My monster refugium

[MVlk]

Tried the Marineland HoldFast epoxy putty last night. Is a bit of a ugly job, but seems to do the trick. (Thanks daugherty!!!) I just placed some in each of the four corners and this morning it seems to hold well. I just reinforced the middles of the bottom and side with a bit more in case. Tonight I will Silicone to make water tight and test once dry.

Silicone Type I is good to use right? It has no mention of additives for bacteria/mold control.

 

[daugherty]

that will work. glad the epoxy worked for ya

 

[MVlk]

After letting everything dry, I did a stress test this morning. I filled the smaller side at the end with water. The divider seemed to hold well till about 3" below the top. I then heard a distinct sound and then the epoxy failed.

I am sure this is more than what the divider would ever encounter since normally water will be on both sides and pressure will be nearly equalized. However I do not have confidence and think this is not a good solution.

I may be back to a soft divider like egg crate or may ditch the DYI idea altogether.

 

[daugherty]

they will do that when i made mine i had to fill all the sections in equel parts to even the pressure. when i firsh filles mine the baffles blew out. after all the sections are filled there is little pressure on them

 

[biodarwin]

Definitely a nice looking stand!

 

[MVlk]

My skimmer arrived today. MSX250 from Marine Solutions. It is overkill for my current tank load, but I have read so many posts stating to go big on this piece of equipment.

I have it placed in the sump doing a test run. The tub it is sitting in, will have a return cut in at 10" to keep the water level constant. Hard to see in the picture, but I now have the incoming water from the tank draining directly to this bin. Water will drain into to the main tub, likely via a filter sock. Live rock and a basket with some sort of macro algae will be in the open area.

I am in the beginning stage of building a new higher stand for my tank. This will allow me to redo the plumbing and eliminate the bend up to reach into the sump.

 

[ZOOT098]

just a thought
what if you mechanically attach your baffels, like with some stainless steel L shaped brackets and ss nuts and bolts, then silicone everything water tight???

 

[MVlk]

I had given something like that some thought but decided it just was not worth the effort. The Tub in a tub design is pretty popular with these containers and will work well with minimal build effort.

Here is my final setup minus a basket to hold some macro algae. I am building a new stand before I hook up everything. Hope to be done in a few weeks.

 

[hoopsdaddy]

After you get it finished post another pict. I would like to see how this works. Very interesting design and I am enjoying this thread. Good luck.