DIY Sump Build

[1stborn4coral]

Hi All,

I have a Aquatop Recife Eco 40G Tank & Stand Combo (https://www.aquatop.com/products/recife-eco-40g-tank-stand-combo?variant=8723321520227), and I'm trying to make a DIY 10 gallon sump below. I have already cut and installed the glass pieces into the sump tank, but I'm looking for advice on type of tubing to use i.e. hard pvc or flex pvc. I am planning to use 1" pipe, but my predicament is due to wall clearance of less than 1.75" as my tank is already set-up and I don't want to move it. I was planning to use this video, as a guide for the build, but it uses hard pvc. Could I just replace the hard pvc pipes with flex pvc? Would there be better wall clearance with flex pvc?

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

 

[Reefer5640]

The outer diameter of a schedule 40 pvc fitting is 1 5/8”. Would that work? I have made one of these for a 30 gallon tank years ago. It worked pretty good. A couple things I’d mention though. The two 90’s that take you up and over the back of your tank can be set on an angle rather than heading perpendicular to the wall. Its a good idea to dry fit everything and then play with the angles to get the drain and overflow to squeeze the back of the tank. That way you can make up the distance between the two 90’s that go over the back edge. This might make it possible to use hard plumbing. The other suggestion is to definitely drill the top of the second 90, the one taking from the top of the tank down the drain and run a vacuum pump. This will restart your siphon in a loss of power scenario. You may have already been planning on doing that but it’s worth mentioning regardless if you use soft or rigid plumbing, I learned this the hard way. Here’s the best pic I could find. It was like 8 years ago on a tank a setup for my little boy in his room.