DIY Acrylic Sump Questions

FishyDP · Apr 1, 2021

I am looking to build an acrylic sump for a 230g 72x29x25 peninsula style display. I am trying to avoid using 1/2" sheets due to price. Has anyone built or know of examples of sumps that were built separately but overflow into each other to make one large sump? I do not need a refugium, just a simple sump with one section for skimmers and next section for return and scrubber. One issue I can think of is keeping the overflow from one sump to the other silent, or close to silent. The overall dimensions of the sump will be around 48x24x16..so each sump will be around 24x24x16. I am hoping I can do this with 1/4" sheets using cross braces or euro braces.

jgirardnrg · Apr 1, 2021

You can just connect them via pipes to one another and not create any additional noise.

JPG@CFI · Apr 2, 2021

I’d say you need to plan on bigger sumps. I would be thinking of 3/8” minimum thickness and hope you use 1/2”. I put top panels on 90% of the sumps I build, and use Lexan of covers.

mdb_talon · Apr 2, 2021

I am not saying you should do it and would defer to JPG as he does this for a living. However I have an 8ftx2ftx14" sump i use that has no issues and it was built out of approximately 1/4 inch(maybe the .22?). It is not pretty...but functional. Mine has 2 inch less height than yours which is obviously important.

It is eurobraced and cross straps about every 2ft. It is well over 10 years old because i bought it used 10 years ago.

Ignore the mess in this pic i just moved all my frag tanks and not put any skins on stand.

FishyDP · Apr 5, 2021

Looks like alot of different ways to construct an acrylic sump. Clever mdb using multiple cross braces on that big sump with .22-.25 acrylic. That has surved the long haul, pretty cool. Jpg I would agree that 3/8 seems to be the minimum for sumps for larger tanks, unless extra braces are used. The lexan covers look like a nice option if I decide to cover my sump.

This will be my first acrylic build. I am going to take my time with it. For now I am putting together a temp sump out of containers.