Help with sump design

[Tampaman]

Use acrylic glue and then silicone, but definitely both. I feed my refugium off a split in the drain line. Keep in mind the length of many heaters, they can be long. The need for abubble trap for your skimmer cant be overstated. Have fun with how fuge lights can light up a sumps plexi, cool effects abound!

 

[Dan7575]

I made it and the files myself, used a laser to cut out acrylic and siliconed them into a 20 ga long tank from petco

Wow, that looks really cool, I have a bar to reach now

 

[Dan7575]

Dan, know that you can purchase the inside sump pieces from Jax Racks. They are the most reasonable I have come across so far.

I am in Australia so don't have the choice that you guys have.

Even though, as I have the capabilities to do a self build I figure I should, will also be a good way of learning.

 

[Dan7575]

Use acrylic glue and then silicone, but definitely both. I feed my refugium off a split in the drain line. Keep in mind the length of many heaters, they can be long. The need for abubble trap for your skimmer cant be overstated. Have fun with how fuge lights can light up a sumps plexi, cool effects abound!

Doesn't silcone have a problem adhering to acrylic?

 

[Dan7575]

I mentioned the design sketch above. Have a look at the first image in our sump design along with the other images in the build process. I've tried to be detailed to explain the choices that we made along the way. It might give you some ideas as well.

DIY evolving sump for large system

Our journey with a sump started years ago with a 20gal tall supporting a non-drilled 60gal display. That provided some interesting learning, so when we upgraded to a large system, we had a jumpstart on a design that would work for our new system. After a few months of reading & discussing with...

www.reef2reef.com

That is a pretty impressive build also! Wish I had the space to have it somewhere other than under the tank.

 

[ekopapers]

Doesn't silcone have a problem adhering to acrylic?

you wouldn't want to use silicone if it had to contain the pressure of the water (like the outside walls) but for the inner walls of a sump the silicone holds the inner acrylic walls to the outside glass walls wonderfully. I am not sure there is really another choice in that situation. There isn't enough pressure inside the sump to break the holds.

 

[Dan7575]

you wouldn't want to use silicone if it had to contain the pressure of the water (like the outside walls) but for the inner walls of a sump the silicone holds the inner acrylic walls to the outside glass walls wonderfully. I am not sure there is really another choice in that situation. There isn't enough pressure inside the sump to break the holds.

I would be making the whole thing from Acrylic, no glass involved.

 

[R.Weller]

That is a pretty impressive build also! Wish I had the space to have it somewhere other than under the tank.

Hopefully it gives you some ideas. We designed for many different filtration options but have since invested in biological. We use no disposable media (carborn, GFO or filter floss), & maintenance involves draining the skimmer cup every 4 - 5 days & scrapping the algae screen every 14 - 21 days. At this point, the system is filtering itself.

 

[Tampaman]

It is more for belt and suspenders. The plastic weld is great and very permanent. Its also easy to get an area that has a weak or thin bond. Plastics also will get brittle over time and your welds are at the stress points. A thick filet of cheap silicone around everything gives it some support. Detritus also locks into square corners with ease. With nice flow the rounded corners possibly collect less.
My 25 years old brittle wet/dry was premade by some company, used silicone and its still on a functioning tank now. Just a thought!

 

[ekopapers]

I would be making the whole thing from Acrylic, no glass involved.

Then yeah no silicone, I did it easy by getting the tank and then making the insides

 

[Dan7575]

Hi guys, finally got some time to put a couple of ideas together, what do you think?



I am going to upgrade my sump and will build myself, I have a CNC machine, tools and plenty of acrylic. I don’t have a great deal of room so will be trying to pack a few things in. I will also build a roll to roll filter that will go in the left compartment and the panel joining the filter and skimmer compartments will have bypass holes I just couldn’t be bothered to draw them all.
Display tank is 55g

 

[dmaister]

I made it and the files myself, used a laser to cut out acrylic and siliconed them into a 20 ga long tank from petco

I know this is almost a year old thread, but wanted to thank you for sharing. I wonder if there are other designs and/or a library of similar DIY laser/cnc sump (or media baskets, aio's, etc.). files? Might be good to start a library somewhere if folks are willing to share for those that may have access to maker labs (maybe there already is one - but searching thingiverse doesn't bring up a lot).

I did have a question. How did you bolt together the adjustable refugium plate? Did you find a vinyl bolt at a local hardware store?

I was similarly playing with creating a media basket for a Marineland 5 gallon portrait tank, to use as a coral QT with some better media (marine pure) and filter floss, vs. the included basket.

 

[ekopapers]

I know this is almost a year old thread, but wanted to thank you for sharing. I wonder if there are other designs and/or a library of similar DIY laser/cnc sump (or media baskets, aio's, etc.). files? Might be good to start a library somewhere if folks are willing to share for those that may have access to maker labs (maybe there already is one - but searching thingiverse doesn't bring up a lot).

I did have a question. How did you bolt together the adjustable refugium plate? Did you find a vinyl bolt at a local hardware store?

I was similarly playing with creating a media basket for a Marineland 5 gallon portrait tank, to use as a coral QT with some better media (marine pure) and filter floss, vs. the included basket.

sorry about the delayed response, real life has been hectic, I used these m6 nuts and i just made the size of the cutout the same size, they are a tight squeeze in and I just put a dash of super glue on it, then I just screw it to tighten loosen. somewhere I have files for a 30 gallon l as well as that is what my sump for my new build is

 

[dmaister]

Thanks Ekopapers! No problem. I figure we're all running busy on many fronts.

I was looking at the SVG in illustrator, and the dimensions "seem" to be bigger than would fit in a 20L (I tried to resize the artboard for one of the panels and it was bigger than a 12 x 12 plexi, which doesn't fit a 20L. I'm sure it's in the conversion from SVG to illustrator, and I don't have direct access to CorelDraw. What was the original plexi size you drew this for ( L x W in inches). Also, what thinkness did you use, 1/8 or 3/16 or 1/4?

Thanks!