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Thanks for the advice, definitely appreciated. Been extremely busy the last month, so haven't had much time to work on the aquarium. Planning to post photos as the build continues.

Thanks again for all your thoughtful advice. The last month has been really busy for me and I haven't had much time to work on the aquarium build, but I plan to post updates here as construction progresses.

Here's the newest revision of the system, based on feedback. Would love to hear some more comments, suggestions, or potential problem spots that experienced aquarists might see in the design before I go ahead with construction. A. Small pump for UV sterilizer (haven't purchased pump yet...

Here's the newest revision of the system, based on feedback. Would love to hear some more comments, suggestions, or potential problem spots that experienced aquarists might see in the design before I go ahead with construction. A. Small pump for UV sterilizer (haven't purchased pump yet, still...

C. I actually chopped the front off of the Tidepool, and will be using it only for the media drawers and biowheel. It seemed like a convenient and inexpensive way to get ahold of those components without having to cobble something together. It will drain into the larger sump tank as illustrated...

Not sure if I made this clear before or not, but this is a freshwater setup, not saltwater. I posted it here because the freshwater folks suggested I should, assuming that the saltwater gurus are more familiar with sumps and larger tank equipment, etc. Getting a lot of comments about the...

I was under the impression that it was beneficial to have raw drain water reach the refugium to provide nutrients, etc., to the plants living in there. I'm kind of fuzzy on this, but I can definitely see your point regarding gunk getting back to the return area un-filtered. I guess I could...

Alright. Been doing some more research and ultimately decided to try to leave the sump in the stand. There's a .pdf attached showing my current plan. I'm very open to suggestions for modifications though! I tried to take into account everything people suggested and fuse it with my own...

Alright. Been doing some more research and ultimately decided to try to leave the sump in the stand. There's a .pdf attached showing my current plan. I'm very open to suggestions for modifications though! I tried to take into account everything people suggested and fuse it with my own research...

Thank you for the offer. I'll be posting some updated ideas as it develops, probably going to be posting a sump layout in the next few days and once that's done, a new layout for the sump tank. In the mean time, any suggestions or comments you have regarding the ocean of questions I listed in...

Excellent detail, thank you for catching that.

Yes, that's one of the benefits of the sump system, along with additional water for the overall system, a place to put all the fiddly bits and keep them out of the display tank, etc. I definitely plan to have a refugium with plants for nitrate scrubbing, and will take your suggestions for plants...

Thank you so much, fantastic info and illustrations there. That's very, very useful. I'm going to come back and address some of that with more questions later, but I have some work to do on another home improvement project this weekend before I can dedicate the time to it. Just wanted to stop in...

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. Do you happen to have any experience with internal/external pumps in a system around this size? I'm not sure how much noise to expect out of either variety, and noise is one of the big reasons I'm still on the fence about locating the sump in the basement.

So it sounds like the chiller is something I can dispense with. Glad to hear it. I've also seen some sump designs where people actually put PC case fans over the sump and it lowered the water temperature by several degrees, which is far cheaper to do. If temperature is a problem, I might...

Obviously the setup, plumbing, etc, matters in this discussion, but I'm only seeking general suggestions at this point. This is my first sump attempt, so I'm new to the concept of having to source a pump and deal with plumbing. The tank will be planted freshwater, 125 gallon tank with 55 gallon...

(Originally posted to the freshwater "getting started" section because the initial goal of the setup is to be a freshwater tank, but some readers thought the emphasis on sump construction might be more relevant to you, the saltwater crowd. Also, I'd prefer to design the system with an eye...

A good suggestion, I will do that. It occurs to me that the initial post may be a bit intimidating in scale for many. I certainly don't expect anyone to comment on EVERY aspect of it. If you happen to read any particular bit and feel you can contribute some insight, I'd appreciate any and all...

This is my first post to the forum, though I’ve been an occasional visitor for a few years now (since first getting into the aquarium hobby). Started out with a leaky 30 gallon Hex tank from my parents basement, quickly upgraded to a 55 gallon standard tank (due to aforementioned leaks), added a...