My 10g sump DIY

[Dana]

Ok so here's my build. I chose 10g because it's all I can fit. The dt is a 30g.
Tank was 10bux at petco, the glass baffles were 17 bux at local glass company. I grabbed ge silicone 1 for the job. I also got aqueon silicone, but I'm using the ge stuff instead.

The first part is the lower half of the drain baffle.

then the first piece of the bubble trap baffle.
I did a small bead to hold them in place. Once they're dried up a bit I'll go back over them to make sure they're watertight, I hope.

 

[Dana]

Heres a couple of pics of my homemade overflow box as well.

 

[Dana]

And the second baffle on bubble trap

 

[BeardedReefer]

Heres a couple of pics of my homemade overflow box as well.

 

[Dana]

Yeah they're vertical adjustment. The water inlets can be routed deeper. I've run it with a small pump and it works well. I've dumped pitchers full of water into the bucket while running it and it drained as fast as I could put water in. I have done about 5 hours of testing this unit and so far so good

 

[Dana]

If you notice I have the two height adjustment screws, then on the bottom I have the angle adjustment. Once the sump is done I will let the system run another test for a couple of days to make sure everything works correctly. The overflow retains siphon even if the pump is shut off. I may however, as a secondarily measure, look into a possible trip shutoff for the return pump, in the event the power goes out, the pump won't kick back on when power is restored, and can only be manually reset, if there is sucha thing.

 

[BeardedReefer]

If you notice I have the two height adjustment screws, then on the bottom I have the angle adjustment. Once the sump is done I will let the system run another test for a couple of days to make sure everything works correctly. The overflow retains siphon even if the pump is shut off. I may however, as a secondarily measure, look into a possible trip shutoff for the return pump, in the event the power goes out, the pump won't kick back on when power is restored, and can only be manually reset, if there is sucha thing.

Well looks great, good work on it. Have any pictures of it in the tank?

 

[Dana]

Well looks great, good work on it. Have any pictures of it in the tank?

Thanks!
Not yet. I did my testing with it hanging on a cooler draining into 5g bucket. I'll be sure to get vid once it's up and running in the tank. I only have my test video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hzO0TLq0dU&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[BeardedReefer]

Thanks!
Not yet. I did my testing with it hanging on a cooler draining into 5g bucket. I'll be sure to get vid once it's up and running in the tank. I only have my test video Home made overflow test 2 - YouTube

Back to the vertical adjustment, do you have enough adjustment in the screws to have your water level close to the top of the tank? it just looks to "me" that you will have an inch or two below the rim of your tank. Like i said just how it looks to me lol

 

[Dana]

i did test it hanging in the sump tank for a couple of hours. i had no problem adjusting it so the water level is right on top, with some adjustment upwards to spare, so not an issue

 

[BeardedReefer]

awesome, cant wait to see the finished product assembled!!!

 

[Dana]

awesome, cant wait to see the finished product assembled!!!

sweet man, me neither! no more canister filter for me!

 

[BeardedReefer]

lol, I was even running a sump on my freshwater just to keep things clean.

 

[Dana]

lol, I was even running a sump on my freshwater just to keep things clean.

dont give me any ideas… lol i have to many projects going on around here as it is….

 

[Dana]

Here's the last piece in the bubble trap.

 

[Dana]

And the top section of the drain baffle.

 

[Dana]

When I plumb the sump, the drain will use 1" PVC. What should I use for the return? 1/2" or 3/4"?

 

[Dana]

So I finished up with the tank for the sump. Everything leak tested fine, so I shot a quick video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7jNLVmKKBw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

[Dana]

If anyone cares lol

 

[BeardedReefer]

Looks great so far, if your still needing an answer to the plumbing, HERE is a great video demonstration of return vs drain line sizes.