Indy_Reef
New Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2018
- Messages
- 1
- Reaction score
- 1
- What state or country do you live in
- Indiana
For my 40 gallon breeder build I decided to build my own sump. I couldn’t find anything set up the way I wanted so I made my own!
Layout
The 1/4” acrylic I bought off of Amazon, but it probably would have been a little cheaper to get 4x8 sheets from a local acrylic supplier. I already have a bunch of woodworking tools, so the only tool I really needed was a special plastics blade for my table saw. If you’re planning on trying this, make sure to get cast acrylic and not extruded. Extruded doesn’t machine or glue as well. It has a tendency to kind of melt in both scenarios.
Design
As far as the design goes, I downloaded the free/community edition of Fusion CAD. They have an AI agent now. So with a lot of work and a ton of patience, it allowed me to design my sump. I already owned VCarve for woodworking. So when the CAD design was done I was able to export the drawings that needed CNC work and import them into VCarve.
Assembly
This was the most challenging part. It was my first time working with acrylic this way, so the learning curve was pretty steep. I watched a bunch of YouTube and read about the process online. For acrylic builds like this, most people use Weld-On 3 or similar acrylic cements. It’s water consistency. I did apply some Weld-On 16 in some places that needed it, which is more like model plastic glue consistency. There was a small leak between the ATO and the return chamber that I fixed with a small piece of acrylic and the Weld-On 16. For the next build I’m definitively going to build some jigs to help keep everything properly aligned. Also, probably should have cut the pieces a tad too large and routed them down like YouTube videos suggested. The cuts from the plastic blade were very good, but I wonder if they could have been better.
Videos that helped
https://youtu.be/P9owWrlK-hc
https://youtu.be/rho_cQXD7yA
It’s working well so far! I will definitely do this again. Also tempted to try a tank now. Happy reefing!
Layout
- Left drain w/filter cups
- Skimmer(adjustable level)
- Refugium(adjustable level)
- Return
- ATO
The 1/4” acrylic I bought off of Amazon, but it probably would have been a little cheaper to get 4x8 sheets from a local acrylic supplier. I already have a bunch of woodworking tools, so the only tool I really needed was a special plastics blade for my table saw. If you’re planning on trying this, make sure to get cast acrylic and not extruded. Extruded doesn’t machine or glue as well. It has a tendency to kind of melt in both scenarios.
Design
As far as the design goes, I downloaded the free/community edition of Fusion CAD. They have an AI agent now. So with a lot of work and a ton of patience, it allowed me to design my sump. I already owned VCarve for woodworking. So when the CAD design was done I was able to export the drawings that needed CNC work and import them into VCarve.
Assembly
This was the most challenging part. It was my first time working with acrylic this way, so the learning curve was pretty steep. I watched a bunch of YouTube and read about the process online. For acrylic builds like this, most people use Weld-On 3 or similar acrylic cements. It’s water consistency. I did apply some Weld-On 16 in some places that needed it, which is more like model plastic glue consistency. There was a small leak between the ATO and the return chamber that I fixed with a small piece of acrylic and the Weld-On 16. For the next build I’m definitively going to build some jigs to help keep everything properly aligned. Also, probably should have cut the pieces a tad too large and routed them down like YouTube videos suggested. The cuts from the plastic blade were very good, but I wonder if they could have been better.
Videos that helped
https://youtu.be/P9owWrlK-hc
https://youtu.be/rho_cQXD7yA
It’s working well so far! I will definitely do this again. Also tempted to try a tank now. Happy reefing!
