should i even bother?

[FloridaNewbie]

I was getting ready to make a diy 20gal long sump for my 55gal, but there is no way the tank will fit in the cabinet. I don;t want to leave out because it would be an eye sore and a pain in the ***. After measuring everything i can easily fit a 10gal, maybe even 15gal tall.

But that means that it would be a small sump, only adding maybe extra 8 gallons to the overall volume. If i put my skimmer/heater/Uv in the sump, it will not fit anything else.

My questions is, besides hidding all the equipment, is there any benefits of such a small sump?

Thanks
Leo

 

[cmor1701d]

A 55 should be 48" long. What else is in the cabinet that you can't fit a 20 gallon tank under it?

 

[fijiwigi]

Its probably the 12" width on the 20Long tank that is the problem. I had the same problem with my 46bow but its only 36" long

 

[FloridaNewbie]

Fijiwigi nailed it, the lenght is fine, i have about 34' to work with, but the width is only 11'. Plus i don't want to squeeze anything in and stress the stand.

 

[JoshsReef]

My only suggestion is that you could have one custom made to fit your stand that will give you more water volume to work with. It would be pricey but I would do that before I bothered to just add 8 gallons to the system imo.

 

[lando]

Trust me...any size sump will benefit your tank. Aside from hiding equipment, it will also provide you a great place for extra biological filtration such as LR rubble. The increased water volume will also help to maintain water parameters. Think about, adding a 20 gal is almost increasing water volume by 40-45% (give or take).

 

[cmor1701d]

But only a 10g will fit without going custom. A 10g will add 4, maybe 5 gallons of water. That's still a 10% increase, worth it.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that water volume is a great thing. There are so many tank configurations out there that you could find something out there.