Need mechanical filtration ideas for a multi tank setup w/sump

[BadGaskets]

I'm in the planning process of setting up a multi tank setup, neutral pH. Mostly common medium sized community fish. Approx 300-400 gallons of water total. I have a small concrete floor fish room that will hold most of the tanks and a 120 tank in my living room.

I'm an avid DIY guy and being a cabinet maker I love making anything I can instead of buying it. I'm also a cheapass so there's that too.

My fish all eat like kings so I'm looking for ideas on how to make the most effective mechanical filtration that uses the flow from the drain line, while also making the cleaning process reasonable.

Anyone willing to share their mechanical filtration pics ? I'm looking for ideas that aren't off-the-shelf things like FX4's and such.

My sump will be a 50 gallon glass tank (36x18x20), but I also have two common 10-20 gallon acrylic dumps available to use perhaps as mechanical media holders like a glorified HOB filter.

Are filter socks a decent option? I've tried them in smaller systems and are a huge pain to clean out, maybe I was using something too fine.


The system will have:
120g display 48x24x24
80g 48x24x16
75g standard size
Probably also several 20-29 gallon tanks

 

[fishguy1978]

I have 8 29g aquariums on a rack that are all plumbed together. The top rack drains into the lower which then drains into a sump. The sump is a storage that from HD. I divided the sump with a scrap of acrylic. The catch side is full of scub pads from the dollar store. I have a thin piece of plexiglass from an old projecter TV that has 1/4in holes drilled in it. There is a piece of poret foam on top of that. The return side is a 100w DC pump.
I used a 3/4in drain for each tank and an 1 1/4in collector to the sump. I should have used 2 3/4in drains or 1in as the 3/4 doesn't flow enough.
The build starts a couple posts prior but here is what it looks like. Rack sump build

 

[BadGaskets]

Thank you for that, I'm looking over it now.