Building a sump

[pastelball]

I am getting a 18" cube so I started a sump build. I have not siliconed anything in yet. The first chamber will be the drain from the tank. Second chamber i am thinking filter sock or making a media basket. Third will be skimmer at sometime or cheato then baffles. Last the return pump.

 

[143MPCo]

Looks good, I like the layout...
...is that a mag pump?

 

[pastelball]

Thanks, yrs it is just the 3

 

[143MPCo]

...mag pumps are a bit notorious for transferring a lot heat into the water, might want to consider an alternative return pump.

 

[pastelball]

I will upgrade later. Used it on a 30 really never had an issue with it. But, have thought of one of those dc controller pumps.

 

[D0661E750]

Hmmm
I would stay away from filter socks. U could design ur sump without it by using the chamber.
1st chamber would lower than your panel (duh me), have a perforated lateral panel so this would be your filtersock like chamber trapping detritus (not catching).
Per WC, you would need to siphon the waste or have a valve mounted on the lower portion of the chamber as exit point.
Hope this help. I just don't like filter socks, not efficient.

 

[ReeferBob]

You probably won't take this advice, but dump the acrylic and have glass cut. Acrylic does not adhere properly to glass. Best case it just fails and your compartments leak into one another, worst case, the acrylic breaks your glass due to swelling.

 

[D0661E750]

I concur

 

[pastelball]

Well looking at it is polycarbonate. It was free and just need it to get me by for a few months.

 

[ReeferBob]

Well looking at it is polycarbonate. It was free and just need it to get me by for a few months.

If it is just a few months why not just go sumpless for that time and spend your time/energy/resources on a proper sump? Or else just don't use dividers at all and just one large tank. Just make sure you have a good ATO.

 

[pastelball]

Not a bad idea. I do have a tunze nano ato

 

[lemonyx]

Just use a big bead of silicone on both sides, to hold the acrylic in - no problems , just might not look nice but it'll work

 

[Harold Green]

I've siliconed acrylic into glass tanks and it held up for decades. The trick is to use 1/4" acrylic so it won't bow and pop out of the silicon bead. I have a 75g sump under my display with all acrylic baffles in it and it's been up for over a year now. And I like the filter socks. They can clear out the phytoplankton I feed the corals with in a very short time after I restart the return pump. I have a mag 18 return pump and my tank stays at 78degrees with no method of additional cooling other than the ac set for 77 degrees. You want opinions or advice there is plenty here on this forum. Just be prepared to research all the answers you get because you'll seldom get everyone to agree on best methods.

 

[pastelball]

Well i had a sump on a tank a few years ago. It has acrylic baffles and held for 3 years. I do have 1/4" polycarbonate i am using. Any opinions and advice is great. Like to get different ways everyone is doing stuff.

 

[mtswaneya]

Here is my sump I made for my 180. I would use cell cast if you were building a sump but polycarbonate would work if your just putting baffles in a glass tank. I also am have filter socks if needed when I stir up the tank to help filter out my display.

 

[pastelball]

Looks nice I like yours.

 

[Harold Green]

Here's one made from a 75g tank. Far right chamber is the fuge.

 

[pastelball]

That's a good sized one nice job. Working on mine now

 

[Harold Green]

It's been running for over a year now with no issues. Heater and ato are in the return chamber. Fuge has deep sand bed, rubble and macros. Drain falls into separate chamber that overflows into socks and the socks can overflow into next chamber if they stop up. Had to size my stand to fit the sump that handles a 210g tank.

 

[pastelball]

Well decided to make a media basket.