sump idea (please)

surgy

New member
i have a 36 gallon bow front currently running with a power filter (yuck). i want/need a sump. the problem is in my stand. and i really really really cant/dont want to replace my stand its really nice. the compartment under the tank has two doors going from the bottom of the tank to the floor. with two compartments sepperated by a load baring peice of wood. so i only have the space on one side or the other. currently i have two shelves on the right with all of my food/tests/other equiptment. and the left is empty except for the power stuff, coral life power center with day/night timer, and all the power cords to everything. each side is 12X12X30 inches. a pic at the bottom. i was thinking a 5.5 gallon glass tank from petco, but they are 16x8x10 inches 16 inches wide. i do know how to work with acrylic and i can build a sump if i have too, but i would prefer something store bought and worry free (of leaks) also that puts the top of my tank 60 inches from the floor........ any ideas or suggestions? and i have a 4 year old and a 1 year old so the sump has to be inside the stand

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Wow, you have less room than I do... I have 16x18x25. And then a hole in the back that's about 10" wide that I use for an HOB skimmer. I used Hefty containers inside of Hefty containers with overflows built in. I'm copying pictures now and I'll upload them in a few. I did find something at one point that may fit inside yours... A dog food container: the one I used was a Vittles Vault II and was 14x14. There may be another brand/kind which is 12x12. Otherwise, a trash can like the one in your photo may work for a start.

I went to Lowes' and looked around all their containers for what I'm using... And the Vittles Vault was at PetSmart
 
awesome

awesome

i guess i wasnt thinking outside the box enough...... so i can basicly use any nometallic water tight container? i just asumed the sterlite bins would be a big no no. and how many gallons should a sump for my setup hold?
 
So the first is my entire sump, one larger Hefty container with a small container from Wally World in the back for the skimmer. There is a specimen container off the inside of the front, but that's there to hold up the 'fuge container. The full siphon of my "herbie" overflow drains into the skimmer container which has herbied overflows into the big container which contains the return pump. The trickle drain of the "herbie" flows into the fuge which has pvc overflows to the skimmer container....

Maybe you can find containers which will do what you need...
 
i guess i wasnt thinking outside the box enough...... so i can basicly use any nometallic water tight container? i just asumed the sterlite bins would be a big no no. and how many gallons should a sump for my setup hold?

From what I understand the Sterilite/Rubbermaid/Hefty containers are fine. Look at the recycling number on the bottom. Those container have the same number as ketchup bottles, etc. They are the same material.

And also, from what I understand, the bigger your sump can be, the better. I may be wrong about that, though.
 
ok so tell me if im wrong. i need pvc (elbows and straight peices(half inch?)) to make a siphon tube to hang on back of tank and siphon into the sump. drill small hole about two gallons worth of water down the siphon tube on the dt side. and then i basicly need to build an exact copy of that tube without the anti siphon hole and hook it into a 160 gph powerhead in the sump. and run a 5 gallon ish 1 foot cubed sump...... with 2 gallons of water and a capacity of 160 gph? do i need to worry about baffles? can i then use inline reactors and heaters by just putting them in between the powerhead and the return pvc? should all my plumbing be 1/2 inch?
 
You should make or buy an overflow and probably at least a 400 gph return pump. I used 3/4" for my plumbing with my 55 gallon... How tall is your tank? I can take a picture of the one I built, or even send it to you if you want. I replaced the one I built with an eshopps overflow I got on ebay for $56.
 
the tank itself is 21" but the bottom of the stand is another 20" below that so i think ill need at least 4' head
 
yeah i thought about that but i cant think of a place i could put the sump that the kids couldnt get to
 
i think im going to sacrifice my comfy seat (recliner) to make room for a sump stand. and go with a 10 gallon sump. probably going to take me a few weeks....... but it should be fun.
 
i have been thinking and looking around. you guys gave me some great ideas. heres mine:

two small plastic trash cans connected with pvc pipe. one side will be for heater, overflow from tank, macro algae. other trashcan is return pump small skimmer, and on the return line mounted higher than the sump an inline phosphate reactor and then back to tank.
 
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