Hey all,
I got my first “big” tank, a 75 gallon with a 36x12x15 sump. The tank was used (Full with fish when I got it) and I decided to just trade the fish to the LFS and do some modifications to the tank.
It originally had a corner overflow with one single bulkhead draining through a soft line into the “sump” which was just an open 32 gallon tank.
Photos below:
This design scared the crap out of me because of a couple reasons.
1. The overflow will collect debris at the bottom and the water will probably become stagnant down there. I assume the bottom pane is tempered hence why it wasn’t bottom drilled.
2. It was one single bulkhead which can get clogged easily and ruin my floor.
3. One bulkhead will be very loud.
4. A totally open sump will fluctuate water level in the sump chamber and also be a lot of water volume lost before triggering an ATO.
So, I decided to get to work because this tank was so cheap and came with an OCTO 110SSS, Sicce Syncra 3.0, nice stand, 70 pounds of rock, and many other nice bits all for $400.
I went ahead and drilled a hole for the first time ever (hole is okay at best) to install a Fiji Cube 800GPH overflow box to create a herbie overflow. Also, I got baffles from Jax Racks on Ebay (for a 20 long) and installed them into the 36x12x15 sump. They fit just fine in the very odd sized tank. Also, I am awaiting a 1” bulkhead to fill the original overflow hole to create my return input into the tank.
My silicone work kinda sucks because I couldn’t get the sump out of the stand and it was my first time using silicone. I feel like I screwed up by not flipping the sump and having the overflow go in the opposite side and the return vice versa. But if it works, it’s no big deal to me. I used sch 40 PVC for all of it. Probably should have made some unions but I still have a lot of time to change things before the tank gets wet. I also used a 1” sch 80 gate valve on the main overflow from Fiji Cube. Seems to be fine and a good alternative to the Spears. ($50 more) The two pipes entering the sump are just placeholders for a moc up. I am cutting longer ones. I will not cement those in place so I can remove them. Doesn’t matter to me if they leak into the sump. Also, I still need to pipe clamp everything in place. It’s just zip tied for support currently. I am certain that zip ties will be fine but the sump area is already ugly enough.
I also made this interesting 1” square aluminum light mount to accept two Hydra 26HDs.
I will be painting the back of the tank black as well as the light mount when things get closer to the end.
My questions to all who have read this are:
- Is there any major screw ups you see?
- What should I change?
- Can you see any potential for issues down the line (other than no unions..)
- Should I just throw it all out and buy a CADE?
THANK YOU ALL!
Cheers from my Biocube:
I got my first “big” tank, a 75 gallon with a 36x12x15 sump. The tank was used (Full with fish when I got it) and I decided to just trade the fish to the LFS and do some modifications to the tank.
It originally had a corner overflow with one single bulkhead draining through a soft line into the “sump” which was just an open 32 gallon tank.
Photos below:
This design scared the crap out of me because of a couple reasons.
1. The overflow will collect debris at the bottom and the water will probably become stagnant down there. I assume the bottom pane is tempered hence why it wasn’t bottom drilled.
2. It was one single bulkhead which can get clogged easily and ruin my floor.
3. One bulkhead will be very loud.
4. A totally open sump will fluctuate water level in the sump chamber and also be a lot of water volume lost before triggering an ATO.
So, I decided to get to work because this tank was so cheap and came with an OCTO 110SSS, Sicce Syncra 3.0, nice stand, 70 pounds of rock, and many other nice bits all for $400.
I went ahead and drilled a hole for the first time ever (hole is okay at best) to install a Fiji Cube 800GPH overflow box to create a herbie overflow. Also, I got baffles from Jax Racks on Ebay (for a 20 long) and installed them into the 36x12x15 sump. They fit just fine in the very odd sized tank. Also, I am awaiting a 1” bulkhead to fill the original overflow hole to create my return input into the tank.
My silicone work kinda sucks because I couldn’t get the sump out of the stand and it was my first time using silicone. I feel like I screwed up by not flipping the sump and having the overflow go in the opposite side and the return vice versa. But if it works, it’s no big deal to me. I used sch 40 PVC for all of it. Probably should have made some unions but I still have a lot of time to change things before the tank gets wet. I also used a 1” sch 80 gate valve on the main overflow from Fiji Cube. Seems to be fine and a good alternative to the Spears. ($50 more) The two pipes entering the sump are just placeholders for a moc up. I am cutting longer ones. I will not cement those in place so I can remove them. Doesn’t matter to me if they leak into the sump. Also, I still need to pipe clamp everything in place. It’s just zip tied for support currently. I am certain that zip ties will be fine but the sump area is already ugly enough.
I also made this interesting 1” square aluminum light mount to accept two Hydra 26HDs.
I will be painting the back of the tank black as well as the light mount when things get closer to the end.
My questions to all who have read this are:
- Is there any major screw ups you see?
- What should I change?
- Can you see any potential for issues down the line (other than no unions..)
- Should I just throw it all out and buy a CADE?
THANK YOU ALL!
Cheers from my Biocube: