Under the ethos that bigger's better,
Have a look for a plastic/HDPE drum with an O-ring seal - I use chemical or food puree shipping drums but I see dog food ones that look much better. For example: https://vittlesvault.com/products/outback-80/
Choose one that will fit into your filter cupboard (with hatch access), then cut & fit some 1.5" bulkhead fittings. Buy the appropriate Jaebo and either plum externally, where there may be a bit of motor-noise, or internally, which requires putting the wire through the drum-side & resealing, which is doable with a good epoxy putty or HDPE weld-kit, or you may be able to get a through-fitting bulkhead.
I did this on my hunny (72x14widex24tall) using a 12gal chemical drum with a layered tube of various coarseness sofa-sponges. I only cleaned the sponge every couple of months, and it really didn't need it - water was crystal, flows unchanged. Yes, I was doing my water changes with gravel-vacuuming, loads of plants & MTS & somewhat understocked. There was also a huge amount of fine crud settled at the bottom of the drum, which the tomatoes loved.
With these squared & heavier-duty VittlesVaults you'd be able to plumb a couple in series for sump volumes. This is my plan for the current build (not importing VittesVaults, so using bulk detergent drums & home-made O-ring... wish me luck ), with the first in bamboo charcoal as a course & crud-settlement chamber with pond-snails & amphipods & a bottom valve/vent, and then the sponge chamber as polishing - so backwards to how folks tend to do their sumps.
Notes on this sort of foolishness:
* Oversize your plumbing to maximize your flow-rates per pump size & electricity draw.
* Make sure you put holes high on your in-tank intake so you don't lose too much (water) in a blow-out. Dumpster-diver DIY can be relatively higher-risk...
* Good ol' hot-glue is also weirdly good for this sort of thing, and lets you remove/replace with a bit of kettle-water or hair dryer.
* Not tried any of the "Spray-Seal" products, but they're on my list if anybody starts importing.
* Rain-through exterior furniture foam (and others) will often have an antifungal treatment - mullet suffered badly but cichlids didn't seem to notice. You can wash this stuff out with two weeks of careful or fishless use or dipping/soaking in in the sea (Lake? Mr.Turtle lawn-pool? Hose?). Soap may be helpful and, considering everybody's COVID stockpiles, Ethanol will likely be helpful, too.
Have a look for a plastic/HDPE drum with an O-ring seal - I use chemical or food puree shipping drums but I see dog food ones that look much better. For example: https://vittlesvault.com/products/outback-80/
Choose one that will fit into your filter cupboard (with hatch access), then cut & fit some 1.5" bulkhead fittings. Buy the appropriate Jaebo and either plum externally, where there may be a bit of motor-noise, or internally, which requires putting the wire through the drum-side & resealing, which is doable with a good epoxy putty or HDPE weld-kit, or you may be able to get a through-fitting bulkhead.
I did this on my hunny (72x14widex24tall) using a 12gal chemical drum with a layered tube of various coarseness sofa-sponges. I only cleaned the sponge every couple of months, and it really didn't need it - water was crystal, flows unchanged. Yes, I was doing my water changes with gravel-vacuuming, loads of plants & MTS & somewhat understocked. There was also a huge amount of fine crud settled at the bottom of the drum, which the tomatoes loved.
With these squared & heavier-duty VittlesVaults you'd be able to plumb a couple in series for sump volumes. This is my plan for the current build (not importing VittesVaults, so using bulk detergent drums & home-made O-ring... wish me luck ), with the first in bamboo charcoal as a course & crud-settlement chamber with pond-snails & amphipods & a bottom valve/vent, and then the sponge chamber as polishing - so backwards to how folks tend to do their sumps.
Notes on this sort of foolishness:
* Oversize your plumbing to maximize your flow-rates per pump size & electricity draw.
* Make sure you put holes high on your in-tank intake so you don't lose too much (water) in a blow-out. Dumpster-diver DIY can be relatively higher-risk...
* Good ol' hot-glue is also weirdly good for this sort of thing, and lets you remove/replace with a bit of kettle-water or hair dryer.
* Not tried any of the "Spray-Seal" products, but they're on my list if anybody starts importing.
* Rain-through exterior furniture foam (and others) will often have an antifungal treatment - mullet suffered badly but cichlids didn't seem to notice. You can wash this stuff out with two weeks of careful or fishless use or dipping/soaking in in the sea (Lake? Mr.Turtle lawn-pool? Hose?). Soap may be helpful and, considering everybody's COVID stockpiles, Ethanol will likely be helpful, too.
