Hey all. I need a sump for my new setup (55g), I was wondering if it would b better to buy a factory one, or should I try to build one with the 30g I have in my shed, i'm not using it for anything so. Have any of u built one? Not sure if it would b more cause effective to build one.
sump help
- Thread starter take2
- Start date
tigger2577
New member
I use a 20L for my sump on my 55g, The 20L fits under my stand perfectly and I even have room for a ATO bucket.
Just make sure your 30g will fit under your stand if you plan on keeping it there.
Just make sure your 30g will fit under your stand if you plan on keeping it there.
snake1
Premium Member
You were just looking at my build page the sump I used is a 40 breeder and I had a local glass company cut me the ¼" glass for the baffles and I just siliconed them in where I wanted ....so I have a sock and skimmmer compartment and a refuigum compartment and then the final after the bubble trap is the return compartment and ato level compartment...
snake1
Premium Member
I have made a few different acrylic sumps but really in the end the cost is way more with acrylic and cleaning them is not as easy as just scraping glass.....if you already have a tank that works and it looks like the seems are still good or its not to old just measure the inside from side to side and think how high you want your water level to be for the skimmer and refuge if you are making one and then account for when the power goes out that the water won't overflow in your house ....I built my sump for $80.00 the 40 breeder was $40.00 Petco dollar a gallon sale and the 4 cut baffles were $38.00 and then silicone....
zeminabr
New member
Trust me, there are thousands of articles out there about building your own sump. I got a 55 for my 150 at the dollar/gallon sale and bought 1/8" glass at home depot and used the non-microbial silicon. All fairly straight forward. I definitely suggest going that route. Plus, who doesn't like to stand back and say "yeah, I built that"!
snake1
Premium Member
If you need help I can give you the heights of my baffles and sump height to give you an idea of how its built and I just spread the baffles for the bubble trap an inch apart and used Styrofoam as a spacer on the bottom and in between the glass pieces and then use a plastic framing squares and some blue painters tape to hold everything level and square .....also if you have a skimmer in mind or already have it use that to dry fit everything to make measurements
thank you snake um I actually found a few articles online and some videos to on youtube and I got a pretty good idea I hope of how to the how to build it of the only thing that I need to figure out now is the size off the top the return of that I'm going to use and the um the protein skimmer so was I figure that out I'll be able to know the size of my compartments. by the way I'm sorry about the spelling I'm actually driving in my car doing speech to text and obviously didn't do very well lol
