First try at DIY sum

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Being new to reefing and loving DIY projects of any kind, it seemed natural to take on the troublesome task of building a sump for an old cube tank that I converted to a reef system. Starting from scratch, here are two 20 g tanks undergoing leak testing on my kitchen floor... one destined for a QT tank, the other for the sump. One of the few good things about being the gal of the house is I can’t get mad at myself for messing up the kitchen, living room, or anything else when I’m working on reef stuff.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Believe it or not, the mat that I am cutting to use under the tank is a horse stall mat. Perfect weight distribution, durability, inexpensive, and waterproof... what else do you need?



That’s Callie... she’s always helping.
The stand for the sump is re-purposed from an old modular entertainment system. No worries on the strength of the stand as the spindles are metal rods that screw together, and then the rods are covered by decorative wood.

Here’s the stand beside the cube. There was no room under the stand for a sump, unless I made a tiny one. Dimensions under the cube’s stand are 18” by 20”, but the hole in the back of the stand and the doorframe do not accommodate much in the way of access underneath. Yes, it’s close to the window, but except when I’m messing around with this project, the black-out curtains are always drawn.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Here’s the mat under the sump. The horse stall mat is rubberized, sturdy, easy to cut to size, and only cost a few dollars for a 24” by 36” chunk.

The sump is inset into the bay window that we never use. I will enclose the sump shelf, put a little decorative material and a plant on top, and no one will know it holds the sump unless I show it off. (Hint for males - if you can talk her into a way to hide the equipment, she won’t complain... at least, she won’t complain much. Consider my ATO water storage... it’s just a 5 gal bucket inside an ottoman with holes drilled for the tubes. When the top is closed and the ottoman is pushed back against the tank, you don’t even notice it.)

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

This weekend, the plumbing plan takes shape. A tank with water already in it could be a problem for some, but it really isn’t a problem for me. Anything is an improvement from what I have currently. The tank has a HOB filter and fuge, and an in-tank mini skimmer, so building the sump and moving the skimmer and fuge down into it will save me a ton of space in the DT. I’m used to HOB equipment being in the way, so having an overflow hanging on isn’t going to bother me.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Ok. This past weekend was planning out the sump... plumbing, dividers, bubble trap, and implementation needed to be figured out prior to making a mess. (I do that well.)
I’m a 3D type of person. Sure, I sketched out an idea, but I need to measure, fit, and trim time and time again to get anything close to correct.
So, I laid out parts and supplies and went to work.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

I re-use... a lot! Even though I could just buy whatever I need, I just can’t justify buying something when I can modify and use what I have on hand. So, I needed a HOB overflow... something with a pump to pull water up and over. Hmmm... and I wanted a plan in place so that if my idea had a problem, I wouldn’t have a mess of water dumping out on the floor. Don’t laugh. It’s an old hang on filter that I drilled a hole in and used a uniseal to put a small piece of PVC in it.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Here’s a quick look at it just hanging on the outside of the tank with a piece of PVC and an elbow on it.

Add another piece of PVC, a union for ease of fixing problems later, a barbed fitting, braided vinyl tube, and a gate valve, and the to-the-sump leg of plumbing is well underway.

It may not be pretty, but it works and has been leak tested.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Now for the sump itself. I tried a few ideas out with cardboard first.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

My sump path is U-shaped since the sump is off to the side of the stand.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Once I had a plan, it was time to cut and drill. Scoring and snapping the acrylic is easy. I was a little nervous but it went well. Th3 drilling is where it all went south. I started with a cordless that was taking forever, tore the acrylic instead of cutting it, and kept dying, so down to the hardware store I went and came back with a corded one. Should have done that in the beginning! So much quicker and cleaner.
Made my filter sock holder out of corrugated plastic, the other dividers and such are cheap acrylic.
Here’s where it stands as I let the silicone dry.

The frog tape roll is holding up the piece of acrylic off of the tank bottom while it sets.
I still have more to do!

 

[don_chuwish]

About that DIY HOB overflow - you are planning to use the internal HOB pump to move the water out of the tank? Then a return pump in the sump, right? I hope not. It's a recipe for a flood. The two pumps will never match flow exactly. Either you'll overflow the tank or the tank water level will drop below what the HOB can pull out.

 

[Erica-Renee]

I re-use... a lot! Even though I could just buy whatever I need, I just can’t justify buying something when I can modify and use what I have on hand. So, I needed a HOB overflow... something with a pump to pull water up and over. Hmmm... and I wanted a plan in place so that if my idea had a problem, I wouldn’t have a mess of water dumping out on the floor. Don’t laugh. It’s an old hang on filter that I drilled a hole in and used a uniseal to put a small piece of PVC in it.

Are you going to use a U PIPE to get the water siphoning into the that box , Then drain down to the sump. If so you will will need a internal box/weir to regulate it..

If i am missing something please explain if not then you should really think a bit more about how the Overflow ,Weir and Return pump all work together..

Pump in sump pushes water up into the tank. The tank over flows across a wear at the top most highest level . that water flows back to the tank from behind the weir.. Pumping water up into the tank will not over flow into that back..

Sorry if I am missing something.

 

[Scotty Buttons]

Looks pretty nice, thanks for sharing! I like how you hid your ATO reservoir.

 

[fish farmer]

About that DIY HOB overflow - you are planning to use the internal HOB pump to move the water out of the tank? Then a return pump in the sump, right? I hope not. It's a recipe for a flood. The two pumps will never match flow exactly. Either you'll overflow the tank or the tank water level will drop below what the HOB can pull out.

I'm concerned with that design as well, since I've done it before. I made a overflow much like yours out of an ancient aquaclear filter and used a powerhead to feed it. It wasn't matching the return flow so I added a float switch into the system, actually I think I had a float switch in the sump and the overflow.

I eventually bought a CPR hang on overflow box.

You could design the HOB with siphon tubes, old school trickle filters had overflow boxes that ran just with siphon tubes.

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

About that DIY HOB overflow - you are planning to use the internal HOB pump to move the water out of the tank? Then a return pump in the sump, right? I hope not. It's a recipe for a flood. The two pumps will never match flow exactly. Either you'll overflow the tank or the tank water level will drop below what the HOB can pull out.

I'm still pretty new at this... So I appreciate the info as I don't know exactly how many problems I am asking for by trying the DIY route. I'm planning on using the gate valve to regulate the flow down to the sump from the old HOB filter. I know it will be difficult to 'dial in' both the gate valve and the return pump. I have redundant cut-off float switches for both tank and sump tied into the system, so hopefully that will stop any overflow problems.
But any info or ideas are welcome. The only way we learn is to either 'just do it and see what happens' or have someone say 'did that - it didn't work".

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

I'm concerned with that design as well, since I've done it before. I made a overflow much like yours out of an ancient aquaclear filter and used a powerhead to feed it. It wasn't matching the return flow so I added a float switch into the system, actually I think I had a float switch in the sump and the overflow.

I eventually bought a CPR hang on overflow box.

You could design the HOB with siphon tubes, old school trickle filters had overflow boxes that ran just with siphon tubes.

I'm going to try my best to match the flow using a gate valve on the filter side and just try to tune-in the return pump to match. I have float switches for both tank and sump, so I'm hoping anything catastrophic can be avoided. But any ideas and info is always welcome. That's the reason I like R2R - you all will tell me when I'm just being foolish!!!

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

Are you going to use a U PIPE to get the water siphoning into the that box , Then drain down to the sump. If so you will will need a internal box/weir to regulate it..
If i am missing something please explain if not then you should really think a bit more about how the Overflow ,Weir and Return pump all work together..
Pump in sump pushes water up into the tank. The tank over flows across a wear at the top most highest level . that water flows back to the tank from behind the weir.. Pumping water up into the tank will not over flow into that back..
Sorry if I am missing something.

Erica-Renee, I guess I need to do a little more thinking on it all.... but that's why I like R2R - you all will help those of us crazy enough to do this!

 

[don_chuwish]

I eventually bought a CPR hang on overflow box.

DIY is fun, re-using stuff is extra fun. But as fish farmer eventually determined, sometimes it's just not worth it. You're so heavily invested in this design already though, you probably just need to go through with it and enjoy the process.
I know I'd have a hard time giving up on an idea like that.

 

[Erica-Renee]

Erica-Renee, I guess I need to do a little more thinking on it all.... but that's why I like R2R - you all will help those of us crazy enough to do this!

My Mind is on the cost of replacing those floors once they get soaked.. But hey if your close to me i can bid the job...

 

[Teri NewbieReefer]

My Mind is on the cost of replacing those floors once they get soaked.. But hey if your close to me i can bid the job...

Ha Ha… I'd gladly let a fellow reefer re-do the floors and let them make more money to spend on reefing, but
1.) They are fake (yeah, I know, it's still expensive to replace laminate)
2.) I'm on the farthest northwest corner of the continental US

No, all of you are right - I need to think and plan more, but that's why I'm posting - Those that have been along these paths before us can teach us newbies A LOT!!!!!