Bashsea Bio-Fuge Sump Repair

[Ober_Reef]

Hello All,

My initial sump was damaged on delivery and was replaced by the company very quickly. I am now left with a full extra sump that has a crack down one of the side panels. Seems like a waste to throw it out so I am wondering if it’s possible to repair, not a super handy guy but I figured it should not be that hard to fix. My plan would be to save it for a second tank in the future or use it in tandem with my current sump in our next home(once we outgrow this one 3-5 years from now) because I definitely plan to pick our next home with a plan to plumb the tank filtration into a fish room into the basement(space is already tight under my stand on my current tank). I would assume the material used to make the sump is plexiglass.

 

[OlderManSea]

Very easy. I have done it several times. For great strength have a pane of plate glass, 1/8 inch is fine, cut so it is 1/4 inch or so smaller than the inside dimension of the broken pane. Make sure both panes are clean and dry - I clean using water then isopropyl alcohol. Place the tank broken pane down, coat the inside of the broken pane with silicone aquarium sealer - a paint can stir stick on its thin side to spread it like you do a proper peanut butter sandwich and then place the pane. Apply some weight within a few inches of each corner and the middle -filled water glasses work fine and let it cure for 3 or so days. Using this method the repaired panel will be far stronger than any of the non cracked panes.

Some people successfully just run a bead of silicone over the crack. The problem doing it this way is that as water is added and removed the glass flexes and usually the repair will eventually rupture - that is no fun!

 

[ImGoingCoastal]

I feel I am the prime candidate to offer input.

I accidentally removed a small chunk from my brand new Bashsea Smart 30-16 sump when "modifying" it to accommodate my Bubble Magus filter roller (which ended up fitting nicely and works great). I immediately reached out to Bashsea and Steve offered the following advice.

"Use either weldon 16 from a plastics dealer or E6000 from home depot - but weldon 16 will be stronger - the problem is that you might have micro fractures that you cannot see that could expand once under pressure - sand the area and make sure its clean and dry then i would lay multiple layers of weldon 16 not just to fill the chip but around the chip as well--- let each layer cure for about an hour and no pressure for 48 hours after final layer is put on--- thank you"

I followed his advice using weldon 16 and the sump has worked flawlessly for the past ~4 months or so.