Sumps for larger tanks

[Dejavu]

Well I have been planning my build for over a year now, gathering equipment and what not. I’m just short of finishing my planning for it. As soon as our house sells I will be ordering a 270 (72x36x24) to transfer my excising reef into. The last item that needs to be purchased besides the tanks is the sump. I would like something that is two foot wide due to the fact that I will be running an internal skimmer with a large footprint. My thoughts at first were to buy a 120 and built it myself. But now I’m wondering if it would be easier to just buy a rubbermade tub or go with an acrylic sump.

A) So my question is what are the pros and con of rubbermade tub as large sumps?
B) If I don’t uses a rubberamade should I go acrylic or glass?
C) Is 120 gal going to be larger enough?
D) Are their other opiontion that I should look into?

A few things that might help out. I do have the bits to drill glass and the tank will has it own equipment room. Pics always help.
Any input would be great.

 

[bbauer01]

In my 240 gallon project, I have purchased a 150 gallon rubbermaid trough for my sump. I am still working on the room the tank goes in, so I have yet to set it up. The sump layout and design is still being worked on, but so far I think that it is going to work well for what I want it for. It is certainly an inexpensive way to add water volume. It was only $119.

The only drawbacks that I see so far:

-wasted space... they are probably not the greatest use of space, especially if you are tight on space. A rectangular shape will give you more water volume in a smaller space. The Rubbermaids are oval and they are 'tapered' as they get higher, they get bigger. In my setup, this is not a concern

-Hard to put baffles in


The positives:
-Very rigid
-Plenty of flat space for drilling / placing bulkheads

 

[reefdna]

A group of us here in AZ wanted to try a large sump build with Acrylic. I used a design of MELEV's for a start and then made my own dimensions, sent them to a local acrylic place and they cut them all for me. It took us around 6 hours of work and this is the result. It has a center chamber for the return pump, an outside chamber for the filtration and an opposite chamber for refugium. The refugium and the filter chamber are fed via Gravity feed therefore limiting pumps etc.

Melev's original design I didn't want a eurobrace so I went with thicker acrylic.
http://www.melevsreef.com/acrylics/sumps/g/sump_model_g.html

Finished product

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Refugium side

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[mcliffy2]

PM sent.

 

[Jar*Head]

Very nice/clean design sump reefdna. Here is my sump soon to be use on my 600g setup. It is a very simple 84x20x20 with 36x20x20 compartment for remote deep sand bed. I should have gone a little deeper like 24". Don't know what i was thinking at the time.

Remote deep sand bed compartment

top view

equipment sump 84x22x6

 

[brucem]

I used a 180 non drilled tank for my sump and added baffles and I love it. I will try to post pics when I get home

 

[enemec1]

i use a rubbermaid 100 gallon as sump with about 100lbs of LR in it. plus a 70 gallon for a fuge remote deep dand bed and LR rubbel. much easer than glueing in baffels and much cheeper. I did not put any baffels in my sump my drain from the tank drains into a filter sock that is in a bucket with a bunch of holes to take care of micro bubles.

 

[rlxwcapt]

I use a rubbermaid 100 gallon. They are great to increase your volume. That is the only benefit that I see. The benefit of a tank sump is that you can make compartments to seperate. Refugium, skimmer, place for heaters, probe holders. The biggest benefit are the baffles for bubble traps. good luck with your sump.

 

[chrisqueenz]

I cant wait to see this thing up and running!

 

[kingsland]

I also use a 100 gallon rubbermaid sump. The water from the tanks and the skimmer go into a filter bags made from felt that hang from PVC frames. No baffles are used and the filter bags contain all of the bubbles. The rubbermaids make great sumps, with lots of room at a low cost. After having used one, I don't think I would consider anything else.

 

[Dejavu]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I am leaning towards an acrylic or glass sump. Cost will most likely be the determining factor. I would love to get more feed back and input.

 

[reefdna]

Jarhead- I am definitely going with a much larger sump for my next build but staying with the same design it has worked out very well. That refuge side you have is huge! Could you explain your shallow equipment sump and why you went with a 6" depth there?

Dejavu- The total cost for my build was around $300 including buying a router blade and a couple of hole saws. This sump was the first time I have ever tried to use acrylic and if I cna do it you can too. If you build your own you will end up on the other side wondering why the heck you ever even thought of paying someone else all that money to build it for you. Definitely use Melev's site if you choose to DIY.

Truthfully what it all comes down to for me is a sump is a simple place to scrub your water before you put it back into your tank. It doesn't need to be pretty and there is no need to spend a ton of money on all these fancy expensive sump you see advertised. Good luck and let us know what you do and why and post some pics especially if you build.


Oh yeah here is the sump for my 180 before I switched it out into my current set-up Same ASM G4 skimmer but in Target rubbermaid container.

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[Dejavu]

As soon as the house sells I will be starting the build. I plan on keeping everyone post. thanks for the input, i like cheap see how i already have $$$$$ into this.

 

[chrismhaase]

My 100 Gallon Sump

My 100 Gallon Sump

I have a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank and I would never use anything else ever again. I love the ability to get in and do work around it and not have to worry about tight quarters. I live in Florida so I don't have the luxury of a basement, so my sump is under my stairs that the tank backs up to. Here is a look at my setup. Click the red house to see even more.

Sump under stairs

Fuge sitting on top

Storage area for Chemicals

Area for electronics under the tank because there is no sump

Tank view from living room

 

[chrismhaase]

Another FL setup - Romeosdoom in wall setup

Another FL setup - Romeosdoom in wall setup

This is my buddy's tank I help setup. It is a 110 in wall and the fishroom is an extra bedroom.

Right after setup

Fish Tank room

Fuge on top of sump

Thread link http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1324926

 

[chrismhaase]

Another great reason to buy a Rubbermaid sump, IT ONLY COSTS $69 at Tractor Supply company or other "Feed Stores"

 

[180large]

yup rubbermaid the way to go !!!! Plenty of room for heaters,skimmer,bubble trap and live rock. Plus can do water changes without shutting down the system.

 

[OnlyCrimson]

Usually if the skimmer is high enough in a rubbermaid you don't even need anything to stop bubbles.

 

[reefdna]

chris- I like the select3 IV tubing mod you did on your top-off. That's veryingenius.

 

[chrismhaase]

I can't take credit for that, that is a Kent product. It is their 5 gallon drip systems. But I like it for a slow constant drip for Kalk and top off. The kalk helps me keep my Ph in a higher range.