Sump idea!!

[SwimsWithFish]

Hello all! Being a cheap son-of-a-nutcracker, I came up with a cheap, easy sump idea. Could I theoretically just take a 10 gallon tank and plumb it with an over flow and return pump with no baffles and just keep it as a place to put heaters and a skimmer?

 

[Hinds04]

yep... pretty common but with no bubble trap you may have a problem with bubbles from the skimmer being sucked into the return pump causing micro bubbles in your display.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

yep... pretty common but with no bubble trap you may have a problem with bubbles from the skimmer being sucked into the return pump causing micro bubbles in your display.

Alright I'll have to set up a trap.

 

[Gti_Leo]

i have this idea to use a PVC pipe with a cap on the bottom placed in the sump with slots cut out abotu an inch bellow your desired water level, and plumb your return pump above the sump and to about an inch before the bottom of the pipe. should act like its own bubble trap and will also limit how much water actually gets pumped back if you loss syphon

 

[SwimsWithFish]

i have this idea to use a PVC pipe with a cap on the bottom placed in the sump with slots cut out abotu an inch bellow your desired water level, and plumb your return pump above the sump and to about an inch before the bottom of the pipe. should act like its own bubble trap and will also limit how much water actually gets pumped back if you loss syphon

That's a great idea! So the pump cant get bubbles in it because it cant suck bubbles down?

 

[kurtyboh]

looks like thats the idea. the bubble will rise unless some force is pushing them down but since there is no downward force in the tank they're left to do their own thing. I like it gti

 

[Scotty09]

Can I ask a question what is the best sump bio balls ref or algae scrubber or a combination plz help building a new sump just wondered the best solution

 

[austinsdad]

What size main tank you talking? I have my doubts since you won't be able to fill the 10g up but so much anyway since you gotta leave room to anticipate power outages and an overflow in the sump.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

What size main tank you talking? I have my doubts since you won't be able to fill the 10g up but so much anyway since you gotta leave room to anticipate power outages and an overflow in the sump.

A 30 gallon... I guess I should go with a 20 long though.

 

[austinsdad]

Still you might only be able to keep 7g of water in a 10g sump. If you're talking about a 20g sump, consider 20g tall if you've got the room.

 

[SwimsWithFish]

Still you might only be able to keep 7g of water in a 10g sump. If you're talking about a 20g sump, consider 20g tall if you've got the room.

Alright! If I do this then I'll probably stick a little 2.5 tank in there as a fuge.

 

[Gti_Leo]

looks like thats the idea. the bubble will rise unless some force is pushing them down but since there is no downward force in the tank they're left to do their own thing. I like it gti

thanks it was the way i planned to lay out my sump/fuge to maximize the space. i'm building a new stand for my 26g bow front and its 24x 15 so i'm plannign one either a 20g or a 25g and wanted it mostly fuge with a skimmer and a filter sock on the return, so it was my way of removing the chambers and bubble plates to utilize the area for a DBS .

i'm thinkign a 25g might be a little tall as i will only have abotu 8 inches of clearance at the opening of the stand as it has a 2x4 skeleton holding it all together