DIY sump, help anyone

lilj104

lilj104

Member
I'm pretty sure this has been done on here, but does anyone know any links to diy sumps. I need ideas and direction
 
Brandon78

Brandon78

Active Member
My dad and I built mine, pretty simple if you go with the basics. I have a 20g long. 1st chamber has the overflow drain and skimmer, then the bubble trap, then the refugium, then a return. Theres many more ideas and setups but here is mine.

photo44.jpg
 
lilj104

lilj104

Member
Brandon78 said:
My dad and I built mine, pretty simple if you go with the basics. I have a 20g long. 1st chamber has the overflow drain and skimmer, then the bubble trap, then the refugium, then a return. Theres many more ideas and setups but here is mine.

photo44.jpg
Click to expand...

wow that looks nice, how are apart did you make the bubble trap section? What kind of skimmer are you using? What is the dimensions of your 20g
 
Singlefin

Singlefin

Member
I have a similar setup. The skimmer section will depend on how big the footprint for your skimmer is. The bubble trap baffles are 1" apart with the middle baffle 1.5-2" off the bottom. The return pump section also depend on which pump you use.


465fbe4e-f5d7-670f.jpg



Part of me is salty...,
 
catran

catran

Well-Known Member
That's a nice sump! I have the same configuration.
Before the refugium.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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PSU4ME

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
You'll want to keep in mind the water level needs of your sump and return pump, this will help determine the height of the baffle walls as that determines the water level. Easy project and a good way to save money. Good luck!
 
lilj104

lilj104

Member
PSU4ME said:
You'll want to keep in mind the water level needs of your sump and return pump, this will help determine the height of the baffle walls as that determines the water level. Easy project and a good way to save money. Good luck!
Click to expand...

interesting..never considered that..I have a mag 5 right now but I will probably buy a Mag 7 for the tank. How will i figure that out?
 
PSU4ME

PSU4ME

JoePa lives on!!!
Staff member
PREMIUM
Well changing the size of the pump won't change much, it will just change the amount of flow through the sump
 
dmatt88

dmatt88

Has been struck by the ban stick
Just pump it up as fast as u can pump it out.

........sps smells familiar.
 
Built347

Built347

Has been struck by the ban stick
Oh boy I love makin stuff.. what's the story? How big is this tank? How big can u make the sump?
 
Brandon78

Brandon78

Active Member
Um im at work right now but ill try to get the dimensions tonight, its a 20 long, I like the skimmer before the fuge. Its a coral life skimmer. As far as the bubble trap goes we werent sure so we just threw em in there and they worked, adjusted water level, etc. I have my skimmer hanging on the side of my sump to help out a little with space. Also like Built pointed out, how big is your tank. I have a 55 gallon and im running the mag 5 with a ball valve and a eshopps 300 overflow, adjusted the valve a little and they run good together.
 
lilj104

lilj104

Member
Built347 said:
Oh boy I love makin stuff.. what's the story? How big is this tank? How big can u make the sump?
Click to expand...

well i purchased a 55 gal tank but i decided to not use an overflow and since drilling it could be risky, I plan on buying deep blue 57 rimless tank. I'm going to build my own stand. So the tank dimensions will be 36x18x20. The potential stand dimension will more than likely be 37x19x30. I saw a 20g long at Petco the other day that I think I will go with, which will is 30x13x12. Now I could always go up to a 30g if need be. As said before I have the mag 5, but just for more flow I was thinking of going with a mag 7. But pending everyone's opinion is which way i'll go. What ever I do, I want the refugium section to be atleast 10" long (might add other softies in there idk)

I was looking at the link from tnwillia posted and I saw a set up that had the first chamber be the 80% intake from tank the middle chamber being the return section and the 3rd chamber be the refugium and also getting 20% intake from the tank. Or should I just keep it the simpled 1st chamber intake/skimmer, 2nd chamber refugium, 3rc chamber return/or i could put the skimmer here instead of the first chamber.

I was thinking of getting a proflex model 2 sump but dmatt88 told me in one of my previous forums that it would be better to build my own sump.
 
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