First Setup plan

[LowCel]

I know it's not my money so it's easy to spend but I honestly wouldn't waste time with the small sump. I bit the bullet and ended up purchasing a new 75 gallon in order to build mine solely because I wanted to do it right the first time. The larger the sump the better.

With mine I only have to top it off about once every four or five days. With yours using that 20 gallon sump you are probably going to have to top your tank off every day. To me that would get very annoying.

You can get a new 55 gallon tank pretty cheap. It will be worth the spending the relatively small amount of money now in order to not have to worry about it later.

 

[Redoog]

i wont ever have to top it off, i will be installing a drip line.

At this point, I really kinda want to see how well this sump works or doesnt work LOL.

Its an experiment of sorts. I want to know how much is enough. I have read hundreds of posts on here. The largest percentage of replys tell the op to go bigger. It would be like telling a newby with a 10 gallon tank they need 5 gallons of sump. because I use a 5 gallon sump and it works. Thats pretty much the advice given. I dont see many if any, i tried it but it was too small.

i want to be able to get on here and say, HEY, I tried small, and it DOES NOT work ! OR Hey guys my 20 is keeping my 100 clean as a whistle.

Either way should quantify my future posts. Which is something I really hope to be able to do someday soon!

But hey i am still open to all ideas!!

Thanks

 

[Toby_H]

Here's the trick... what are you asking your sump to do?

"Bigger is better" is true in the aspect that adding more volume is good for diluting nitrates and other pollutants (the solution to pollution is dilution).

If your asking it to perform mechanical filtration, then the design is more critical than the size...

If your asking it to maintain your "biological filtration" it is likely a tea cup will be enough... since in all reality you already will have adequate "surface area" in the aquarium to house enough bacteria to keep things healthy...


I once set up a UGJ powered by an external pump. Water was pulled out og the tank (through a prefilter)... through a pump that was located below the tank... then pushed back into the tank through a "closed loop" UGJ...

This could be called the ultimate in small sumps... as it helped filter water... and was a zero gallon sump... "it worked"... as water went through a prefilter (mechanical filtration) and the side walls of the tubing (very slightly) incresed surface area (sort of - bio filtration)...


There is no size sump that "does not work"... but there are many sumps that will not work for the users desired effect... but design will usually be the issue, not volume...



PS - So I don't feel the question should be "will it owrk"... I think the question should be "will it work better than simplier option"...

 

[Redoog]

I agree.

This all started when i was surfing the web. I forget what I was looking for, but i saw a result that said "maintenance free aquarium of sorts". So I'm thinking I love aquariums, so i designed my house around a big tank in the living room.

My biggest problem witht he little tanks i have had, is that I am lazy. Seldom vac, or change the water, I used to change the filter pads alot. Noticed every time i did, things went wrong. So i bought a filter with two, so i could replace one at a time. It works. And i dont do it very often.

When its my turn to water the plants, I scoop a pitcher outa the tank for the plants, and top it off.

When I saw CHOMPERS design, I knew it was what i wanted to do.

Then i started reading your posts, and i thought ok this makes sense too. Now i will build a sump with a Chompers inspried design, with a Nutcase influence of more filter media then bio media.

Design and build motivate me, but once i'm done, I want to sit back and enjoy it while I am working through my next project.

 

[Redoog]

This is some stuff i found at lowes. Safe for drinking water. Plan on useing it for concrete covered foam background diy, in place of thoroseal or top silika. Well see how it works later. This is powder comes in 30 or 60 lbs buckets.



Where i found it , paint department Lowes, with drylock and such.



Building the sump shelf for the crawl space. framed the bottom with 2x2's to stiffen it up, and give something for sides to hold.



foam from lowes, note here, it is cheaper at home depot here, also the blue is precut so you can snap it to fit between studs and joists, dont know if pink has this traight, but i would go without it, unless ou need 8' X 16" pieces, and dont want to cut it. Also i found a quick way to cut it.



This is from harbor freight 40$, copy of the one you see on tv, multipurpose saw, works GREAT, a must have tool. You can see some of the things ive done with it.



Top of slef floor, you can see the 2x2 frame and extra 2x2 in center to stiffen, you can also see the size of the precuts, i just snapped it off and put brace in extra space



more of the frame, and foam, glued and screwed









All the stuff ive bought so far odds and ends









I added anouther piece of foam to the top of shlef bottom, this will raise the sump a little bit, and also give a little more support, I also glued a piece of foam to each side to insulat the compartment.





Did some work on the new cabinet, cut vents in both sides, receiver get warm, so i added one vent pointed down towards a floor register, and one pointed up with a fan behind it, to cirulate air in the cabnet. I used the saw for this as well





I siliconed three sheets of glass in side the sump for my wall, used some foam to space it all out right. BTW i used a glass cutter. Not one clean break ??? didnt know what to use, so ran the ends along the grinder on the long parts.

 

[CHOMPERS]

Here's the trick... what are you asking your sump to do?

"Bigger is better" is true in the aspect that adding more volume is good for diluting nitrates and other pollutants (the solution to pollution is dilution).

If your asking it to perform mechanical filtration, then the design is more critical than the size...

If your asking it to maintain your "biological filtration" it is likely a tea cup will be enough... since in all reality you already will have adequate "surface area" in the aquarium to house enough bacteria to keep things healthy...


I once set up a UGJ powered by an external pump. Water was pulled out og the tank (through a prefilter)... through a pump that was located below the tank... then pushed back into the tank through a "closed loop" UGJ...

This could be called the ultimate in small sumps... as it helped filter water... and was a zero gallon sump... "it worked"... as water went through a prefilter (mechanical filtration) and the side walls of the tubing (very slightly) incresed surface area (sort of - bio filtration)...


There is no size sump that "does not work"... but there are many sumps that will not work for the users desired effect... but design will usually be the issue, not volume...



PS - So I don't feel the question should be "will it owrk"... I think the question should be "will it work better than simplier option"...

Awsome pearls of wisdom! I enjoyed most the common sense approach that you took. You get two thumbs up.

 

[CHOMPERS]

My biggest problem...is that I am lazy. Seldom vac, or change the water...

That sounds like me. I have a 55g barrel of aged water ready to go but I can't find the gumption to stick a hose in it. It has been waiting for me for about two weeks now.

 

[CHOMPERS]

... Not one clean break ??? didnt know what to use, so ran the ends along the grinder on the long parts.

That's typical of a bad cutter wheel. Was it a new one or one that had been beaten around a bit? Another thing is glass hates to be scored multiple times. The wheel hates it too.

 

[tcarswell]

Progress is looking sweet I like how your taking your time and doing it right. Props man and best of luck.

 

[Redoog]

ty all.

Chompers, brand new tool, I watched some vids, and i think i was pushing 2 hard. And no oil, I willtry again, with oil, and a lighter faster score. See what happens, jsut for fun