My 29g BioCube with 15g external sump!!

DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
I figured you all would appreciate this.... I did it this past week and finally have it all working nice.

I'm running a custom glass sump with a 500 gph pump, the protein skimmer is a coralife SS 65 with the upgraded rio 1100 pump (382 gph instead of 300 gph).

Sump dimensions - 18 x 14 x 12 (approx 15 gallons full, I'm running approx 11 gallons)

I ended up doing a PVC overflow and I'm more than likely gonna change it....It makes a lot of gulping noises. If anyone knows why please let me know! Its annoying lol

Will post more pics upon request

fullstand.jpg

sump.jpg

_MG_3211.jpg
 
yungreefer2410

yungreefer2410

Well-Known Member
nice to see someone doing a sump on a biocube. how exactly did you make a sump on it? like did you have to do any modifications for the plumbing to work effectively?
 
DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
yungreefer2410 said:
nice to see someone doing a sump on a biocube. how exactly did you make a sump on it? like did you have to do any modifications for the plumbing to work effectively?
Click to expand...

Yea, I got sick of dealing with the tiny "sump" area in the back and the slim choice of a protein skimmer. The tunze is around $140 + the InTank cup is $27. I ended up doing a nice size sump and a decent skimmer for under $100.

Well, I did a little bit of research on different styles of over flows and found the PVC one to be quite interesting (and cheap!!! lol). The one I made works better than the one in the write-up I used, but it is louder. So I will be making a new one soon (one that is even better than before, I now know how to get it to flow right and quite)(DIY write up soon to follow). As far as mods on plumbing go... It was pretty smooth, no real odd ball problems (which is weird). I used 3/4" PVC for the overflow and used 1/2" for the return. The 3/4" PVC under a free falling gravity pressure will handle up to 610 gph. I am using a 640 gph pump which after a few feet lowers to around 500 gph, So it worked out well, Because the overflow flow will adjust according to your pump. The reason for the smaller piping on the return is to make sure the pressure drop wasn't severe. I did a lot of dry fit testing outside with 2 buckets and the return pump to get it right. You basically just make your overflow the same height as your tank and install a T fitting where you want your water level to be (I made mine a little lower seeing as how the BC display level is always one height due to the first chamber). I can make a few Paint drawings of what exactly my overflow looks like seeing as how I didn't follow directions and modded mine for better flow.
 
mikelam

mikelam

Member
I'm impressed. I would love to do something to increase the efficiency of my bc29. It's either that or buy a larger tank! Thanks for the inspiration.
 
DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
mikelam said:
I'm impressed. I would love to do something to increase the efficiency of my bc29. It's either that or buy a larger tank! Thanks for the inspiration.
Click to expand...

Thanks, Yea one of the only reasons I went with the BC is I bought it with the stand, heater,sand, and more stuff all new for $100. I'm now loving it though this sump makes life a little easier. I think MH are next for it....Not quite sure yet
 
U

umdivx

New Member
I found this thread via good searching and joined because of this thread. Anyways Rob I am wondering if you can point me in the direction of where you got the sump, or how you got it made.

I am in the process of moving the corals I want to keep, along with the rest of my live stock into a holding/temp tank while I acid wash my rock and start over from stratch.

I too bought my entire setup, tank, stand, hood, heaters, pumps, ect.. basically the full gambit for $100 plus with the current home I am in, the 29G foot print just works for us in terms of space.

So I was wondering if you had any more info on your sump, how you got it, as well as how you did your plumbing, all that info would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Josh
 
DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
umdivx said:
I found this thread via good searching and joined because of this thread. Anyways Rob I am wondering if you can point me in the direction of where you got the sump, or how you got it made.

I am in the process of moving the corals I want to keep, along with the rest of my live stock into a holding/temp tank while I acid wash my rock and start over from stratch.

I too bought my entire setup, tank, stand, hood, heaters, pumps, ect.. basically the full gambit for $100 plus with the current home I am in, the 29G foot print just works for us in terms of space.

So I was wondering if you had any more info on your sump, how you got it, as well as how you did your plumbing, all that info would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
Josh
Click to expand...

Great to hear! People on this forum are very helpful and never give any grief for a question thats been asked a lot! lol

As far as the sump goes, I looked for a custom glass guy online in Tampa FL. Well I found a great one on craigslist that was local. He's experienced in building sumps from he said and he did a great job. I paid $60 delivered and it's made out of 1/4 in glass. (I can give you his number so he can ship one to you but IDK if you wanna do that)

As far as the plumbing goes Ill draw up a diagram in a min and should have it posted tonight. It's very simple and I'm going to remake the overflow because of the gurgling noise it makes.

Feel free to ask any other questions
 
U

umdivx

New Member
yea it'd probably cost me more to have it shipped. I've emailed a few custom glass shops around here so we'll see what they say.

Also after talking to a few people in the local club here in Minneapolis, I might attempt to make my own with Acrylic. So we'll see on that.

Mostly right now just was wondering on your plumbing and how the over flow is setup. Trying to figure out if I want to drill or not, that is the big question of the day for me.

- Josh
 
DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
Hey, Sorry I haven't posted ASAP like I said I've had quite a bit going on...I'll do a quick paint drawing so you all get the idea
 
A

Adalius

Member
Yes, please post them, I've been tossing around ideas for a sump for my 29g BC for a month now and haven't found one that looks like it fits as well as yours.

Does the sump feed the 3rd chamber, and then the pump in chamber 3 pushes it out to the built in tank outlet (like it comes stock), or are you feeding directly from the pump in the sump right to the outlet?
 
DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
Adalius said:
Yes, please post them, I've been tossing around ideas for a sump for my 29g BC for a month now and haven't found one that looks like it fits as well as yours.

Does the sump feed the 3rd chamber, and then the pump in chamber 3 pushes it out to the built in tank outlet (like it comes stock), or are you feeding directly from the pump in the sump right to the outlet?
Click to expand...


Well, I ended up having to have my sump custom made(my sump is roughly 15 gallons) (you can go bigger I just opted not to cause I needed a place to store my AB bottles). I completely eliminated the pump in chamber 3 and just have the pump running from the sump to the BC back wall. I also have a Hydor Flo on the back wall instead of that factory director thing. My tank is NOT drilled, I did a PVC over flow cause its extremely cheap and easy to build. Ill have new pics up asap (hopefully tomorrow).

Fell free to ask any questions
 
A

Adalius

Member
Yea, I caught that it was custom, which is why I'm eagerly waiting for as much info as you can throw at me.

I already have a hydor flo on it, I bought that the first day since I saw how nice the variable flow was at the one in the LFS. I'm upgrading the pump soon, since I don't think I'll be able to afford the sump for a couple months, and even then I can use the pump in my mix tank in the basement if I put a bigger one in the sump.

The PVC overflow looks nice because I *do not* want to drill mine at all. I've been looking for something like this specifically to keep it looking as stock from the outside as possible.
 
DigitalLegacy

DigitalLegacy

Member
Adalius said:
Yea, I caught that it was custom, which is why I'm eagerly waiting for as much info as you can throw at me.

I already have a hydor flo on it, I bought that the first day since I saw how nice the variable flow was at the one in the LFS. I'm upgrading the pump soon, since I don't think I'll be able to afford the sump for a couple months, and even then I can use the pump in my mix tank in the basement if I put a bigger one in the sump.

The PVC overflow looks nice because I *do not* want to drill mine at all. I've been looking for something like this specifically to keep it looking as stock from the outside as possible.
Click to expand...

Yea I wanted to keep mine stock looking as well (I can actually put everything back to stock if i wanted to). Now one thing Ive tested and ran for a few months is a 700 gph sump pump on that hydor. It hasn't had a problem at all and it claims its only rated for 310. Now 700 gph is overkill, but i'm back to a 400 gph now and i'm happy with it. Works real well in my sump.

I'm gonna be making a new overflow here soon, I wanna test and see if I can get the flow of water sound to be completely gone. It's not to loud I just wanna play I guess lol.

One thing as well, If you do the PVC overflow your gonna have to mod your hood. I just cut a big section out of the back of mine. Everything clears and looks good.

I have a few pics from when I built it all, I just never posted them all.

Next project is full LED!!
 
F

flathead1319

Member
ive got to say your thread is great. your tank setup is awesome. i have a Coralife 29g Biocube and im wantign to do the same type thing. how do you have the sump setup? are you using bioballs or?
 
Bestshooter

Bestshooter

New Member
I can’t see the pictures and the link doesn’t work for me . Does anyone have any clear pictures I can get and a link to the design . I’m interested in doing this too .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top