wet/dry plans
- Thread starter luke g
- Start date
sleasia
Active Member
I don't have a refugium, but I built my own wet-dry out of a 50 gallon sterlite tub I bought at Target. I am not so good with transferring photos but I took some shots of it for you which I will try to post tomarrow morning if I can get to the computer(I have a teenager now on the good computer) I basically bought two tubs, one a 50 gallon sterlite (because I read somewhere a guy had been using one for 2 years without any ill effects) and another 15 or 20 gallon sterlite. I selected the smaller one based on which size would sit nicely on top of the 50 gallon tub. The smaller one became the bio ball chamber and sits on top of the sump (the 50 gallon tub) I used the lid of the 20 gall tub to provide a "shelf" for the 20 gallon tub to sit on. So that the bio balls can be easily removed and so that they can get enough oxygen, I built a "crate" for them out of egg crate stuff which is only all tied together with those little plastic strip tie things you can get at home depot. The bioballs go in the egg crate crate and the "crate" sits inside of the 20 gallon tub leaving about 1/2 " space on all sides for air to circulate (so I built the egg crate crate 1/2" smaller all the way around than the 20 gallon tub. Resting on top of the bioballs I place a sheet of plexiglass drilled with multiple holes to act as a drip plate. My two inch pvc overflow drain stops just above the drip plate and spills water onto it from the overflow in my tank. Now I also took three pieces of smaller pvc pipes 1" and "notched" them to use them as braces which slide down over the edges of the sump and act as braces to prevent the sump from bowing too much when filled with water.between two of these "braces" I have placed two pieces of egg crate "walls" which are held together at the base by another piece of eggcrate. These hold the wet-dry's polishing sponges. I carefully cut out a 1 " hole about 3 inches up from the floor of the wet dry on the opposite side of the sump from the bioball chamber and put in a 1"bulkhead with a tubing
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so that the return tubing can be attached there. Its a little noisy, only because water from the bioball chamber has far to fall, but it works like a dream. I was frustrated with the fact that with my old amiracle mr300 you could not easily clean it and the protein skimmer I used as so big it bloked the chemical trays etc.etc. It is hard to explain the building of it that is why the pictures are essential.
cost 50 gallon tub 14.00
20 gall tub 9.00
3 pieces of eggcrate 30.00
plastic ties (small) 2.99
bulkhead 1" 8.99
1" pvc pipe 4.00
12"x 10" plexiglass 4.99
(4) 4x13 filter sponges 40.00
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so that the return tubing can be attached there. Its a little noisy, only because water from the bioball chamber has far to fall, but it works like a dream. I was frustrated with the fact that with my old amiracle mr300 you could not easily clean it and the protein skimmer I used as so big it bloked the chemical trays etc.etc. It is hard to explain the building of it that is why the pictures are essential.
cost 50 gallon tub 14.00
20 gall tub 9.00
3 pieces of eggcrate 30.00
plastic ties (small) 2.99
bulkhead 1" 8.99
1" pvc pipe 4.00
12"x 10" plexiglass 4.99
(4) 4x13 filter sponges 40.00
sleasia
Active Member
the pictures didnt work. if you want to see email me at sleasia@comcast.net
and ill try sending them through email
and ill try sending them through email
tainte97
Member
I to also built a wet/dry sump with rubbermaid containers from walmart. I have a 125 gallon tank, so I bought a 40 or 50 gallon which is the sump, i bought a 8 gallon, i think, whick I drilled holes in the bottom on a 1 inch grin that holds 5 gallons of bioballs, the top I cut out a rectangle big enought to hold another containter that I siliconed on to it. This container I drilled small holes on a 1" grid and stuffed it with prefilter and also installed a 3/4 pipe for the over flow and this drips the water over the bioballs. I have a 900 gallon pump pumping the water back to the tank and the whole thing minus the pump and bioballs was about $20-$25. The expensive part is the balls and pump. All in all I Think I spent $130 for a 50 gallon sump wet/dry.
dvincent
Member
I built this one about 2 weeks ago and i just followed insructions from melev's reef site to get my ideas, i could have easily built a fuge instead of the wet /dry area, i may at a later date convert it over. if you are patient and a good DIY these materials are not that difficult to work with.
DIY WET / DRY SUMP
If you have any ? feel free to ask. Darrin
DIY WET / DRY SUMP
If you have any ? feel free to ask. Darrin
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thomas712
Guest
Send me the pics and I'll resize them, unless you can resize themyourself to no larger than 500x500 pixels.
sleasia
Active Member
Looking at tainte97's pictures you can see how you choose the smaller tub so that it can "stack" somehow on top of the larger "sump" tub. He drilled holes in the bases of his two smaller tubs. you can also cut out the bottoms leaving about a 2 inch border and then place a piece of eggcrate in the tubs. the filter fiber, cotton and bioballs are not heavy and this will be enough to support them. If you go to wallmart and target, you can often find stackable smaller tubs. when you stack them, one inside the other, there is often a space of about 3 -4 inches between the two bottoms of the stacked tubs. this is usually enough to provide an instant chemicle shelf or a shelf on which you have options to place other media in media bags, if you cut out a section of both of the bottoms and replace with egg crate (sold in the ceiling tile section of home depot about 10$ a sheet) He used cord or wire to attach near the top edge of his large sump pulled taught to prevent any bowing which might occur once water is in the sump and then cause the bioball chamber to fall into the sump. I notched pieces of pvc pipe and slipped them down over the edges like a brace in three areas to prevent bowing. this is real easy, no cutting plexiglass, and so far no leaks, no problems.
tainte97
Member
Yes, I drilled two holes in the main sump and used wires ties to hold the plastic tight, works very well. Also you are right about the egg grates, have seen it done before, but im lazy and this was alot quicker and it works great! The only problem im having is I havent had time to modify my HOB skimmer to fit in the sump, so im getting a thin layer of skim on top of the water in the sump. Does anyone have powerheads in there sumps? Also with the stack on top design I used silicone to glue them together, the top on with the filter media makes a great spot to run any kind of carbon or whatever without a mess!
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thomas712
Guest
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thomas712
Guest
:joy: