Another DIY Sump

should. if it wobles a little just shave down the high spots with a planer if it is real wood.

Had the same problem with the 180g stand. I just cut down a sheet of 3/4" plywood that fit in snuggly and set it over the existing bottom. I had to cut it in half to fit it in the doors, but it works great... allows for a LOT of weight, had a 40+ gallon rubbermaid sump and a 20g long refuge in the cabinet and still had working room.

excellent. I was going to make a raised base out of 2x4's, but the 3/4" plywood sounds like its alot easier. I will try that first and see if it works.

If it wobbles a little is it ok to put a couple of wood shims under the plywood or will that not support the tank good enough?

I was thinking of making the base and then shaving down the edges like jojo mentioned.

Thanks guys!

Maybe I misread something along the way, or just confused... you are talking about the interior of the cabinet where your sump will go and not the area for the display tank to sit on right?

If so, shimming up the plywood won't really hurt anything, just use enough shims to avoid any mis-shaping of the plywood over time/moisture. If you figure for water weight alone that will get you pretty close... think it's 8.7lbs per gallon (give or take). IMO/IME, for a sump/refuge it need not be perfectly level, 1/4" over 2 feet won't likely hurt anything for a smallish tank ( < 40 gals).

well, just picked up a 30 gallon tank for the sump, thinking 30" length would be short enough...NOPE!

its about an inch too long to fit underneath my tank. theres two braces that stick out that I neglected to notice before...DOH!

i'm gonna go back and get the 20 gallon which is 24" length.

That means the refigium will have to be a little smaller. I figured 8" for the skimmer chamber, three baffles with an inch in betwen them, 6" refg., three more baffles with an inch in between them, and 6" for the return chamber

seems a little too small to me?

How about both a 20g and a 10g, should have plenty of room that way? It'd take a little extra work to tie them together, but would increase your additional water volume by 33&#37;. Make one a dedicated sump or refuge and the other vice versa...

ohh, I like that idea dakar. Do you have any links or suggestions on how it would work?

I purchased a 20 gallon glass tank that is 24" long, that fits under there no problem.

So I assume the 20 gallon would be for skimmer and return, then pump water from a side chamber to the ref?

You could run a wier box from one tank to the other...Or just a simple U tube made from PVC, drill a hole in the top of either and hook an aqualifter pump to it to draw out any air and keep the siphon from breaking... or get fancier and drill each one and hook them together via bulkheads. Lots of easy ways to tie them together. I'd prefer the 20g refuge and the 10g sump.

I have a corner bow, thats why my space is limited.

I'm going to be pulling out the wet/dry this weekend to see how much room I have left over after putting in the 20 gallon tank.

Does anyone have a tutorial or forum posting on how to accomplish this with two seperate tanks? Im trying to picture how you describe it but am having a hard time.

So from the standpipe bulkhead I would go to the skimmer chamber in the sump, then have a U pipe in the skimmer chamber that goes into the refg. in the top of one end of the U pipe, I would drill a small hole that would go to a aqualifter pump to keep the siphon going.

In the refg. I would put a baffle in the refg. to a return chamber with a pump to pump water back into the return chamber of the sump that would then have another pump that goes to the return of the tank, along with a tee that feeds back into the same return chamber in case the pump pulls too much water out of the return chamber of the sump so I can control the flow.

Concerns:
- I've read around about a "siphon break" of drilling a hole into the pipe to break the siphon, i dont understand where this would go, would this still apply since I have an overflow with a standpipe in it? At any one time if the power goes out only ~3 gallons goes into the wet/dry filter until the water level goes down past the last knotch on the standpipe. Not sure if this only applies to people with a weir box.

Is this how it would work?

I'm going to draw up some plans in photoshop when i get home and post them to see how it looks.

Thanks!

I took a look at some acryllic today, although I didn't purchase any because I feared it was too thin and would bow upon filling it with water. Is 1/4" (.220") acryllic thick enough not to bow when I fill up the sump and refuge? This was the only thickness that home depot had unless I wanted a huge sheet.

I think I might make a split from the overflow one going to the skimmer chamber, the other going to the refuge with a ball valve to control flow,
then raise the 20 gallon up on a stand higher than the 10 gallon and then drill both tanks to gravity feed the refuge to the sump return chamber. to do this I would need to drill both tanks. I have never attempted to drill a tank before, is it difficult? Any pointers?

Since I have a built in overflow in the back of the tank is it necessary to worry about siphoning effect? or is this only for weir boxes?

thanks!