# DIY Sump ( Pic Heavy )



## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

So I decided it was time to re-design my sump system for my 220 gal. Mbuna tank. This has been a fun and challenging DIY being that it is my first time working with acrylic. I scouted CL until I found an old 40 gal. long tank that someone wanted to get rid of due to leaking. 
It is 48"x16"x12" with 3/8" glass, no center bracing to contend with. So after scraping and resealing this old tank I wanted a tower for my Bio Chamber and decided to try my hand with acrylic. I have found that clean cuts are the secret to acrylic, I used a 18v skill saw (man I need to get a table saw) with a carbide bit 5 3/8" blade with like 36 teeth which worked out well. Working with the water thin solvent known as Weld-On has been an experience as well, kind of an art to keep things clean. Ordered the weld-on from Eplastics.com, no one locally carries it. Anyway this was really designed in my head and altered on the fly as needed.
The Tank








Tank cleaned, resealed and painted








Acrylic Sheets 26" x 18" x 3/8"
A local shop let me dig through thier scraps and I found four sheets. FREE








This is the acrylic solvent and applicator
























I didn't even end up using the Weld-on 16, Too hard to control the flow from the tube. Weld-on 3 you use the needle applicator, much easier.
Sheets cut and clamped for welding.








Drilling acrylic with spade bit.








Basic Tower








Intake
















Drip plate.








Fitting the tank, the blue strips are the hangers Tower is simply suspended in tank and can also fit 55 gal. tank. Just lift it out and go.








Used egg crate lighting stuff to hold up Bio Media and for pads above drip plate. The egg crate can also be welded with the weld-on 3 I found out. See the bottom basket I made.
Time for testing.
























 Works Great.
Total Cost $87 ($45 Tank, $34 Weld-On, $3 spray paint, $5 Egg crate, plus some spare PVC fittings, and some FREE acrylic)
For media I will be using pot scrubbies from $ store and some ceramic rings I had laying around. Mechanical filtration using cut to fit floss pads from LFS and a foam filter between baffles but I haven't got that far yet. Powered by a Mag 12 pump.
Will update once installed.


----------



## Number6 (Mar 13, 2003)

I love the idea of an "insert" to a glass aquarium. 
Very useful ideas that you've built into this product. I've saved a few photos... might try my hand at something similar!


----------



## Gervahlt (Jun 25, 2009)

First off: very nice job!

It's amazing how close your finished product looks to a sump servicing some commercial fish racks I saw a couple of days ago. I was looking at some stock in PetSupermarket and noticed they were pulling all their saltwater stock and beginning a cycle on 6 of their tanks with freshwater. I took the opportunity to ask about their filtration system and the guy there pulled open the bottom panel.

The sump there had a tower insert in a 75L looking almost identical to yours with the exception that it was white instead of clear. Each sump serviced 6 75L tanks that were each divided into 3 sections.


----------



## mel_cp6 (Feb 3, 2009)

great job and great idea.
looks very professional.


----------



## mightyevil (Oct 23, 2008)

Very clean and pro looking! Good job on it Malawi! :thumb:


----------



## SPYYOPS (Jul 30, 2010)

Beautiful job! 

Two questions:

Are the two PVC inlets in the tower being fed by two separate overflows from your display tank?

Secondly, what's that vinyl tube I see running into the tower on the bottom three pictures?


----------



## Rick_Lindsey (Aug 26, 2002)

Cool! I was wondering about the pvc bits and the compartment they stick down into... presumably that's to reduce "waterfall noise", by having the output of the overflow underwater, yet still provide a wet/dry from the tower? I like it!

I've been planning to use a kitty-litter tub suspended in a similar fashion in a 10-gallon tank for my mini-sump, but now I wonder if there's a way to incorporate that design feature...

-Rick (the armchair aquarist)


----------



## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

SPYYOPS said:


> Beautiful job!
> 
> Two questions:
> 
> ...


Yes, it is fed by two drilled 1" corner overflows.

The vinyl tube you see is just a line from a test pump. Testing showed it can handle up to 1500 gph which is ideal since my pump on the main tank runs only about 1000gph


----------



## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

*Rick_Lindsey*
Yes, the first chamber allows water to enter underwater to reduce noise or allows me to use filter socks as an option.

you just need to create a water tight first chamber in the tub with plastic or plexi of some kind.


----------



## fishaddict09 (Jun 1, 2010)

wow, a beautiful functional piece of aquarium hardware, bravo !!!


----------



## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

Well, I finally got it installed and everything is working as planned. Access to my heater and pump has been greatly improved with the shorter tank. I also picked up a Fluval 405 on the cheap from CL ($55), guy had it for 4 months and couldn't get it to stop leaking. Luckily it was just a dry main seal, a little petroleum jelly and it's as good as new. I have to figure out how to add it since my BG is quite thick and the supplied hose hangers wont fit. Anyway this build has been a success and I think an automatic top off system is next. Here are some more pics.










































Anyone have any tips on an automatic top off system, this will be my first time. I watched some Utube vids and it seems pretty easy, one of my only concerns is the quality of the float switches and likelyhood of failure.


----------



## SPYYOPS (Jul 30, 2010)

Sump looks great! :thumb:

Here's a very simple ATO that I found a week or so ago:
http://www.ultimatereef.net/forums/show ... p?t=254985

I think I'm going to give it a try, should only cost a few dollars to make.

For the float switch, I'm looking at finding one with two running in parallel to reduce chance of failure and increase MTBF.


----------



## RDTigger (Jul 4, 2009)

That's friggin sweet... Looks like a professional job.

My hardware skills suk. Having a Mag 350, FX5 and Eheim 2260 collecting dust because I'm a wimp with plumbing hurts. How big of a tank would that work on?


----------



## zcfish (Jan 31, 2009)

Very fine acrylic work I wish I have the patient to do that. Here's a question. It seems that if the top area where your filters pads are is clogged water will spill on the floor. I see you have some holes on the right side you want to run a pipe there into the sump as an overflow. These filter pad clogs easily (that's a good thing. it means your filter is doing the job).

The whole thing of my setup is in the tank so no worry for water overflow.


----------



## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

RDTigger said:


> That's friggin sweet... Looks like a professional job.
> 
> My hardware skills suk. Having a Mag 350, FX5 and Eheim 2260 collecting dust because I'm a wimp with plumbing hurts. How big of a tank would that work on?


Thanks! Plumbing is easy, I play with it quite a bit and plan on removing the clear tubing in exchange for hard PVC plumbing. Whenever I get around to it. I'll be glad to take those off your hands and put em to good use LOL  . It is running on my 220gal Mbuna tank and can handle up to 1500gph but I'm only running 1000gph.


----------



## Malawi_Junkie (Nov 26, 2009)

zcfish said:


> Very fine acrylic work I wish I have the patient to do that. Here's a question. It seems that if the top area where your filters pads are is clogged water will spill on the floor. I see you have some holes on the right side you want to run a pipe there into the sump as an overflow. These filter pad clogs easily (that's a good thing. it means your filter is doing the job).
> 
> The whole thing of my setup is in the tank so no worry for water overflow.


Thank you! this was my first time working with acrylic. The acrylic solvent actually sets up quite fast didn't take all that long to build, it's all in the cuts and smooth edges. I would say 90% of the time it took was measuring and cutting the acrylic and only 10% welding and drying. I drilled those holes on the right hand side as a precaution in case clogging were to occur, and they can divert about 4-500 gph directly to the pump chamber. Where the water spills over the pad it actually only utilizes about 1/3 of the pad so I can spin the pad every week and rinse it bi-weekly just to be safe. I was considering putting the pad at an incline to utilize more of the pad but haven't decided yet. On my previous sump I had a direct flow over the pad and only had to rinse it like once every month or two and it never clogged, I don't believe I will have a problem because it would have to be completely clogged to overflow and I just don't see that happening even tho it is possible. I appreciate you recommendation and had already thought about adding a pipe but after testing decided it wasn't necessary. Time will tell right. :fish:


----------

