External Bubble Trap Idea

[phastroh]

Ok so I have a 75gal sump that is a glass tank. I put acrylic baffles in it and they held up decent until I opened the ball valve full blast and the bottom of the first baffle came loose and the whole point of the bubble trap was ruined.

Yes it still works because the bubbles if made are close to the top anyway but when I had microbubbles galore coming from the skimmer they were in the tank-o-plenty.

I can't shut down the sump to rebuild it. No way no time for that so I went to a local store and they just happened to have a sale on Aqueon tanks so I got a new 75Gal (Not Drilled) tank for $99 which is perfect since on Craigslist people wanted $75+ for used ones. I know this has never had crap in it and I will rinse it out before I use it anyway.

This brings me to my plan/idea.

I tried using the weather stripping idea I saw online and 17" wide acrylic is too skinny but the 17 1/4 is to wide. I got to thinking that I can't be bothered after trying different size acrylic and weather stripping combos. Plus I can't have this fail again with no alternative.

So I came up with this simple solution that will allow me to have an awesome x 101010100 bubble trap that is not permanent and if need be can be moved with only 1 day with no sump. I doubt I can leave the main pump off for a day but in an emergency I could.

So I have attached a quick diagram I made and sorry for the roughness but I had to do it quick to email my brother to see about building it and his input.

Basically I would be building an acrylic rectangle. I would use 3" pieces to space the 1st and 3rd baffles. I would then use acrylic pieces to make a slide in spot for the center piece of the bubble trap. It would allow me to slide the piece in and out as needed.

How can I stop the water from passing down the side you ask. Well here is the whole thing behind this idea. At first I was thinking I could run a bead of silicone down the sides because with this unit being one piece the silicone would mainly be there for stopping water from dodging the bubble trap and with the braces it would not be responsible for the pressure of the water.

The baffles can't bend either because of the braces. This will remove the pressure off the baffle and the silicone.

Then I thought this. I can still put the weather stripping on the piece that I was able to move around easily because while my hand was able to move the pieces easily the water won't. It will have water pressure yes but with the opening and trap going it will remove most of the pressure.

I will also have about 6 strips along the bottom that touch the bottom of the tank. I can also put about 6 strips on each side that touch the side of the tank.

I highly doubt water will be able to easily pass 6 strips of weather stripping.

If it does during testing I can just slap some beads of silicone on there. It will still have very little water pressure on them and surely less than half of what they had just using a single baffle. Remember the acrylic between baffles serves as a brace.

Check out my diagram and see what you think. There is no middle baffle in there yet.

 

[phastroh]

Yeah the first graphic is wrong. I had to modify the spot where the center part slide in because it has to touch the glass and there were braces in the way.

Its all good now.

When I build it I may make it all closed in and then the water will never touch the glass so I am undecided till I start working I think.

I am 99% or 100% sure it will have to be made as an enclosure because the braces won't be able to be used on the top if the center has to touch the glass. If I make it all enclose I can have it seal inside the rectangle.

I will make another modification and post that picture soon.

 

[phastroh]

Ok so here is the final one I think. I apologize for the other 2 but I could not figure out how to remove them.

This one has a fully enclosed rectangle. Where the slots are on top to put in the bubble trap middle baffle the side pieces sit flush to where the sides of the baffle are. That is why the bottom slots are in just a 1/4 inch from the sides because it needs 1/4 inch for the panels.

It is hard to draw it on there right now. Just use your imagination.

I am going to start building this possibly Monday. It is hard to get the store to cut small pieces like the 3 inch ones so I am not sure how I will get that done. I have a jigsaw but this has to be pretty precise.

I was thinking of calling a shop around here but I don't think it is worth it.

I have 2 parts already here so I will only need the middle baffle which width is yet to be finalized until I see how the rectangle comes out.

Oh well what do you think?

 

[phastroh]

I thought about this after I went to bed.

If this comes out right and I can just use the weather stripping I would be able to adjust the location thus making my return area and skimmer are adjustable in size simply by sliding this back and forth yet the water won't sneak down the sides due to the weather striping.

I think that is a huge benefit for cleaning and maintenance.

This would make a lot of things easier.