plans for DIY wet/dry sump?

[kittyhazelton]

Anyone have any links or pictures to good plans for a DIY wet/dry sump? I am looking for one and I think it's absolutely ridiculous that manufacturers get away with charging $200-$400 for what is essentually a plexi tank with dividers in it. I'm thinking I can make my own for significantly less.
I have a spare 20gallon high kicking around. 24"L 16"h, 12" deep. Just looking for something that lists the actual measurments and such for where to place the dividers for optimum flow and such.

 

[spiff]

Just about any large safe-plastic container can be used. I needed a sump in a pinch, so I used a perfectly good acrylic aquarium. But instead of marring it up with dividers, I just used a couple small kitchen trashcans instead. They almost fit perfect, with the top lip snug in the top openings, with just enough room underneath for flow. Just picture an aquarium with a trashcan inserted at each end. One is inbound, with an eggcrate sort of bottom to it so that I can put any sort of high pressure media, like carbon, if I want. The water can backup to the top of the trashcan to create the needed pressure to keep it forcing through. (doesn't get that high, but it can if it needs to) Right now i just have it filled with fiber media and the rest of the trash can and the whole aquarium full of pot scrubbies. The trashcan at other end is just for the pump pickup.
The beauty of the trashcans though, is that you don't have to have a perfectly square sump for that to work. Putting regular dividers into a rubbermaid tub for example would be a trick, as it would have to conform to the shape.

Anyways, I like the fact that when i find another better suited container for the sump, I'll get my 90 gallon tank back without having to unglue dividers.

 

[jcardona1]

there's some good threads in the DIY section

 

[midnight]

check out the stickies in the diy section
well they arent stickies anymore,you gotta look in monster diy articles
but in that thread is a w/d filter alot of people have made

heres my latest filter
ive made a few different designs
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=142142

 

[kittyhazelton]

Ok, thanks for the ideas... Now what are some plans for the QUIETEST possible sump system? This is going in a 125 in my mothers living-room. Obviously we don't want the sump drowning out the noise of her soap operas. lol.

 

[djlancer88]

heres a couple pics of a wet/dry i made out of a 20 gallon and a 30 gallon, i just used one divider and a getto over flow drip plate, hey its cheap,simple, and it works

 

[djlancer88]

the drip plate just fits into where the top would. The overflow is made out of pvc and screwed into place on the stand to keep it from moving and to hold it in one spot.
Thers just a lip around the drip plate to keep the water in

 

[chesterthehero]

stoping vibration is the key to stoping noise.. i ziptied my pump to a plastic plate with some suction cups stuck to it and used insilation tape wherever the pvc touched anything.. my overflow is used only as an overflow not as the main drain line for that i have a pvc syphon with a ballvalve that i close off slightly to keep a trickle of water going through the overflow just to prevent standing water.. both the overflow and syphon lines are underwater so theres no running water noise...

the celing fan was louder than the sump this drove me nuts so i moved my drip plate (undergravel filter) around till it gave me a small "running water" noise... and at somepoint i managed to take off a piece of the insilation tape so now the line from the pump makes a quiet hum where it touches the stand...

the sump now produces a level of noise equal to the celing fan...