Hey buddy, where'dya get that sump?

[ruppel]

I'm in the dreaming/planning phase for a large reef tank (48x24x24 I think), and it seems like there is a paucity of commercially available sumps/refugia that are flexible or adequate for large systems. I'm assuming most people have made or had custom made sumps. I've made a few feeble attempts at working with acrylic, I don't think it's in me to make a large sump that I can trust.

So, I'd really appreciate if people could tell me how they arrived at the sump they have, both the design and the manufacture of it. I'd love to make it myself, but, as I said, elaborate acrylic work is beyond me. I'm looking for it to be a refugium and hold a skimmer.

Thanks.

 

[mattls]

I have an MRC Reefsump. Excellent sump. Has refugium in it also. They make 2 sizes. CHeck them out on there website. MRC makes quality products. Very well made sump.

 

[sjm817]

Use a glass aquarium and add baffles. Very easy to do. 20L, 30L, 40B make good sumps.

 

[Nano_reeflover]

I am going to use a rubbermaid container for the sump on my 75 gal. I dont know what size it'll be yet.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6812905#post6812905 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sjm817
Use a glass aquarium and add baffles. Very easy to do. 20L, 30L, 40B make good sumps.

This is what I did. Go to a glass shop and have them cut pieces of glass as the baffles, then get a tube of silicone at home depot and stick them in.

 

[SVTour]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6813146#post6813146 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by LobsterOfJustice
This is what I did. Go to a glass shop and have them cut pieces of glass as the baffles, then get a tube of silicone at home depot and stick them in.

Did this for my 90g sump...just make sure that glass is thick enough not to bow back in forth with the water flow.

I would also recommend getting the AGA silicon from a pet store over what is purchased at HD. The last time I used silicon from HD it turned yellow in the salt water. The extra 2 dollars in cost is worth it...

 

[aquaman67]

www.glasscages.com can make any acrylic sump design you want.

 

[ruppel]

When you got glass cut to install as baffles, do you have to take the tank into the glass shop for them to do precisely, or did you just measure and they cut.

 

[HippieSmell]

I got an acrylic tank and a tube of weld-on from glasscages to make my own sump with extruded acrylic for the baffles. All together it will cost me $140 for a 50 gal sump/fuge, so it's pretty cheap. You could do it with glass too, but it's just so easy to drill acrylic and less chance of it breaking down the road.

 

[nodoubt471]

when i got my 20L done they had me bring the tank to the shop just to be safe. i would def. reccommend going this route, it was soooo much cheaper than having one custom made or buying one premade.

 

[ruppel]

I admit the simplicity of siliconing glass baffles in is appealing to me, but I do like acrylic because it's so much more flexible. You can drill things into it without much fuss. I guess I'd be willing to install baffles and other modifications into an acrylic tank, just so long as the tank itself was already built and I didn't have to worry about my seams being waterproof.

I bought a sump on Ebay that turned out to be totally DIY--just sent the cut acrylic pieces and gave very poor instructions on putting it together. Damn thing leaked like a sieve. That's why I'm a little gunshy about building the tank part...

 

[So Cal shaggy]

DYI sumps are really easy I have built over a dozen for both myself and friends my current tank is 135 gal with a 60 gal sump which was an old 60 gal tank I had lying around I just cut some 1/2" plexiglass for baffels and siliconed them into place it took two days from start to finish

 

[Dubbin1]

This is what I made from a 40g. Took the measurements for the baffles into Lowes and they cut the glass for free. I have about 20 minutes in making this sump/fuge.

 

[jeffbrig]

DIY is great if a standard glass tank size works for you. I needed to maximize space in my stand, so I had a custom sump built by MRC. Going custom I was able to size it to take up every possible inch of space, getting maximum water volume, and I was able to specify the size for each compartment for the equipment I wanted to place there.

I DIY a lot of things, but containers that will hold large volumes of water just didn't seem like a good idea.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6813575#post6813575 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ruppel
When you got glass cut to install as baffles, do you have to take the tank into the glass shop for them to do precisely, or did you just measure and they cut.

I just measured and told them the dimenstions. My sump cost about $50 - $30 for the used tank, about $17 for the glass and about $3 for the silicone.

 

[barrysalt]

Have you checked out Melev'sreeef.com? He has many good ideas on this subject, including detailed plans. I went to a local plastic shop, had them cut me the pcs in exact size I needed. I bought their adhesive, which is a thin liquid that immediately bonds, custom made it all myself to fit exactly in space I had to maximize everything. Works like a charm, never leaked, never had a problem, saved quite a bit over buying a premade one. LOL....Barry

 

[integlikewhoa]

I had www.socalcreations.com make one for me. Very nice. Thye are local for me but they do ship.

 

[ruppel]

Thank you, everyone. That gives me a lot of choices, and a little more courage to try it myself.