Cube sumps

[Hurdicuss]

I teeter-tottered back and forth on where to post this (general discussion vs DIY), but I decided to post here since I do not have a LED question (DIY forum is basically LED forum). That being said, I am about to plan a sump for my 24" cube tank and I am curious to see what others have done under their cubes. I have plenty of 1/4" acrylic for fabbing one, and have a few pieces rough cut, but I figured it would be worth the wait to inquire and see what responses await. So if you have pic(s) or descriptions of what you have done under your cube please share.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Niven]

Do you have the stand already? I set mine up on a stand with a footprint of 48" x 24". The side without the tank opens up to access the sump from the top. I can easily get to my skimmer and anything else in the sump. I made my stand a little short, so the side under the tank is a little difficult to get too, but I like it so far.
Gareth

 

[kgross]

Don't have any pics at the moment, but the sump I made for my oceanic 32 gallon cube, was a cube that just fit into the stand. It was divided into three sections. First close to in half front to back. With the front setup as my fuge. I then drilled holes in the acrylic to allow the water to flow into the back right of the sump for the return section. To seperate the skimmer/return I put a full baffle from the back to the other baffle. Skimmer set in the back left with the drain, skimmer overflowed into fuge, fuge flowed into return. This let me maximise the fuge size in my sump.

Kim

 

[Hurdicuss]

@ Niven: Yeah, stand is built just needs finishing touches. The pieces I rough cut are for a 18x18x16 sized sump with a little wiggle room. The tank will be 24x24x20. I am considering doing a build log, undecided...

@kgross: Your layout is similar to what I am planning; essentially dividing the footprint in half utilizing one full side as the fuge that would spill into the other side that will house a skimmer section with a pair of baffles leading to the return area. I am poking around to see what other clever people have come up with.

Thanks for the feedback. :thumbsup:

 

[05f150fx4]

have a 20h for under my 24" cube tank... nothing special, just has drain/skimmer area and return area. no pictures, sorry

 

[AugustWest]

I have a 24"x24"x16"H sump under my 70G cube. Here's a couple of pics

 

[Hurdicuss]

Nice set-up there August. Thanks for sharing.

 

[kgross]

@ Niven: Yeah, stand is built just needs finishing touches. The pieces I rough cut are for a 18x18x16 sized sump with a little wiggle room. The tank will be 24x24x20. I am considering doing a build log, undecided...

@kgross: Your layout is similar to what I am planning; essentially dividing the footprint in half utilizing one full side as the fuge that would spill into the other side that will house a skimmer section with a pair of baffles leading to the return area. I am poking around to see what other clever people have come up with.

Thanks for the feedback. :thumbsup:

One difference on mine, is skimmer first, then fuge, then return with no bubble trap between the fuge and return, the chaeto will trap all the bubbles so it is not needed.
Plus the fuge is actually part of the return section (water volume wise), so I did not have to do an ATO on the tank. If you go with a small return you will need an ATO, if you do a perferated baffle to just hold the algea out of the return area, your return can be very small and you will still have evap room and drainback room.

 

[NaH2Ofreak]

This pic is from the back of the stand.

Dennis

 

[Fish4Me2]

For the last year, I've had my livestock in a 24" cube. I bought the cube/stand/sump used, and the sump is nothing more than a single 18"x24" tank. There are no baffles, but I just set my ATO to keep the water height consistent, and I've had no issues at all. Skimmer still picks up LOTS of gunk, filter sock still captures a decent amount of particulate matter, and everything else has actually worked quite well. The simple approach has actually worked, go figure!