SUMP BUILDER

SUMP BUILDER
I am planning to build a nice size sump for my 90 gallon tank "hopefully 30 gallon + or - some" the reason I am posting dose anyone have a sweet Diy sump designs or build they would like to share the more insight the cooler I can do my build the healthier my tank will be. I was hoping to incorperate a RDSB"remote deep sand bed" , propgation area maybe like 3 to 5 gal (still on maybe list), FUGE is a must, skimmer zone and pump return zone. ATM i have been throwning around ideas in paint shop so if anyone has a really neat sump build thread POST! plz! I Cheap solutions would be sweet as well

letz just say those 2 tanks are 20 gallon and im now thinking an extra line linking the 2 20 gallons to keep the out area even I kind like this design if you can find the 2 tanks cheap It might be a cheap way of making a super sump w/o draining your bank

Not sure if you know about Melev's site but IMO it's a must stop before building a sump. I have designed many of them using some of his idea's. Have fun!! If you wind up wanting one made I can get some pretty good pricing on custom glass sumps http://www.melevsreef.com/allmysumps.html

I love melevs reef, we actually talked about his site at the meeting on friday. I might just see what kind of price i can get from you but ATM. I am looking forward to getting the satisfaction of doin my own DIY sump build. I want to see peoples plans to get a wide range of outlandish ideas for sumps :lol: my idea above is one of my favorite ideas if i can get the tanks for 1$ a gallon or trade... I am looking to find cheap materials I have been lookin at http://freckleface.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/acrylicsheet.html for buying the acrylic "Acrylic /Plexiglas Variety Box 10 Pounds $19.99 Sale Price ACVB SALE-SAVE BIG BUCKS NOW! This is a box of approximately 10 pounds of useable acrylic sheet cutoffs & drops. The box measures at least..... " that has me sold atm i figure get what i need for the 5 coners and buy this ....

Are you planning on putting both of these parts under the main tank? A normal 20 gallon is 24 inches long, two of those end to end uses 48 inches of length. I don't think you could fit these end to end under a 90. And this isn't including the pump between them. I hope I am missing something for you sake.

With that setup there is no need to put them end to end. The can go side by side. You would still need 24" front to back under the tank.

                                               
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A 90g is on 18" front to back. Two 15g tanks may fit depending on how tall the stand is. Also with the design above you won't want the DSB right after the skimmer. Water is moving too fast through there and will kick up sand. For a DSB to work properly you want a very small amount of flow going through the it. If you slow the water down through the skimmer area then your skimmer is not working at it's full capacity. BTW, that's a pretty good job for using paint!

good point my stand is only 47'' long 18'' deep so I will have to go with like two 15 gallon if i end up doing this setup, or one 20 and a 15 I was at some lFS and they had a setup simular next time im in sac i will get a snapshot

you might (depending on obstacles) be able to fit a 29 under there for the sump/fuge and a 5 gallon bucket for your DSB.

letz just say those 2 tanks are 20 gallon and im now thinking an extra line linking the 2 20 gallons to keep the out area even I kind like this design if you can find the 2 tanks cheap It might be a cheap way of making a super sump w/o draining your bank To be all on the same page, I am assuming the ovals are representing ball valves and/or unions? If I may make some suggestions: I would put your bubble trap (i.e. baffles) after the Protien Skimmer and in general right before your return pump area and just something to provide diffusion of the return water like a walled off return section filled with LR rubble and outflow ports on the bottom - see Melev's site for examples. I agree with Rob too much flow in this general section to have a DSB. Keep in mind that very last section is where you will see your evaporation level drop and where when your return pump shut off will cause your tank to rise compensating the volume of water between your siphon break and all that in the tube/piping. So size appropriately. Also, determine how much flow you want going through each side. I would say you'd want to have you're heaters down there as well and have that side have the majority of the flow with the skimmer. I don't know if I'd want a DSB to be in an area of the higher flow. I'd suggest paring it with the fuge one as your flow through that one might be greater. Are you currently experiencing high nitrates that would warrant a DSB? Personally, I'm intending on using a remote fed tubing reactor (if I end up needing one) like that which can be found under Dan's DIY pages. Also, I don't know how well your pump suction will work with two different tanks having two potentially different flow rates and potentially different water levels. I'm thinking over time if anything builds up in the pipes, the pump may find preference to pull from one over the other. Instead, I would suggest the similar concept but all in one tank. Believe me, I understand cheap but trying to keep it simpler will help with plumbing costs (unions and ball valves add up), in maintenance, and overall headaches. You might have both returns go to the skimmer side and simply tee off a section with a lower positioned ball/preferably gate valve to throttle flow to your fuge. You could try to place the fuge part higher than your other sump and have it flow into your sump. This would eliminiate the need to have your pump suction on two tanks. I've read about flooded tank rooms because of people throttling their overflows. Sooner or later a wayward snail or crab could easily cause your overflow to back up at the throttled valve and overflow your tank, drain your sump's last volume area, may dilute your tank if you have ATO, and possibly burn up your return pump and ATO pump. That's all for now. ;)

Due to size limits I believe I will try and fit the biggest tank under it but with plently of head room which I will prob be doin a 20gallon with a RDS bucket I think this will be alot cheaper to build. I think I will do a 1200 gph pump not sure... any one know what a good amount of flow for a 90 gallon is? Photobucket

OOPS the skimmer should be b4 the fuge I will be changing that

Looking good. Do you really have a seahorse that huge??? JK ;) Depending on how wide the sump is you could split the fuge so that part (read: most) of the water just flows past it. The way you have it shown all the water from your returns, through your sump will also flow through your fuge. Is that what you want? You generally need to split the sump inlet(s) one more time 1) sump, 2) RDSB, 3) fuge this way...

your right i prob will want to make it so that 1200 gph dosnt flow thru my furg i will look into that

just to play with ya and for my curiosity... what does "FURG" stand for. I've heard of Refugeium, or Fuge but not that. :D :D :D

LOL fuge furg same differance my brain is apple sauce lately

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