Ideas for a sump...

[SCUBA_STEVE]

Hey everyone. This may not be practical but I am going to throw it out there anyway. I have a 29g reef tank with a deep sand bed and about 30lbs of live rock. So I am thinking I realy only have about 20g of water in the tank. Now the tank is not drilled and I would really like to incoroparte a sump into the system. So I am looking at a HOB overflow (any sugestions or experiences would be aprreciated on that topic.) Now, I have limited space underneath my stand so I would really only be able to add somwhere around 15g of volume to the system. So... what I am thinking is to just head down to Walmart or something like that and get a Tote that would fit under my stand. So really all I would have is one chamber (in there I would have my skimmer, some extra live rock, heater and a return pump.) I would really like to setup a refuge but I dont know if i'd be able ot make dividers/baffles in a tote like that and that small of dimenstions. Does this seems like a good idea to everyone of is this just a pipe dream. Any suggestions or opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Steve

[LeanneP]

Thanks for asking this question as I am just in the same dilemma but with a 90 gallon that have nitrates at 10 and I am looking for a cheap way to sump it as I have been blowing my budget with my tank. Hope you don't mind but I will tag along.

Leanne P

[don.ald]

My sumps never have baffles. I use a 20g tank and place a tall 7g inside that tank. Flow goes into the 7g with a sock, and overflows into the 20. The return pump and skimmer is in the 20g.
The 7 g is a fuge with cheato etc.
Kinda like a tote inside a tote.
Rick.

[msjboy]

you can just use a 10 gallon tank as a sump ( lots of people have them or even give em away free) without partitions as I have seen, or just get some 3 small sheets of acrylic from the waste cuts at various plexiglass stores like Industrial Plastics, ( you can score them manually if you have no access to a proper saw) to make the partitioned sump.... there are lotsa of designs out. You have to get an extra amount of silicon to adhere the sides though.

I think a plastic tote box, the plastic overtime might decay and have a leak; a thicker one will be of course best. I see that King Ed uses a plastic tray for their liverock sump as well as a plastic 55gallon bin.

msjboy

[Northernseacorals]

Rubbermaid tote, or tough tub

Works like a charm.

[ChizerBunoi]

I currently have a Aqueon HOB overflow on my tank. It always starts up right away. I did flood my basement though due to stupidity. I shut the return pump off and took the inside overflow box off without breaking the siphon on the utube. We'll the uTube kept siphoning and there went 2 gallons or so.

My other complaint about them is that they are noisey. You have to build stand pipes for them. Also, the clear boxes get horribly dirty. The only way to clean them is to soak it in vinegar. Go with a black box version.

I am using a 10 gallon rubbermaid to mix salt water in. It's works really well. Although, it does flex a lot.

[biggerstretch]

HOB overflows are OK but not the best for piece of mind. I built a few in the past and they worked however I never really trusted them.

I would shut the tank down by moving it into another aquarium or something and get the back glass drilled. Back glass is generally is not tempered so it can be drilled. Put a 90 pipe fitting in the tank to a flange and then run the pipe down to the sump. As far as the sump goes , building some baffles and filter stands is simple. The smaller tank in the bigger one works well also. Never liked the Tupperware sumps as they tend to be too flexible ( as stated previously )

The solution to pollution is dilution , the bigger the sump the better however with a smaller tank it isn't practical to have an 80 gallon sump. I suppose a 5 gallon pail would work as a sump however we all want to have our tanks and setups look nice...
If you have lots of cash get the sump custom made from acrylic, if you are on a budget then see what kind of a used tank you can find and either silicone in some baffles or put another smaller tank inside it. I however do not trust HOB overflows, to me it is just a way of not doing it right in the first place....

[Albertan22]

I've seen sumps consisting of rubbermaid tubs before, I doubt you'd have a problem with it. If you want to incorporate a fuge component, maybe try just building a box or partition out of egg crate and sticking a ball of chaeto in it and hanging a light over it. That way you'd have some separation to prevent it from drifting into your skimmer pump or return pump. Just make sure it's big enough to leave the cheato move a bit.

Another method that I remember seeing somewhere online when setting up my tank years ago was to plumb two totes together using bulkheads and pvc pipe. The overflow feeds the first tote which is the fuge, water then flows to the second tote which has the skimmer, heater, return pump and anything else you want in there.

[Mike-fish]

watch Kijiji for a 10g it seems that there's almost always one on there for next to nothing you might also find one on sale also for cheap. as for baffles a bit of acrylic should work great as stated previously check with a few of the plastics places in town to see if you can go scrap bin diving :lol:.

[RDNanoGuy]

Check your local petsmart. They frequently have bare tanks on sale. I picked a 20 long there for my mantis for $34.99

[SCUBA_STEVE]

Thanks for all the advice everyone. I have been looking at the Eshopps Nano over flow box. They say it is rated for 25g so I figure that would probably work in my 29g. As for a sump I am still trying to figure out what to do. The stand I have currently doesn't fit a 10g tank in it so I may try out a DIY stand or just go with a tote.

[Albertan22]

So I'm not trying to be overly negative here, but I've been giving your issue a bit more though and thought I'd re-post on it.

If you're stand won't fit a 10g tank as a sump, you'll likely want to consider what you're hoping to gain with the sump and what you're planning on putting in it. Measure everything you want to put in the sump, maybe make a mock cardboard sump and see how it actually looks and if you've got room to work in it and clean it. I built my sump out of a 40g breeder and some acrylic for baffles. It sits under my 120g tank in a 4'x2' stand (give or take). The sump fills about 2/3 of the space under my stand an an ATO system takes most of the rest. While I've got enough room to do my water changes, etc., I'd love more space for a reactor or dosing system. Make sure that you can actually fit your body above the sump inside the stand so that you can reach stuff or siphon in the back. Also make sure that there is enough room in the stand to remove your skimmer (body and all), the return pump, and anything else you might put in there without having to drain it and pull the whole thing out of the stand.

With a sump that small, you will run out of space quickly once you place your skimmer and return pump in it. You may also be creating a top-off water nightmare for yourself if you can't make room for an ATO reservoir and top-off switch/pump. The upside of a sump is that you never see evaporation in your display tank, the level only drops in the return section of the sump. If there isn't much water there, the return pump can rapidly go dry. If you're sump isn't divided by baffles, this may also play havoc with your skimmer as water levels rise and fall. I've never had a tank that size so I'm not really sure how much of an issue evaporation would be in a 29g.

[SCUBA_STEVE]

Thanks Albertan that gives me alot to think about. The one issue I am battling in ym 29g right now is my salinity rises on me quickly. I'd say rises .001 every 2 days. While this isn't a big issue while I am around it's going to suck when I want to leave for a holiday. I was hoping with incorporating a sump it would help with my salinity (being new I am not to sure if adding volume will help with that.) If I do decide to go the sump route I will make sure it will work with everything I want to put in it. Once again thanks for your input.

[Mike-fish]

Purely out of curiosity what do you have for a cover. Since your evap must be rather high you get that much of a swing that fast

[Albertan22]

The sump itself likely won't help with your salinity issue; however, it does give you the opportunity to incorporate an auto top off system. If you can manage it, try to build in room for a top off reservoir. Maybe you could put something next to the stand? I used a narrow blue recycling bin (approximately 2.5 gallons), put a maxijet 400 in the bottom, used clear tubing to plumb water to the sump, and used a float switch system I found online. The whole system cost me a little over $100 (the float switch being the most expensive component). For my setup, this gives me about 3 days of stable water/salt levels. In a system your size it might last a week or more.

The nice thing about a system like this is that if you simply get some extra tubing, you can set up a larger reservoir (like a garbage can) for temporary use if you ever leave town. That way you don't have to worry about friends forgeting to add ato water.

If you do set up something like this, be sure to account for siphoning from your fresh reservoir to the sump. Keep the tubing out of the sump water, and tie it higher than the water level in your reservoir or it will siphon down to that point (a lesson I learned the hard way).