Sump Needed

Pickupman66

Pickupman66

New member
My My My how things work out. now that I actually have the tank in the house, and see how my budget works, im in need of a sump. Something in the nature of 75 gallons (yes, I did just sell one). I was thinking about getting one of the rubbermaid 100 gallon tubs. How has your experience been on those?

Anyway, If anyone has a sump or something that can be used as a sump for a good price, please let me know...

Or ill settle for a good idea of a cheap way to do it.

Im also thinking about using a swimming pool pump instead of buying one of the $500 darts.
 
petco is running the $1/gal sale so a 55gal would be $55 and if you are drilling anyway???

i have a 100gal rubbermaid. i like the fact i can not break it, but you can not glue or silicone anything. the plastic is impervious to all anhesives known to man. i can not speak for woman (my wife knows much more than do i) ....ask me about putting the 40breeder in the trunk at petco:(
 
Yea, I have seen that.. how does the 100 gal tub work for you? any microbubble issues? I do like the unbreakable aspect as it will be in the garage. how long are they going to have the sale? not sure when I will be back in the boro.
 
no microbubbles as long as i keep the return away from the skimmer. i saw a thread with someone using a 4"y as a bubble trap. I think it was AI-reefer on this forum. I also use mine as a frag tank. the powerheads must use magnets as the suction cups will not stick.
 
I would go with a 150 tank they are not much more and it is nice to have the more vol. you can use plastic to seperate the sections and not have bubbles.
 
+1 on what Wayne said... go with the 150 instead. I had a 100 and ended up switching to a 150 on my previous tank. Much better space to work with. Having all the space and volume was great.

Sump5-17-2009.jpg
 
OK cool. thanks so much for the photo. I have TSC very close. Where do you have your return pump? where does the water enter the basin? I will be doing 2 or 3 return pumps for redundancy and cost. all connected to a 2" supply line.

Looks like you have a tote in the middle with your skimmer. Im guessing the tank water goes into there, and exits where that blue basket is.

What are the dimensions of that tub?
 
I am not sure of the dimensions of the tub. Key to it was I bought a heavy duty one to support the skimmer solidly. I believe it was called a tough tote or something like it from Home Depot. The standard totes just did not have enough rigidity for my liking. Sadly I tossed it eventually after I broke down my tank.

This picture shows the in/out a little better. I made two returns from the tote with several elbows to easily control the height of the water in the tote for optimum skimmer operation. The return pump was initially two Quiet ones sitting inside the Rubbermaid. Eventually I switched to a large external plumbed directly via an upgraded 2" bulkhead.

Picture is actually of my initial 100 gallon Rubbermaid before I had it fully up and running.

150Sump.jpg
 
OK. sweet. I think I can can copy that and modify it a bit to handle the volume i will be moving with no bubbles. I was going to upgrade the drain anyways. how did you do the pipe thru the tote? im guessing the water in is the PVC on the left end with the holes in it...

i will likely build a table over it so I can use the top for a work bench and to hold the ATO container and a fuge at a later date.
going to try to build my own skimmer.. this is definately a tank on a budget.
 
Yes, Pipe on left in second pic is the drain in from the tank. I used 2 Uniseals to run the drain from the tote into the Rubbermaid. All the plumbing for those drains was just slip fit for easy adjustment. As seen in the first picture, I used a cheap basket to hold some cheato and had the tub drain into that. Never had an issue with micro bubbles as the return pumps were at least halfway on the other side of the Rubbermaid and drew from the bottom.
 
Completely my style! Cheap and effective! My wife is going to be shocked when I come home with it. "honey I found a sump!" LOL. ive dropped about $300 of my $1200 budget so far. I still need the following: Sump, Pump or two, Plumbing, Salt (gonna be a challenge as I cant DIY that) RO/DI filters for my system, 100-200lbs of rock, sand...

Im thinking I may come up a bit short when it comes to the rock.
 
I have a 100 gallon I will give you for 50.00 if you want it. I only used it when I flipped the tank to the new one... If you want it I am in La Vergne
 
yea, I used to live your way Reewick. I would love to get it, but dont know when I plan to be back in your area. Think is I can get one for $20 more at the local TSC. im only saving $10 by getting yours due to the gas to get there and back in the truck. I do appreciate the offer, and that would be a smoking deal if I still lived in the area.
 
yea man, Im def gonna do the DIY skimmer. I been deal hunting today. Found a used dart 1 yr old for $160 shipped and a complete 2 yo Dual 250 wt MH kit with bulbs for $100. bulbs are new. that or a 3x175wt vho kit im working on the price for.

DIY Rock huh? that sounds pretty interesting...
 
Makes it porous Once you soak it the salt melts leaving holes.... Only downside is you have to soak it until the Lime etc get out of it from what I've read anywhere from 4-6 weeks But im in no rush so I can have it soaking while I build my skimmer etc plus ya get the shapes ya want and thats really why I want to do it being cheap is also a plus :)
 
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