# DIY sump built into the back of a tank - seen this design?



## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

Have you guys seen this before? A friend in Calcutta who builds Marine systems had this in his living room, I thought it's pretty brilliant. Just an overflow leading to a wet-dry trickle with 3-4 chambers and a return pump at the end. Seems like a great idea if you don't have space for a sump but want one on a custom setup.


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## ranchialex (Dec 4, 2011)

The main tank chamber has a background on it to hide what's going on in the back.


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## dsouthworth (Sep 7, 2011)

Just like a bio-cube. It's not like it hasn't been done. but it would take up (let's saw) 8 inches of the tank. I'd rather use that space and just go with a normal sump.

Great idea if you have a very deep tank!


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## newforestrob (Feb 1, 2010)

I like this,as I like to stack tanks :thumb:


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

I've seen similar using a 3d background and stuffing behind it with media.


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## suds1421 (Jan 4, 2011)

Another advantage of this approach is you should need a smaller pump with less head loss since you aren't pumping from the ground...


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## S14Swap240sx (Jan 3, 2011)

dsouthworth said:


> Just like a bio-cube. It's not like it hasn't been done. but it would take up (let's saw) 8 inches of the tank. I'd rather use that space and just go with a normal sump.
> 
> Great idea if you have a very deep tank!


yeah id agree here.. seems like the biocubes really suffer in the sense that my 14 filled up with like 8 gallons of water.. with a small bed of sand and like 10pounds of rock... didnt think the rocks would displace that much water!


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## 748johnd (Jun 30, 2007)

There are some manufacturers of acrylic tanks that do that. I almost bought one, but decided against it for two reasons. If you buy a 75-gallon tank you actually only end up with about 55 gallons because of the space the built in filter takes up. If the tank sits against a wall it is probably hard to clean the filter area. Those are the reasons I decided against such a tank.


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

I have plans to build a large plywood tank in my basement, and thats exactly what I'm going to do. Small pump, no drilled holes or bulkheads to worry about, no overflows or standpipes required, superquiet like a canister, with all the advantages of a sump, and none of the disadvantages.

The tank would be 8'x4'x2', and I'd use the back 12" as a sump primarily using Poret foam as media, and whatever else I could think of to stick back there. 8x3x2 is still a respectable large tank footprint . And I plan to only silicone in the divider so that if I ever wanted to go with a traditional sump and open the footprint up to 8x4, I could


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## kodyboy (Dec 9, 2007)

A long time ago people used to do this with air pumps instead of powerheads. They worked very well.


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