How to cut glass in a working sump without killing your fish?

[Passedyouby]

The title says it all! I built a sump with 1/4 glass baffles and realized i made a ton of little mistakes in my design, and now would like to make a few modifications.

I really dont want to drain and destroy the whole system to make this work, and would rather shut down the return pumls, remove 4in of water, make my changes, and go about my day.

My fear is that cutting the glass in this scenario would require using a dremel and a drill and would result in glass dust inside my sump and ultimately the DT... this a big deal?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I would drill and work and then vacuum all the water that is left in the sump to remove the glass dust, then go about your day.

 

[Passedyouby]

Glad to hear that also are a fan of "going about your day". Ha.


Yeah, i kinda intentially left small gaps between the silicone in a few baffles so that water could still force its way to the return pump in very low amounts in the event of a small leak overtime during an extended absence. Realizing now that was a bad call, partially because this repair would result in fully draining the tank.

I like the idea of a shop vac, but will let this post play out for a few days first. See if anyone has a fun idea

Cheers

 

[RocketEngineer]

What are you trying to do exactly?

 

[Passedyouby]

What are you trying to do exactly?

I will post pics, but essentially lowrt a baffle height. When my filter sock clogs heavily it restricts water flow and raises the watet level a half in in that chamber. Want to either lower the wall height, or drill a half in hole into the wall a few inches down.


Silly mistakes on my end. Didnt leave a large enough safety factor

 

[Passedyouby]

Eh. Not great photos, just what was in my library from other pics.. but my sump is weird.. i have a 5in x 5in "jut out" for the filter sock. Long story... judgement free zone please!!! Hahaha.

The wall separating the 5in filter sock zone needs to be lowered. That 5in area wasnt big enough and the filter sock blocks more than half of the water passageway when dirty.

 

[Passedyouby]

Pardon the sock! I came home to a mess and had to start mopping up the mess

 

[Vahanyos]

Anytime i've tried to do something without fully disassembling or draining something, it's resulted in a mess. And each time i tell my self "never again" lol...

If it were me, i'd just put the equipment temporarily in a tote, drain all the water, do my work, give the sump a good rinse to free it of any glass dust, etc.... and put everything back in. But that's just me... sorry i know that's not what you were asking but i guess i'm trying to look out for you

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

Sweep that floor or I'm telling your mom

 

[Passedyouby]

Anytime i've tried to do something without fully disassembling or draining something, it's resulted in a mess. And each time i tell my self "never again" lol...

If it were me, i'd just put the equipment temporarily in a tote, drain all the water, do my work, give the sump a good rinse to free it of any glass dust, etc.... and put everything back in. But that's just me... sorry i know that's not what you were asking but i guess i'm trying to look out for you

Yeah, its good to be reminded from time to time! Thanks for the reality check

 

[Buckanaro]

The title says it all! I built a sump with 1/4 glass baffles and realized i made a ton of little mistakes in my design, and now would like to make a few modifications.

I really dont want to drain and destroy the whole system to make this work, and would rather shut down the return pumls, remove 4in of water, make my changes, and go about my day.

My fear is that cutting the glass in this scenario would require using a dremel and a drill and would result in glass dust inside my sump and ultimately the DT... this a big deal?

I did the same thing I ended up building the first chamber to make it work