does anyone build sumps?

[turboex901]

hey guys, as the title says does anyone build sumps from glass aquariums in the club? im looking to replicate a miracle mud refugium out of say a 40 gallon long. im willing to pay with pizza and beer or of monetary value, whichever you choose im looking to do this within the next few weeks if possible. thanks everyone!

also many of you dont know me, im a former member of the west tn. club and have silently browsed the forum for quite awhile while living in memphis and have now moved back to nashville. me and my wife couldnt be happier in this beautiful city i need to pay dues and become a member asap! hope to meet most of you in the near future! <~~~steve (im what.....the third or fourth steve here?!?!?! )

 

[turboex901]

edit: we just paid our dues. were looking forward to becoming part of the mtrc family. see ya guys <~~~steve

 

[gflat65]

Hey Steve,

Welcome to MTRC. I wish I could help on the sump. I have built mine, but I don't know that Id rank mine up there with any of the nicer ones. They function, but...

 

[Pickupman66]

Steve, i had Glass cages build mine. they will accept a custom design. I could do it for you, but I dont have the tools for cutting the acrylic baffles.

 

[ocd_mariner]

As did I. Mine was a bit too custom for them, so I just got the acrylic tank and had them cut acrylic pieces. But be warned, there are some issues with precut pieces and glasscages tanks, its best if they put it all together in one piece.

 

[turboex901]

sounds good guys, and gary....im not looking for any sort of a beauty queen. as a matter of fact it could be so ugly it gave me goosebumps everytime i saw it. the only qualification that i would ask for in it is that itll hold water if anyones feelin froggy lemme know or else ill talk to glasscages. thanks guys!<~~~steve

 

[gflat65]

If you get a tank for the sump, I can help build it. I have a nice scroll saw for cutting th earylic (not as fast as a nice table saw, but we gotta have wants, huh). Aside from that, it's just a few tubes of silicone. Fishdoc made a really nice one with his table saw (cut teeth and all in his baffles). Mine are typically rectangular baffles that are just siliconed in place. Let me know and we can get a start on it.

 

[fishdoc11]

Here is the one I made out of an acrylic GC tank:

Bought the table saw to do it and still saved $ over getting one custom made. It's not perfect and ocd mariner makes a good point about the GC tanks not being exactly square and plumb etc...so you sort of have to adapt. Very nice of Gary to offer to help...he has all the tools you need

Good luck, Chris

 

[turboex901]

very impressive i must say chris. thats 500% nicer than what i would like. also gary, i am EXTREMELY appreciative of the offer and will def. take you up on the offer in say 2-3 weeks. pm me with how much youd like to make on the job. im not one to try to get free labor, although i would rather give my money to club members and local stores than to some big volume builder with a 300% markup. plus i like the satisfaction of a homebuilt job.

gary: are you familiar with the layout of the miracle mud systems/sumps? the idea of no skimmer to remove alot of the unforseen elemnets in the tank is very appealing to me. also i saw a club members mud system in memphis after being established for 4 years and it was amazing. his corals were beyond thriving.....they were monsterous and BRIGHT. everyone ive read about with the system is 150% pleased with it. the only downfall is the extreme price (800 dollars for an adequete setup for my system). also it needs to flow 1200 gph through the sump to be effective so im thinking i need around a 40 long aquarium for the sump to keep it manageable. the homemade aspect of it seems very appealing because if im not happy with the results ill have ALOT less invested into it then miracles "ready to run" system. what do you guys think?<~~~steve

 

[gflat65]

I am not familiar with mud sumps, but I'll check into them and get an idea fopr a path forward.

 

[turboex901]

hey gary, here is a picture. very simple in theory. let me know if you think its feasible.<~~~steve

 

[turboex901]

also im in the market for a cheap canopy, anyone have a 125 canopy laying around or can build for less than 100 bucks? just looking for something decent but no show piece again. i can buy a flashy canopy but i use the aga pine stand and am looking for something to match that reasonably. as you guys are begining to see i cannot do it myself very well. im a horrible carpenter thanks guys!<~~~steve