Do you like your DIY sump

[willy00]

I’m in the process of setting up a 75 g mixed reef. My plans were to use a 20 gal long sump for a refugium, skimmer, and return section for the sake of saving $500. My LFS owner, who has a ton of experience but is also very set in his opinions strongly advised that invest in a manufactured sump because “I will hate the DIY sump, and there’s no sense in saving money in an expensive hobby in the long run”.

So, DIYers do you hate your DIY sump, do you love it, and would you do it again?

 

[redfishbluefish]

Love a DIY sump. I currently run a 50B, that was sold to me as a 40B. I didn't discover this until I went to replace it with another "real" 40B and noticed the height difference. Anyway, you can make the chambers any size you wish with a DIY sump. A commercial sump, you're stuck with what they give you.

 

[willy00]

Love a DIY sump. I currently run a 50B, that was sold to me as a 40B. I didn't discover this until I went to replace it with another "real" 40B and noticed the height difference. Anyway, you can make the chambers any size you wish with a DIY sump. A commercial sump, you're stuck with what they give you.

Super clean setup! Do you run any mechanical filtration? And did you use glass baffles or acrylic?

 

[SlowAndStupid]

I have a literal diy sump that I built with plywood and epoxy (two of them actually). I 3d printed baffles with petg and siliconed them in. I just passed my 1 year anniversary of it being wet. I love it.

 

[UncommonSense]

glass baffles or acrylic?

Glass baffles in a glass tank are the gold standard, not only because silicone bonds better to glass than acrylic, but because cell cast acrylic can swell up to 3% when submerged!

— I’ve seen photos around here of a glass tank being ripped apart at the seams by an acrylic AIO divider which was cut to fit tight inside the tank! Others mentioned that they’ve seen tightly fitted acrylic baffles shatter a pane, or panes of a glass tank in other situations!

 

[BryanM]

People can have opinions, but whatever.

My first sump I just gutted except for the return chamber. No chambers, baffles, nothing.

I just don't think it matters.... and even well designed sumps usually get reconfig'd, so either way works for me.

 

[willy00]

Glass baffles in a glass tank are the gold standard, not only because silicone bonds better to glass than acrylic, but because cell cast acrylic can swell up to 3% when submerged!

— I’ve seen photos around here of a glass tank being ripped apart at the seams by an acrylic AIO divider which was cut to fit tight inside the tank! Others mentioned that they’ve seen tightly fitted acrylic baffles shatter a pane, or panes of a glass tank in other situations!

Ah yes such a good point. If I got glass baffles cut at a shop should I order them to exact dimensions or slightly shorter on the width?

 

[UncommonSense]

Ah yes such a good point. If I got glass baffles cut at a shop should I order them to exact dimensions or slightly shorter on the width?

For glass baffles:

— 3/16” (4.5mm) minimum glass thickness, 1/4” (6mm-6.5mm) preferred!

— leave any glass edges being siliconed sharp/square for maximum silicone contact area, request a dresses/smoothed edges on the top of each baffle, and the bottom of the “down” baffles! — glass is razor sharp if you leave a cut square edge untouched!

— I like to cut my baffles 3/16” narrower than the tank’s inside width, this gives 3/32” of air gap between baffle edge and tank wall on each side, just enough to inject silicone into! (1/8” narrower made the 1/16” gap at each end too darn small to comfortably inject silicone into! It's possible, but messy!)

— for “dam” baffles (aka “up baffles”) I like to mask with tape around 3/8” away from the glass on both sides to pull for clean silicone lines, this also provides a guide to lay the first bead of silicone on the bottom pane of the tank…

— lay the first bead of silicone on the bottom pane of the tank, place baffle down on it, align side-to side, square up/tape in place to top of tank, then inject silicone into both vertical seams!

— wipe silicone beads to a clean fillet, then pull masking tape before silicone skins over!

— after the “up” baffle(s) are cured for a day at least; you can begin on “down” baffles!

for “down baffles”:

— you’re only siliconing the two vertical seams; I like to use any random material like a chunks of lumber as spacers, 1”-1.5” thick…

— lay one spacer on the tank bottom, another vertically against the already siliconed “up” baffle…

— place your glass “down” baffle in place against the spacers, tape in place to “up” baffle, align side to side…

— inject silicone along both vertical seams, wipe fillet, pull masking tape (if applicable)! — (No need to square this one, as your first baffle is already square, so you can just press this one against the spacer between the two baffles!)

— cure silicone for 7 days in a relatively temp/humidity controlled environment, then enjoy your sump!

 

[Dom]

I’m in the process of setting up a 75 g mixed reef. My plans were to use a 20 gal long sump for a refugium, skimmer, and return section for the sake of saving $500. My LFS owner, who has a ton of experience but is also very set in his opinions strongly advised that invest in a manufactured sump because

“I will hate the DIY sump, and there’s no sense in saving money in an expensive hobby in the long run”.

Lets call this perspective... unique.

I have a DIY sump. And what I've learned is that all of the sections are not really necessary. Mine is a 33 long with one baffle separating the return pump from the other equipment. I liked how it worked as it offered tremendous flexibility with equipment placement.

The down side is that sometimes you want to control the water's path through the sump. Personally I've always liked my water to flow through mechanical filtration first, then through the refugium and finally the skimmer before going into the return chamber.

With a wide open sump, you can't do this.

Please be careful of the "guidance" you get from your LFS. They're more interested in selling their inventory than in your success.

 

[willy00]

For glass baffles:

— 3/16” (4.5mm) minimum glass thickness, 1/4” (6mm-6.5mm) preferred!

— leave any glass edges being siliconed sharp/square for maximum silicone contact area, request a dresses/smoothed edges on the top of each baffle, and the bottom of the “down” baffles! — glass is razor sharp if you leave a cut square edge untouched!

— I like to cut my baffles 3/16” narrower than the tank’s inside width, this gives 3/32” of air gap between baffle edge and tank wall on each side, just enough to inject silicone into! (1/8” narrower made the 1/16” gap at each end too darn small to comfortably inject silicone into! It's possible, but messy!)

— for “dam” baffles (aka “up baffles”) I like to mask with tape around 3/8” away from the glass on both sides to pull for clean silicone lines, this also provides a guide to lay the first bead of silicone on the bottom pane of the tank…

— lay the first bead of silicone on the bottom pane of the tank, place baffle down on it, align side-to side, square up/tape in place to top of tank, then inject silicone into both vertical seams!

— wipe silicone beads to a clean fillet, then pull masking tape before silicone skins over!

— after the “up” baffle(s) are cured for a day at least; you can begin on “down” baffles!

for “down baffles”:

— you’re only siliconing the two vertical seams; I like to use any random material like a chunks of lumber as spacers, 1”-1.5” thick…

— lay one spacer on the tank bottom, another vertically against the already siliconed “up” baffle…

— place your glass “down” baffle in place against the spacers, tape in place to “up” baffle, align side to side…

— inject silicone along both vertical seams, wipe fillet, pull masking tape (if applicable)! — (No need to square this one, as your first baffle is already square, so you can just press this one against the spacer between the two baffles!)

— cure silicone for 7 days in a relatively temp/humidity controlled environment, then enjoy your sump!

Wow, you are the baffle authority I didn't know I needed. Great tips, appreciate the advice!

 

[willy00]

Lets call this perspective... unique.

I have a DIY sump. And what I've learned is that all of the sections are not really necessary. Mine is a 33 long with one baffle separating the return pump from the other equipment. I liked how it worked as it offered tremendous flexibility with equipment placement.

The down side is that sometimes you want to control the water's path through the sump. Personally I've always liked my water to flow through mechanical filtration first, then through the refugium and finally the skimmer before going into the return chamber.

With a wide open sump, you can't do this.

Please be careful of the "guidance" you get from your LFS. They're more interested in selling their inventory than in your success.

Yes exactly, they don't make any money from my DIY sump haha!

Do you think a filter sock in the same chamber as a refugium would work well? I'm also interested in refugium -> skimmer -> return

 

[Dom]

Yes exactly, they don't make any money from my DIY sump haha!

Do you think a filter sock in the same chamber as a refugium would work well? I'm also interested in refugium -> skimmer -> return

I've never seen a sump design where the filter sock is in the refugium. it may be too turbulent. I like flow through the refugium to be gentle and low flow.

 

[UncommonSense]

Yes exactly, they don't make any money from my DIY sump haha!

Do you think a filter sock in the same chamber as a refugium would work well? I'm also interested in refugium -> skimmer -> return

I’ve done this on sumps for my LFS! they’re working quite well, so far!

 

[willy00]

I’ve done this on sumps for my LFS! they’re working quite well, so far!

Do you happen to have a picture of the setup? Any special things you do to control flow or bubbles in the sump?

 

[D.WhiteShark]

Love my DIY sump. Set it up to take filter floss mat rather than socks so I can just put it out and replace it and not have to mess with cleaning socks. I made the second chamber for tumbling chaeto and a spacious section for dual returns and a UV pump. All glass.

 

[UncommonSense]

Do you happen to have a picture of the setup? Any special things you do to control flow or bubbles in the sump?

Here’s the build thread, actually!

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/lfs-sump-design-help-me-brainstorm.1118208/

Set it up to take filter floss mat rather than socks so I can just put it out and replace it and not have to mess with cleaning socks.

I’m planning on modifying the above sumps to also accept floss, the socks are just a pain, and water likes to channel around them instead of through them!

 

[D.WhiteShark]

I’m planning on modifying the above sumps to also accept floss, the socks are just a pain, and water likes to channel around them instead of through them!

It's just so much easer to pull the piece out, toss it and replace it with a clean one... and it's pretty cheap. Hardest part is cut to fit and that ain't that hard.

 

[Red_Beard]

love my diy sump. also for a 75, but mine is a 40B.
also +1 to @UncommonSense s baffle advice. all of it.
only 1 bubble trap before the return pump section. i do advise a return chamber at least to give you a good place for an ato sensor.

 

[fishface NJ]

I have a 40B aqueon tank. I purchased Fiji Cube baffle kit for the 40b. The acrylic baffles are shorter then the width of the tank. Therefore no worries about the baffles swelling. Here is a photo of the 40b from 2019. I am using the same 40b for my new build. I just adjusted one of the baffles to increase the refug size. The silicon held on well. Took me some time to remove the baffle.

Just sold a brand new/unboxed Trigger 36 Ruby sump. I preferred my 40b diy over the Trigger

 

[gkprevite]

Diys are the best. You can build it exactly as you want. I’ve always built my own. I use a glass tank and acrylic panels. I use acrylic glue on anything acrylic to acrylic and silicon the baffles and racks into the tanks