DIY - Projects & Ideas • First attempt diy sump

[raymond90]

Hi, im about to set up a 6x2x2' to move my african cichlids into and over the years of keeping fish I've been getting a bit fed up with my canister filters so I've decided i want to give a sump a go. Also the tank will be built in to the wall so it will be a big focal point of the living room so i want to get rid of the excess clutter in the the tank such as filter pipes and heaters etc.

This will be my first sump so i drew up a quick plan on paint and just want your opions (good or bad) of what I've come up with.



The sump tank will be a 3'l x12"w x 16"h. Just because i have 2 spare lying around to use. The blue lines are egg crate and the red line will be a drip tray over the bio balls.

I have already decided what overflow sytem im going to use so its just opions on the sump set up im looking for.

Thanks,
Raymond

[lilscoots]

seems ok, though the bio balls will be almost entirely submerged (defeating their purpose) as the water level in the first 3 chambers will be the height of the exit wall on the ceramic ring chamber. Also, I would put your coarse and filter wool together and get the mechanical filtration out of the way before entering the bio-balls and ceramic rings (personally I would not include bio-balls).

[raymond90]

Thanks for your input, just curious what reasons would you personally get rid of the bio balls? Just because with what I've drawn they would be pretty much submerged?

[lilscoots]

Essentially they do the same thing as ceramic rings

[raymond90]

Ah i see, i was just going to use them cause i have them in one of my filters already. I could Raise the walls of the drip tray a bit and lower the ceramaic ring walls so it they are not so submerged or i could just get rid of that section and just have one big section with the rings and spare alfagrog i have. Would you recomend putting in an air stone to help the bacteria grow in the ring/grog section?

[lilscoots]

I have at least 20 gallons of bio-balls that came with my tank (in a box in the basement), they take up too much room for me in the filter to be worth it.

You could add an airstone if you want, though as long as the water at the top of your tank isn't filmed over i.e. it's fairly turbulent, you'll get enough 02 exchange just from surface area and water movement, that you wouldn't need an air stone.

[raymond90]

Hmm i think i will get rid of that section, would keep it a bit quieter without the drip tray to.

[Rick_Lindsey]

Personally, I'd go simpler. You need a mechanical prefilter, you need a bio filter, you need space for your heater, and you need a return pump. It can be nice to submerge the water inlet as well to cut down on noise. Grab about 8 grains of salt since I haven't actually built this thing yet, but here's my planned approach for when I get there :


That's assuming I don't just go with a Poret foam divider

-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who notes that the thumbnail is clickable, and the drawing would not be to scale for a larger sump)

[lilscoots]

What Rick has is essentially what mine looks like with one additional baffle and aragonite bed to buffer the ph (7.6 out of tap to 8.2 in tank).

I'd post a pic of the actual one, but the silicone job I did was horrendous...functional but not pretty.