REALLY basic sump plan help

[puffdad]

Hey people.
I want to do a rubbermaid sump for a skimmer, my heaters, and a bag of charcoal, as basic as possible. No drilling if preferred and minimal plumbing.
What minimum size should I do? Do I need to put a powerhead in it to give the water some movement? Or can I just drop the heater & skimmer in there, and nothing else? what are the other requirements for a simple effective sump?
Do I need anything else besides tubes to/from an overflow and a pump? What kind of pump do you recommend? Return pump?
I'm real dumb w/ sumps here, help me out if you can.
A lot of the sumps in the history of the BB seem pretty complicated...I don't have the plumbing gene so want to avoid complexity.
(PS...I won't use a wet/dry system or canister, but it will be 125GFOWLR...with lots of powerheads for messy eaters)
Thanks!

 

[mr . salty]

Instead of trying to DIY yourself a "half a$$ed"sump.Why don't you look into buying a good quality unit??? Believe me,in the long run you will be much better off.Especially with aggressive fish in a tank that large...

 

[puffdad]

You hit the nail on the head Salty, a big reason is because of those damn dollar signs...my wife is gonna remove approval if if I hit her w/ one more big expense I'm planning for...
Guess I'm not sure where to start looking...what make/model unit should I look at? as I mentioned I prefer cheap, but not to sacrifice function. Thanks.

 

[broomer5]

Hey puffdad,
Some of the best looking tanks I've ever seen had rubbermaid sumps underneath them exactly as you described. Heater, pump, skimmer.
There's nothing at all wrong with going that route as far as I'm concerned.
You'll need to buy a few things for sure, those that you've mentioned.
Rubbermaid Tub or similar brand
Return pump
Overflow
Tubing, hoses, pvc fittings
If you using this sump plan with a 125 gal tank, I can help you figure out a few details, although I was not born with the plumbing gene either, it's really not all that difficult. Or you can do a search online for DIY sumps.
Lemme know
Brian

 

[puffdad]

Brian,
THANKS! Appreciate the offer...I'm going to do some studying this weekend & check out a few setups w/ sumps to get some ideas...I'll get back to you soon with some questions.
Dave

 

[oceanblue]

Hey Dave,
nothing wrong with DIY at all, I have done some of these in the past with good results. I only go with prefab mostly these days because of pretty factor and laziness. there are all kinds of good DIY plans on the FINS resource. here's the url if ya need it. http://www.actwin.com/fish/index.php
have fun! Dave