" glass IIRC. Works just fine!

[snaggle]

Thanks I already have the tank I am just making baffles so I will go shopping this week.

Brad