DIY Sump?

[Calogero831]

any plans to build your own sump?
iv done alot of reasearch and found some diagrams and such but no real info on how to start building it.
this design i like the best. its sad its a cartoon drawing and its the best one i found... and i found alot of sites. http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dy...u=http://www.angelfire.com/ok/dog1/sumps.html
i figure i can use a big tank i have as the box but how do i go about segmenting it into sections. you need 1 piece of glass baffle for the "water in" part and 2 pieces to sectionn off the section where you put the sand, rubble, etc.
i thoguht of some things tho... if the water in is moving faster then the water out wont the sump overflow. and if the water out is moving faster then the water in, the water out section would dry out. wont that break the water out pump?
these are just some things i couldnt find online. other then that the concept makes sence and it sounds like a project i wanna dig into... just dont wanna be unprepaired.

 

[Reefscape]

Yes, its basic sump design that has been used by thousands upon thousands of people, and is of course, just one way of configuring a sump. Have a look at Melev's Reef site for many other ways and means of sump setup and configuration..

The sections are simply either glass or silicon, gluded or fitted into place with EDPM weather stripping, thread here...

When settin up the whole sump plumbing, flow from the display and from sump back to display all need to be conciderd....As an average figure, a 1 inch bulkhead over flow is about 600gph, so you would buy a return pump which is a little under that value. If you go down the overflow box route, instead of having the tank drilled and bulkhead fitted, the overflow is at a setup GPH, and again, get a return pump just less than the box..

There are lots of people here with knowledge on sumps and their setups..Just shout up with any questions you may have...

Niko

 

[Aries]

Niko got it all there. I went to Melevs Reef and followed the plans there.

For my 30G, I used a 20 Gallon Long tank. I sectioned off the 'IN' like in his small refugium. Then I put in 3 baffles to minimize bubbles - does work good to.

I get about 375GPH turnover because the pump can only do that much (per calculation at my level of head). I used 1" DIY PVC overflow. The loudest part is the pump (Mag 5). Everything else is quiet.

Good Luck.

Aries