DIY sump.....questions
- Thread starter frozenguy
- Start date
zafirablanca
Member
I just bought 1/4" plexiglass sheet from Home Depot, bought a cheap scoring knife to cut it into the right sizes and siliconed them into place in my sump. You can use a book or two to hold them in place as they dry, if needed. I put them into a used 20 gallon tall glass aquarium (my sump). I installed two baffles and they basically eliminate bubbles from the water by the time it reaches my return pump (submerged in last chamber) Easy as that!
I am using a rubbermaid storage box as my refugium, that overflows into my sump and the sump pumps back to the display tank. I hear it is difficult to install dividers in a rubbermaid.
I went with seperate sump and refugium tanks, because that worked out the best and most economical for me. I like it better this way too, no sand in my sump to possibly damage my pump, fast flow though sump and slow flow through fuge, etc. Instead of a long sump/ fuge tank, I just have two shorter tanks side-by-side and 'connected'.
Many people do sump/ fuge combos, but it gets harder to divide into the necessary sections if you decide to use a rubbermaid container. There is a nice one on this site:
http://www.rl180reef.com/frames.htm
When purchasing an external overflow box, you will choose the model based on its gph rating. You then get an appropriately sized pump. I am using 2 Marineland Tidepool SOS overflows (up to 600 gph each) and a Dolphin DP 900 (up to 900 gph) return pump on my 125 gallon tank. As long as you overflows are rated somewhat above your pump in flow, you will be fine.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck
-Christine
I am using a rubbermaid storage box as my refugium, that overflows into my sump and the sump pumps back to the display tank. I hear it is difficult to install dividers in a rubbermaid.
I went with seperate sump and refugium tanks, because that worked out the best and most economical for me. I like it better this way too, no sand in my sump to possibly damage my pump, fast flow though sump and slow flow through fuge, etc. Instead of a long sump/ fuge tank, I just have two shorter tanks side-by-side and 'connected'.
Many people do sump/ fuge combos, but it gets harder to divide into the necessary sections if you decide to use a rubbermaid container. There is a nice one on this site:
http://www.rl180reef.com/frames.htm
When purchasing an external overflow box, you will choose the model based on its gph rating. You then get an appropriately sized pump. I am using 2 Marineland Tidepool SOS overflows (up to 600 gph each) and a Dolphin DP 900 (up to 900 gph) return pump on my 125 gallon tank. As long as you overflows are rated somewhat above your pump in flow, you will be fine.
Hope this helps.
Good Luck
-Christine