My diy 55 gallon sump, any advice welcome good or bad

[jeffrey750750]

I started with a new glass 55 gallon, orange and clear 1/4" acrylic sheets. The water first goes into tube, first bubble trap. Then into 2-4" filter socks then to more bubble traps. Next is skimmer section into refugium then last bubble trap and 2" foam block section then to return pump.
Its all dry fit right now in case I need to change anything. I did use thick acrylic and I know glass would have been better but I wanted orange like all those cool sumps. I encourage any feedback as I don't want to do this twice

 

[jeffrey750750]

The refugium is 12"x13"x9"deep

 

[jeffrey750750]

Anybody?

 

[burnetb1]

That's a lot of bubble traps...
I personally would remove all that. Keep the tube style ones before the filter socks, just for noise control. If you really don't like any bubbles in the display tank then have a bubble trap before the return.
I used glass baffles from a hex tank to make my baffles. I only say that cause the edge that the water flows over was nice and chamfered so the water smoothly flowed over. I would have some bubbles, but they stayed right next to the baffle in the return chamber and never got sucked into the pumps. If you can put a nice clean rounded edge on your baffle before the return I think you can reduce a lot of bubbles that way.
I don't really like bubble traps. I feel that you lose space for little gain, but then again I don't mind if my display tank isn't crystal clear.

 

[burnetb1]

Another thought. Silicone doesn't bond to acrylic, so you need to have a bead on each side of the baffles. That will be difficult to do in those bubble traps.

 

[delv2323]

It looks fine to me. I bit complicated but if you like it go for it. You can easily cut out a baffle later on. Good job!

 

[jeffrey750750]

Well I waited 2 days and no responses, I built it. Everything seems pretty tight, I got as much silicone as possible on it. I used aqueon silicone. I hope it holds
I got mixed reviews on plastic and glass together. Some say it will hold and others say it won't, fingers crossed. It'll be weeks before it see's any water due to my 150 came in chipped. Waiting for another is going to be so hard. I'm almost thinking to switch to a 180, I might be able to get it faster. I find out tomorrow

 

[jeffrey750750]

well its official, my 180 will come in Tuesday. I'm beyond excited

 

[piranhaman00]

Nice, too late but a 55 sump is no Bueno, only 12" wide leaves little options for protein skimmer, especially one needed for 180. Good luck with the new tank!

 

[DaneGer21]

wish I had seen this sooner, my first ever sump was a 55gal, honestly, what a pain. It was to y’all and to narrow to put certain equipment and/or work in it.

Looks good though!

 

[jeffrey750750]

I pre fit the skimmer and return pump with ease. Down the road if I make changes I can see where ill kick myself. I appreciate all the good lucks, I'm so excited i got the stand today

 

[Roy Arena]

You did a great job on the sump. Something you need to consider on the new 180 tank is the amount which it will drain back. When the return pump is off you will have quite a bit of water draining back into the sump. You will need to calculate it an see if your sump can handle this extra water.

 

[jeffrey750750]

You did a great job on the sump. Something you need to consider on the new 180 tank is the amount which it will drain back. When the return pump is off you will have quite a bit of water draining back into the sump. You will need to calculate it an see if your sump can handle this extra water.

That freaks me out a little, I'm hoping for the best. I do have a number of inches from what should be the top water line in the sump. I know on my 60cube it raises the sump level about 3 to 4 inches. Any way I can really test that? As I'm laughing

 

[Roy Arena]

There is a sump volume calculator which uses the display dimensions to determine sump volume you will need.

 

[jeffrey750750]

There is a sump volume calculator which uses the display dimensions to determine sump volume you will need.

I will look into that, sounds like a brs goody

 

[skyrne_isk]

I will look into that, sounds like a brs goody

The concept is you want the return pipe as high in the display as possible, and likely a hole in the return line just below the waterline. On the acrylic/glass issue, you should be fine so long as you were liberal in the silicone application. I agree that silicone on the bearing edge of the baffles won't lend itself to much adhesion to the glass, but building the material onto the side of the baffle 1/4 - 3/8" leaves you with a pretty strong bond. I siliconed some acrylic baffles into a 40B a couple years ago and went to remove a baffle - there was no budge.

 

[jeffrey750750]

Here it is in the stand, tank should be in Tuesday or Wednesday

 

[Captain Hook]

You ever get this up and running? Great lookin sump