Sumps, not always pretty

[SeymourDuncan]

In fact, today's build will be the trashiest of all. Literally.
I am taking 3 food safe trash cans and making them into a 3 chambered sump.
Why on earth would I go this route?
The tank it is going on is 125 gallons. The sump was installed previously and is a 29g that is too tall for these people to work in. So. I will be draining the 29, disassembling the aquarium on the stand itself because its too large to remove without dumping the display and I will be squirming the cans back into the stand where the tank was. This will be the cans to be turned into a sump

Here's my chicken scratch sketch

All the cans will be joined with uniseals and 1.5 inch unions to easily remove.
The return pump will most likely be on the Left but quite possibly on te far right with a long thick pipe to its intake ran at a down angle as to reduce the pumps wear.
I'm hoping to fit the skimmer in chamber 1 but it may have to be in 2. 3 will be the Evap zone and home of an ATO hopefully.
Time to drill!!

 

[redfishbluefish]

First off, I like your ingenuity. However……………..


I use to use a Tupperware to make my saltwater.







First off, the tub use to bulge when filled with water. I would imagine your trash bins will as well. The other thing that eventually happened, after maybe four years or so, is that the plastic got brittle and started to crack. I’m not saying this is something that will happen with your trash bins, but I’d be keeping an eye on the plastic “ageing” over time.

I’d be looking at smaller tanks….a couple ten or twenty gallon tanks…as a multi-tank sump.

 

[Jawbone flats]

+1 on this reply

First off, I like your ingenuity. However……………..


I use to use a Tupperware to make my saltwater.

First off, the tub use to bulge when filled with water. I would imagine your trash bins will as well. The other thing that eventually happened, after maybe four years or so, is that the plastic got brittle and started to crack. I’m not saying this is something that will happen with your trash bins, but I’d be keeping an eye on the plastic “ageing” over time.

I’d be looking at smaller tanks….a couple ten or twenty gallon tanks…as a multi-tank sump.

Props to you because YES this is an awesome DIY idea but keep it for Y not for someone else.. I do all kinds of diy stuff for me but when someone else asks me to do something I make sure its done so they don't have to be a DIY type of person. if they were then they probably would do it themselves anyway. If I built this for myself I would keep an eye on it for problems and be able to quickly overcome any obstacles.

 

[JPG@CFI]

Don't let a heater touch that plastic. You will need a shop vac and some fans to fix that! J

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ok, sorry i had a two day today. Meaning no sleep for 2 days. Family emergency That is finally sorted out.

Being a mindless zombie I decided to use this and it exploded, the heater melted it, and the uniseals melted like I'm kidding. I actually took every ounce of Advice.

Same design just glass and bulkheads!!!!!!!! Brainstorming after lunch tomorrow. Yipee

 

[Jawbone flats]

awesome cant wait to see the finished product...

I like glass sumps ( craigslist is my GoTo site) with acrylic parts inside for baffles and walls only because I can trim 1/16 of an inch of plastic real easy but glass is harder for me to trim down

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Glass shop right down the road precuts everything for me
He's going that route to ensure the glass is not tempered and can be drilled. Here is my last resort: sticking it in a 55g lol.
Not!!! But it is worth a pic in the mean time

That's actually another sump I'm making some day.

 

[Jawbone flats]

I was like NO WAY he did not do that... until I read the entire post

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Bwhahaha Im not gonna invest energy into posting without taking others wisdom into account. I got the drawings done up but not technical yet. I'll get those tonight then hopefull the glass sometime soon

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

I like it so far! LOL!

 

[that novice guy]

very nice deffinetly thinking outside the can

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Sorry about another delay! Haha glass is ordered and I should have it today or tomorrow since the glass shoppe is busy as crap repairing windows.

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Oh yeah...that also means we are doing this!! Woohoo

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Here are the 2x13 gallon cubes. Tomorrow I leak test and then drill the holes!
After that its time to baffle away!

 

[SeymourDuncan]

So the only thing I'm worried about is the flow rate through 2x 1 inch bulkheads.
The pump is roughly 1500gpg -head pressure.

I'm planning to have a diverter to blast the refugium which will be in the pump housing side.

Today i am leak testing the cubes and measuring out baffles etc. didn't want to order the baffles until the glass was assembled incase that 8th of an inch of play was undercut.

So far I'm beyond impressed

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Leak! Tiny pin hole. Time to mend its wound when it dries. The 2nd box came out perfect. Waitin for a day filled with water to see if it pops. Hopefully it doesn't since I set it on top of my tv

 

[redfishbluefish]

Looking good so far.


I would guesstimate that two, 1 inch connecting pipes are right around your flow rate. I would have preferred two, 1 ½ inches lines to be on the safe side.


What RTV silicone did you use to slap those panes together?

 

[SeymourDuncan]

I used the dap in the green tube with the fish. Never has failed me before.

I just glued and duct taped to hold it together. Now I'm razoring off te excess and plan ing the walls

 

[SeymourDuncan]

Ahhh, they look so nice and not scratched. Its a shame knowing I'm designing part of it to get disgusting!

 

[redfishbluefish]

I used the dap in the green tube with the fish.......

This is good to know. I didn’t know DAP made silicone for fish! According to the DAP website, this is available at my local HD, Lowes and Ace Hardware……I’ve never seen it in any of these stores, but next visit I’ll look a little harder.


DAP® All-Purpose 100% Silicone Adhesive Sealant

Thanks again for the tip.