Anyone DIY Plywood Sump?

[Tstone]

I'm very interested in doing a sump.. Although I don't wanna buy a spare aquarium for the task (kinda pricey, plus i'd be too tempted to just stock it instead).. Plywood Aquariums are very popular in the DIY section, and I'm curious if anyone uses plywood for sumps? If so, how well does it work?

Plus, it'd be a hellllll of a lot cheaper to use plywood..

Also a side question, how loud are sumps? Not just the pumps, but like the waterflow and everything.. I'm so picky when it comes to noise with my aquarium.. Could anyone perhaps compare it to an FX5's noise?

Thank you in advance for any help you decide to give!

 

[anarekist]

it all depends on how you set it up, usually foam reduces alot of noise but the maintenance to keep em clean goes up

 

[Tstone]

it all depends on how you set it up, usually foam reduces alot of noise but the maintenance to keep em clean goes up

Well I'd prolly use filter socks... I seen somewhere that you can just buy the materials and kinda like sew it together... and I could have my girlfriend make me some

 

[anarekist]

yeah but the water falling into the sock will make noise for sure unless the return end of the pipe is submerged under the water line then it will be quieter.

 

[Tstone]

Well I'd do whatever makes it the quietest...
my main question is if you can do a plywood build for it

 

[est 032909]

filter sock onto bioballs. you can do it.

instead of glass your using plywood.

fyi my fx5 makes zero noise. soooo good luck with that.

 

[Tstone]

filter sock onto bioballs. you can do it.

instead of glass your using plywood.

fyi my fx5 makes zero noise. soooo good luck with that.

Think plywood would work? If I built it the same way I would an aquarium?
And yeah, my FX5 is as close as it gets to silent.. I was just asking if someone could say it's like "barely louder" or "a lot louder then an FX5"

 

[Oughtsix]

I think the easier a sump is to service and clean the filter media the better the sump is. In this respect I think a plywood sump is a great idea and I have considered going this route myself. I have a Petco $29 29g tank I purchased to build a sump. I am considering going the plywood route instead to make it easier to change the filter socks/media and better utilize the space under my stand. I might build in a media drawer into the top of the sump and use a filter pad instead of socks so I can quickly pull the filter pad and clean/replace it. I was thinking of using a single viewing window just like a plywood aquarium build so I can see inside the sump without having to remove it.

For me it is more of a flexibility in design issue than a cost issue. I have even considered making the plywood sump an integral part of the stand... but I don't think I quite have the guts to attempt this.

If the incoming pipe is submerged the sound should be negligible. The noise from the overflow would be what you would have to worry about the most.

 

[Tstone]

I think the easier a sump is to service and clean the filter media the better the sump is. In this respect I think a plywood sump is a great idea and I have considered going this route myself. I have a Petco $29 29g tank I purchased to build a sump. I am considering going the plywood route instead to make it easier to change the filter socks/media and better utilize the space under my stand. I might build in a media drawer into the top of the sump and use a filter pad instead of socks so I can quickly pull the filter pad and clean/replace it. I was thinking of using a single viewing window just like a plywood aquarium build so I can see inside the sump without having to remove it.

For me it is more of a flexibility in design issue than a cost issue. I have even considered making the plywood sump an integral part of the stand... but I don't think I quite have the guts to attempt this.

If the incoming pipe is submerged the sound should be negligible. The noise from the overflow would be what you would have to worry about the most.

View attachment 738004

Okay, thank you very much. I planned on possibly building one soon, depending on what kind of feed back I got, and I wouldn't be able to drill any holes but I got plans on a DIY plywood aquarium in the near future and I could just drill holes and use bulkheads.. I'm thinking i'll be building this plywood sump very soon then

 

[Oughtsix]

Your welcome. My plan was to fiberglass the entire inside of the sump since sealing the plywood would be the key to success. Then dig up the thread on here where they discuss the different water proof coatings.

If you decide to build a plywood sump I would recommend using baltic birch plywood. It is more expensive but it has more layers making it denser with pretty much no voids at all. Cheap A-C plywood is just miserable to try to build anything with and maintain any level of precision.

I hope you will share the build process with us if you go this route!