Building a sump???

[rebekwl]

Hey there!! My husband wants to build his own sump pump. We are pretty new to the salt water hobby and don't know much about it, so we are pretty much clueless here. We want to buy a tank and some PVC to put together, but have no clue how!! We have a 55 gal tank, already set up, not drilled. What size tank should we use for our sump??? Any do-it-yourselfers out there with any good advice??? We need some serious instructions from the experts. Thanks alot!!!

[Anselth]

Well, my suggestion is to go with the largest sump you can fit under your tank. Melevsreef.com - Welcome! has a lot of good information on sump design. I made one for my 50 gallon reef out of a 20H aquarium and some acrylic from US Plastic. It's not difficult, just make sure you have enough silicone if you use an aquarium.

[DaBird]

and be careful what type of silicone that you use...only reef safe, none of that algaecide or algae inhibitor stuff will do...Good luck...

[kinghokus420]

heres a sump/fuge i just made for my 135 in progress. left is the fuge, middle is the return, and the right is the inlet/skimmer. the short far right baffle i just threw in to hopefully direct microbubbles closer to the surface before the water flowed to the skimmer. it will also keep my filter sock in place . i used a 45g tank i had sitting in the garage. a good rule of thumb is to use the biggest tank possible.
its not hard to do. melev site has some good ideas but i just went to the photo gallery and just looked for sump pictures and got er done!


heres the sump i have. it looks a bit different now but not too much.i've just added more crap.

sump building is very easy if you have an idea if what you want. i cut my own baffles out of scrap glass pieces i had laying around and used cheapo ace hardware silicone(yes its good) im by no means clean with it though, i prefer function over looks. just have confidence and all will "flow" smoothly. the plumbing is easy too! just know where you want the water to flow and plumb it together. (buy extras parts,you'll need em)

[KodiakBear]

I used a 20Gal Long tank to build my sump for a 45g tank. I have room for a bigger sump, but I got it for free. Can't argue with that. Picked up some plexiglass from LOWES to make my baffles. To glue the pieces I used DAP 100% Silicone Aquarium Sealant. Lowes carries it in their adhesives section. One tube goes a long way!

[KMP]

kinghokus - this is where my pea brain always gets lost. i've seen other recommend the exact set up you have (return in the middle). my quesiton is; if the water is coming in on the far left - then skimmed - then being sent back w/the return pump; then how is the fuge getting water so that it will spill into the return?

i like your design every much - looks good.

also, what model asm skimmer is that?

thanks

[lcstorc]

I can't tell what size but it is one of the G series.
Check out melevs for great sump plans. I also have a couple of pics of ours in my chronicle if you want to look at that. I have a 29g tank as my sump and a separate 29g tank as my fuge. We used acrylic baffles in a glass tank. Be sure to cut the baffles slightly smaller than the tank. We had a member recently where the baffles expanded from the temp and they cracked the glass tank they were using.
Be super shure that you use 100% silicone. No mildew inhibitors or additives of any kind.

[KodiakBear]

Originally Posted by KMP

my quesiton is; if the water is coming in on the far left - then skimmed - then being sent back w/the return pump; then how is the fuge getting water so that it will spill into the return?

I put a PVC T on the output of the return pump, and ran a small section over to the fuge with a valve to allow me to control flow.

My sump needs some work still, but the T works really well.

[Frankie]

Here's the one I made for my 120. It's a 75 gal. tenacor. The two drains come out of the aquarium and connect on the left. Then the water go's down through a miron sock and under the substrate filtering up through it. Then overflows to the right where the skimmer is and returns from there. The pump in the middle is also a return for my UV sterilizer.

[kinghokus420]

Originally Posted by KMP

kinghokus - this is where my pea brain always gets lost. i've seen other recommend the exact set up you have (return in the middle). my quesiton is; if the water is coming in on the far left - then skimmed - then being sent back w/the return pump; then how is the fuge getting water so that it will spill into the return?

i like your design every much - looks good.

also, what model asm skimmer is that?

thanks

I plan on just tee'ing off of the inlet to the sump vs the return. i want to get all the funky water instead of the skimmed "clean" water. the fuge will have a very slow flow through it.if i need more flow in the fuge i will put in a MJ or something. my main goal is to have a mandarin so i want lots o' pods.
The skimmer is a G2 with a gate valve mod. i plan on re-circ modding it eventually so i dont have to shell out the $$ for a new skimmer.

[rebekwl]

You all have some great sumps! Thanks alot for all of the advice. We are still beating around the bush a bit, but will get to it eventually. I am finally starting to understand the whole process a little bit!!