Ideas for making my own sump from tubs?

TomToro

TomToro

The Old Guy
Oct 21, 2006
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Michigan
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Do you folks know of good items to use for sumps/refugiums? I have a good amount of room under the stand and cracked my glass sump. I was thinking about using plastic tubs or containers instead. I figure they're easier to drill, but harder to partition with baffles.

Anybody know of a place I can get tall (18") long (up to 90") and not too wide (24") tubs to use for this application? Are there types of plastic I'm not supposed to use for fear of something leaching into the water?

Any suggestions or ideas?

Thanks,
TomToro
 
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Grins said:
A few in my club use stock tanks that you get from feed stores. They are large, black and heavy duty. They might make a smaller version that would fit under a tank but not sure.
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I guess for larger sumps this might make sense. For smaller ones I personally don't see why people wouldn't just by a glass tank, the AGA are pretty affordable.
 
vorlx said:
I guess for larger sumps this might make sense. For smaller ones I personally don't see why people wouldn't just by a glass tank, the AGA are pretty affordable.
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Did I mention I was 'The Frugal Reefer'?:)

Also, I have a weird setup under the stand. The guy before me had two 35 gallon sumps connected by two bulkheads. I'm trying to work one long sump into this design. Realistically though, I have only 15" of width, 18" of height and 90 inches of length if I want one sump. If I have two sumps connected, I have 24" of width, 18" of height and 40" of length, times 2 to work with.

Off to Walmart to look for waterproof holding bins.
 
TomToro said:
Did I mention I was 'The Frugal Reefer'?:)
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Look on CraigsList. That is were I picked up my 20gal long sump for cheap. I highly recommend going glass over plastic. How you do plan to put in the baffles with plastic? Weld-on? With glass you just silicon them in. Cheap is not always better and glass should hold up longer throughout the years.
 
Make sure that the container is potable. I used plastic containers for a while as a temporary solution and found, or at least I suspected that they leached into the water.
 
MightyWarMonger said:
Read this http://www.fmueller.com/home/aquaristic/240g/technology/filtration/the-sump-containers/ he used it for fresh water not marine but it may help you in you're quest in the best way of achiving you're goal. I don't remember if it's in his page but you need to put some kind of foam or soft padding under the platic tub to prevent stress cracks on the corners and brace the sides so it does not bow/warp the container.
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Excellent link. That's exactly what type of info I need. If I do as he did, I can have up to 90gallons of sump/refugium under my tank.
Thanks to everybody and especially MWM for the link. Now on to figure out how to install baffles in a plastic tub. Maybe I'll leave one side the plastic tub and the other side a baffled 40 long.

Best Regards,
Tom
 
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