Sump Questions?

[MTWiley]

I'm looking at either building a sump or using an unused 55 gallon Clear For Life Acrylic tank and cutting the top braces to get a protein skimmer and the other necessary equipment in there.

I need to know what parts(if any) of the top bracing would I be okay cutting? If that's not okay, what thickness acrylic would I need to make something similar from scratch? I haven't done much work with acrylic in the past, but I'm fairly handy and have pretty much any power tools I could possibly need.

 

[sponger_2]

i take it this is for a salt water tank? You do know that a protein skimmer is NOT necessary, if you run an algae scrubber.

 

[MTWiley]

Even using an ATS it would still be interesting trying to fit everything in to the tank. I guess I could look at doing something like that for my sump though. Originally my plan was something like this:

The opening in the bottom of my stand is only 48" x 13" x 30" and I need to put my return pumps, heaters, etc in there.