How to deal with a sump when the vertical space is limited

[Fishionista]

We have a 75 gallon tank, and are building our own stand (it's nearly complete), and we want it to have a sump inside the stand.

Originally I wanted a 40 breeder. Although a 40 breeder fits inside the stand, there's only like 2-3 inches of space above the top of the 40 breeder. So very limited vertical space in which to work or do routine maintenance on the sump.

So I thought, cool, we'll just get a 30 breeder instead. Problem is, it seems like people aren't really making 30 breeders anymore...they seem to not really exist as new tanks or they're very expensive, and they're hard to find used. I'm gonna keep looking for awhile but we might not find one.

We could also do a 20 long, but I was hoping for a bit more water volume.

So, that brought me back to the 40 breeder. Its a common enough tank, and if we drilled high up in the sides of it, installing some kind of valve in it that we could cut on and off with some kind of mechanism to easily unhook the tank from the incoming pipes, we might be able to drain enough water from the 40, slide it out part of the way when we need to do maintenance, then slide it back in and then hook it up.

Anybody got any advice for this situation, or links to any youtube videos where people have made their own sumps where the piping comes in the side of the sump and the water flow can easily be cut off and sump removed from inside the stand?

Alternatively, anybody got any tips on finding 30 breeders?

 

[duanes]

Sumps don't need to be stacked up on top of each other to work.
In fact I intentionally put sumps kitty corner to the main tank to have better access to do maintainence.
I'm too old to be crawling around and contorting into a tiny cramped space, under a cabinet, so my sump are on the side, and slightler lower in elevation, with open to provide easy access.

I also want my sumps to be aesthetically pleasing, because the majority of the filtration is done by plants.

And with the use of plants, I want as much floor space available to them as possible
So above using a 125 gal sump, to filter a 180 gal tank.
And with this system, because the plants use up chemical and deterus waste quickly, I haven't needed to vacuum my slightly overstocked cichlid tank, in over 2 years, and nitrte remain undetectable.

 

[duanes]

I also set up small sumps this way inside the house when in the states.

Above is a 40 breeder used as a sump/refuguim fpr a 150 gal, that led in line to a barrel sump for equipment, like pumps and filter socks.
The barrel being open, help to access gear for maintainence.

 

[wednesday13]

We have a 75 gallon tank, and are building our own stand (it's nearly complete), and we want it to have a sump inside the stand.

Originally I wanted a 40 breeder. Although a 40 breeder fits inside the stand, there's only like 2-3 inches of space above the top of the 40 breeder. So very limited vertical space in which to work or do routine maintenance on the sump.

So I thought, cool, we'll just get a 30 breeder instead. Problem is, it seems like people aren't really making 30 breeders anymore...they seem to not really exist as new tanks or they're very expensive, and they're hard to find used. I'm gonna keep looking for awhile but we might not find one.

We could also do a 20 long, but I was hoping for a bit more water volume.

So, that brought me back to the 40 breeder. Its a common enough tank, and if we drilled high up in the sides of it, installing some kind of valve in it that we could cut on and off with some kind of mechanism to easily unhook the tank from the incoming pipes, we might be able to drain enough water from the 40, slide it out part of the way when we need to do maintenance, then slide it back in and then hook it up.

Anybody got any advice for this situation, or links to any youtube videos where people have made their own sumps where the piping comes in the side of the sump and the water flow can easily be cut off and sump removed from inside the stand?

Alternatively, anybody got any tips on finding 30 breeders?

Id eat the cost of some 2x4’s and make the stand tall enough to accommodate the 40 breeder and room to service it. Ive built alot of stands and regret some of them for the lack of space i left myself to work in. Its not enjoyable and will come back to bite u.

If ur dead set on ur current stand… look into different sized rubbermaid/poly tanks/totes that might fit and be shorter. Ive ran plenty rubbermaid type sumps over the years also w/o issues. You can even get the cheap/thin ones and double them up for extra assurance. Ive gone as far as cutting the hard lips off to shove them under stands also lol.

 

[M1A1]

Yeah I would look for storage totes that fit although the height limit will likely be an issue with these too. Maybe something designed for under-bed storage that is shorter but still long & wide enough? Look for materials like HDPE and LDPE which won't be marked as food (or fish) safe but generally are fine. You may want to add some wood/plywood reinforcement to keep the sides from bowing on the thin-wall totes. I never considered just doubling up but that seems like it would work.

I do have a 40 sump under a 75 display myself, custom steel stand which is awesome , but I think a 20 long with a separate 5 or 10 gallon tank for the ATO reservoir would do just fine. The extra room in front of the sump for all the accessories would be nice instead of taking up apparently-critical shelf space nearby too.

 

[jjohnwm]

I agree with the above. If your set-up has you measuring this tiny height over here and that narrow gap over there, and then deciding that as long as you have at least 8 & 17/64 inches under that crossbeam and no more than 4 & 9/32 inches between these two columns...well, I guarantee that you will come to hate the inconvenient and difficult access very quickly, and the dissatisfaction will only grow with time.

You're still in the planning stages now, so think long and hard about how to maximize the accessibility of your entire filtration system. Add a few inches to the height of the stand...place the sump directly on the floor rather than on a bottom shelf of the stand...do whatever you need to do now to make the long term ownership and maintenance as trouble-free as possible.

 

[Toby_H]

One of the beauties of building your own stands is you can custom design it to accommodate your preferences. Is there a reason the height of your tank can't be higher, allowing you more room for the sump?

 

[Fishionista]

It's not so much the cost of the materials that is the problem. We're both engineers and make good money. It's just the sheer effort we have already put into this stand haha. It is like 96% done and it's going to be absolutely beautiful. Only thing left to do is a some paint, it's even already primed.

We actually really like the height that this stand is gonna put the tank at from a visual perspective. It could be a bit taller maybe, but not much. But the inside bottom of the stand is intentionally maybe 5-6 inches higher than it has to be, so there might be some modifications we can make in there to lower the bottom without undoing all of the work. We are gonna be contemplating it.

I sure wish 30 breeders were more common.

We will also be thinking about totes, or the combination of a 20L and a 5 or 10.