DIY Sump Help

Fatmike92 · Mar 10, 2022

I’ve sketched out a custom sump for my corner tank.

im going to build it it so I can take it apart to get it in and out if there are any issues

let me know if I’m missing anything or should change anything

Snoopy 67 · Mar 10, 2022

Your ATO has to go in the return chamber because that is where any water fluctuation happens.
I would eliminate 1 live rock chamber & use artificial media like Sporax or Marine Pure in block or sphere form, therefore doubling your refugium. Use the live rock in the tank. Personally I would NOT use sand, it becomes a place for phosphate & detritus. No skimmer?

Fatmike92 · Mar 10, 2022

Snoopy 67 said:
Your ATO has to go in the return chamber because that is where any water fluctuation happens.
I would eliminate 1 live rock chamber & use artificial media like Sporax or Marine Pure in block or sphere form, therefore doubling your refugium. Use the live rock in the tank. Personally I would NOT use sand, it becomes a place for phosphate & detritus. No skimmer?

Thank you!

i wasn’t sure on the sand

Fatmike92 · Mar 10, 2022

Ha!!!

just realized I forgot the skimmer lol

Fatmike92 · Mar 15, 2022

anyone have any thoughts on this?

anything I should change?

Mochi · Mar 27, 2022

Hey there! I'm also in the process of planning my sump layout. Not an expert by any means so this is just my 2 cents.
You could reduce the size of your live rock chamber by having more biomedia like marine pure spheres to maximize space in your sump and expanding your skimmer compartment for future equipments you might want to add down the road.
Any considerations of adding a 2nd return pump for redundancy as well as potentially routing for things like UV, etc.?

Fatmike92 · Mar 29, 2022

Mochi said:
Hey there! I'm also in the process of planning my sump layout. Not an expert by any means so this is just my 2 cents.
You could reduce the size of your live rock chamber by having more biomedia like marine pure spheres to maximize space in your sump and expanding your skimmer compartment for future equipments you might want to add down the road.
Any considerations of adding a 2nd return pump for redundancy as well as potentially routing for things like UV, etc.?

ive heard this quite a few times about reducing the live rock chamber size.

I think I might be putting too much value on the importance of adding live rock to the sump..