Setting up a sump and I'm not handy.

[Lrfox]

So I'm not there yet. I'm running two smaller, basic tanks (hob filters, easy fish, softies, etc), A) as a way to get back into the hobby after nearly 15 years, and B) as a way to get my girlfriend into it.

Mission accomplished on both counts. I'm hooked again, she loves it. We've got two small happy, healthy tanks.

Now, we are in the process of buying a home. We have a cool little 26 bow front upstairs and we are going to keep it as is. However we want to swap our 40g display downstairs with a 90 or 120g reef setup with good lighting, sump, skimmer, ato, fuge, the works. Looking to start with softies and LPS and work our way to SPS.

This is months off, but my big concern is the plumbing. To put it lightly, I have no idea what I'm doing. The sump setups I see look terrifyingly complex. My question is, is it all that hard to set one up? I'll be going for as little DIY as possible. I'll buy a drilled tank. I'd prefer to go to with a pre-fab sump/fuge. But from my understanding, the plumbing is up to the user. When I think about it I picture my beautiful new floors flooded with water.

Is there an "out of the box" option? Should I ask someone in my local club for help? Reassurance please? We are talking about months in advance, but I'm already planning.

 

[dt204]

For as little DIY as possible you can get a tank that is already setup with an overflow of some variety. A manufactured sump will make that part a breeze as well.
Eventually there will be plumbing to do. I hadn't done any before, but I found it to not be very difficult. Just takes a lot of pre-planning and dry fitting. I would suggest diving into a TON of reading about sumps and flow. Find examples.
You mentioned a local club. That's a great idea for some help. Talking firsthand with someone that has done it multiple times is priceless.
You could always hire a plumber, but that can be costly and a problem if someone goes wrong.

Good work getting the wife into it Your tank plan sounds great

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

 

[Sk8r]

a 'reef ready' tank and a 'durso kit' or the like will give you not much to do but stick pipes in the holes in the downflow and use a 'hose clamp' to secure the hoses to the appropriate pipe and then to your return pump. A hose clamp is a screwdriver operation. If you get stuck, photograph the pieces and ask us. I recall being a little baffled by the loose hardware at first myself, but it's really quite logical: water FALLS down one hole/hose via an intake pipe, then gets pumped back up to spit into the tank via the return hose and pipe. You shouldn't use glue: there could come a day you need to change out a bulkhead connector that's gotten seepy. Outside of that---it's actually a piece of cake.

But I also second the idea of joining a reef club. Refreshments, convivial talk with other reef geeks, frag swaps, and a supply of spare parts. Who else can you call late at night and howl 'I'm desperate for water! have you got any?'

 

[Lrfox]

Thanks! I'm googling "Durso" kits as we speak. I've been reading a lot about sump setups (mostly the DIY stuff which sounds great- custom setup- but I'd screw it up). I'm trying to start with a basic understanding first. I love the idea of the extra water volume, easy access, hidden equipment, place to keep naughty livestock, etc. I've just read horror stories about pump and ato failures causing horrific messes. I guess I'm being paranoid/ not trusting my own skills.

I've been getting more involved with my local club who are all great so far. I'm still not ready to call in the troops but we will see once we're moved into the new place.

 

[SFish]

It's really not that complicated to make a basic sump. Look at the tank in the middle.



All I did was silicone in 4 pices of glass that were cut by a glass shop. The first chamber is where the water enters from the over flow (the one on the left). That baffle sets the water height for the skimmer. The second chamber is the refugium. The 3 badfles after that are to get rid of bubbles (bubble trap) and the last section is the return. Give this a read.

http://gmacreef.com/reef-aquarium-sump-tank-design/