Building a 30 Gal Sump

[dsteelman]

The second baffle is were it gets tricky. I marked off the line on both sides, then used 3 cd cases as a reference to sit the glass on. I then taped the top portion of glass to keep it from moving around. I also put down some tape for the silicone lines. Notice that the glass is short of the top of the tank, in case it ever gets clogged in the bubble trap area, it will not overflow.

 

[dsteelman]

While the second baffle was drying/curing I went ahead and marked off the area for the return pump. I took a pump I had and set it in that area to see how much room it would need. I added a couple of inches to that so that the pump would not starve itself. Meaning if you do not give the pump enough space it could constantly be overpowering the return. This would end up in a premature pump failure.

 

[dsteelman]

As I did in with the first baffle, I also did with the last. I taped off some lines and set the baffle in place. Secured it with tape, and began to silicone both sides. Being this is the last baffle and is going to be a wall of the refugium I did not want it leaking at all. That is why I went ahead and used silicone on both sides. Try to keep sand out of the pump.

 

[dsteelman]

So I let the second baffle dry/cure for about 20 to 25 minutes. At this point I can ease the cd cases out from underneath the glass. Do this very carefully! I then took the same 3 cd cases and used them as a measuring device for the last part of the bubble trap. They turned out fairly close to the measurement I had made on the outside. I went ahead and had my wife hold this in place while I ran the silicone bead on the edges. Always good to have a wife's helping hand around! This was pretty easy to finish up on the silicone. You want to make sure and pull out the cd cases after about 5 minutes otherwise it might get a little difficult. When I did this it did move the glass around, I just pushed it back into place and added some more silicone.

 

[dsteelman]

So this is the finished product. I hope that it works as well as it looks.
View attachment 593212

View attachment 593213




I did use 1 and a half of these tubes of silicone (Product placement here) from the LFS. So it doesn't take a whole lot to do one of these homemade sumps.

 

[dsteelman]

I probably should have put these thoughts at the front of this thread. Anyway here it goes.

1. The sump was to be a protein skimmer-refugium-return style sump.
2. I contacted Reef Dynamics, who now own the rights to Euro-Reef products, to find out the depth of the water level for the skimmer. I was told 6 inches was were I needed to be with the water level. I made the depth 8 inches for a little more water in the refugium. I can sit the skimmer on egg crate or something to get back to 6 inches.
3. I turned the skimmer in a way so that the discharge is at the farthest point from the bubble trap for them to release in the water.
4. I hope i did some things right so that this thing actually works!!!!


Thanks for reading my post and the comments. I hope I am able to help someone by posting my build.

 

[1986com]

great idea

 

[dsteelman]

Thanks

 

[dsteelman]

Oh yeah sum people might wonder about the measurements of this tank. It is 30x12x14. The refugium turned out to be about 15 inches long and 8 inches high. About 6.2 gallons in capacity.

 

[dsteelman]

its a 36 inch tank. Not a 30 as previously typed.