Question About Sump and Also Sand

[dr.diggler]

I just purchased a 125 gal... Within the next weeks i am going to be setting it up. I would like this freshwater tank to be a sand bottom, My first question is can i use sand from the beach near me. Second, I am going to be building my first sump. My tank wasnt pre-drilled, so I asked a man at my LFS and he helped me..
so far i have this list of materials to buy...
2 pumps
large sheet of plexyglass
aquarium silicone
bio balls
tray for bio balls
carbon pad
ammonia pad
hosing...
Can anyone think of anything else i would need. Getting back to the sand i would be soakin it and rinsing it before settin up the tank.

Another question any suggestions on the size of the pump i should be going with.

Does anyone know where i can get some nice driftwood for a good price..

Thanks for the help

 

[dr.diggler]

nm about the driftwood just read a recent post

 

[patryuji]

Beachsand for FW? Ocean beach or lake beach? If ocean it might have debris that will raise your PH and kH. I would Personally do more than just rinse it, I would boil it to insure nothing is introduced that I didn't intend on introducing.

I would think that you should get a pump that can turnover the entire volume of the tank several times an hour.

Do a search for sump in the freshwater section as this has been talked about recently and other's have posted some ideas related to this. Most consider just having the sump to skim water from the surface and using a canister filter for actual filtration.

 

[rossmort]

Do a search for sump in the freshwater section as this has been talked about recently and other's have posted some ideas related to this. Most consider just having the sump to skim water from the surface and using a canister filter for actual filtration.

To make it easier, Search for user "Rossmort"--quite a bit of good info was in that thread.

 

[jsoong]

If you are building a sump out of the plexiglass, you'll need the proper "glue". From what I read, silicone is not great in joining plexiglass. You'll need "Weld ON" which is a solvent that bonds the plastic together. There are different number Weld-on - from thick to thin, depending on application.