Home made sump / refugium (long with pictures)

[rockethead]

I bought my current tank used 2 months ago. When I bought the tank it included a sump - wet/dry filter loaded with bio balls. After reading various posts on Reef Central I decided to build my own sump. The old sump was 12 X 12 X 24 and was just barely small enough to fit through the cabinet doors sideways and still turn inside the stand so that it could be used. The stand that came with my tank has a center support which leaves me with two doors that measure 16 inches wide. When I started to design my new sump I had several goals in mind:
1.) Get rid of the bio balls
2.) Incorporate a refugium
3.) Slow flow rate through the refugium
3.) Increase the volume of water of my sump
4.) Be able to install and remove the sump without removing the center support on my stand.

I sketched out a design and ordered some plumbing parts from http://www.marinedepot.com/homepage.asp . Next I went to a local Acrylic materials supplier to price the Acrylic. (Tap Plastics has a store here in Bellevue, WA http://www.tapplastics.com/ ). For $6 per square foot they would cut the 1/4 inch clear acrylic to any sizes that I wanted. I also bought two types of acrylic cement from Tap Plastics.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B67523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B9756568ot1lsi

The cement cost me about $10 between them. The first can of cement has the consistency of water and is used to assemble the sump. The tube of Weldon 16 has the consistency of maple syrup and is used to seal the seams after the sump is constructed to make sure it is water tight.

When I ordered the Acrylic I ended up with 19 individual pieces of various sizes. After cementing the first few pieces this is what it looked like.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B67523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B975656%3Aot1lsi

The acrylic went together very easily. After about 45 minutes I had the sump half done.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B67523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B9756572ot1lsi

The design I came up with was to connect two different cubes together using a pair of 1 inch bulkheads and a PVC union. The first cube would have the drain from the tanks overflow box, the skimmer, heater, the return pump and a Mini-Jet 606 Power head that would pump about 100 GPH to my refugium which would be in the second cube. When the water level in the refugium reaches the level of the bulkhead it simply spills through the bulkheads and union into the first cube again. Each cube is 14" X 15" X 18". At this size each cube can easily fit through my cabinet doors, and it increases my sumps water capacity by 17 gallons over my old sump.

Here are the finished cubes.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B67523232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B9756573ot1lsi

Since this is my first experience working with acrylic I decided I had better test it out in the garage to make sure there were no leaks. So I filled it up to the level the water would reach during a power failure, and let it sit in the garage for a day.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B67523232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B9756577ot1lsi

While that was sitting I went to Lowes and bought 50 lbs of playground sand to use for my sand bed. Now it was time to make the switch. Since my old sump was in the way there was no chance to test fit the new sump inside the stand, but fortunately my calculations were correct and it was a perfect fit.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B67523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B9756574ot1lsi

After I got it up and running then ran to my LFS for some LIVE SAND to seed the sand bed with and some Caulerpa.

[witche42]

nice diy project, i was lucky, i had a 55 gal tank laying around so i just siliconed some baffles in and was done.

steven

[flyguy340]

Did they cut all the pieces for the sump for you? If so where do you find such a place?

[fastredponycar]

i'm thinking of using an old 5 gal tank as a small fuge below my tank.

Witche, what sort of baffles did you put in? And is play sand ideal for a sump?? Just wondering since people are all anal about what NOT to put in the tank. I've got bucket loads of sand in my tank that I can relocate to the sump if I go that route.

[rockethead]

One other thing I meant to do last night when I posted this was outline the total cost involved -

Acrylic cement - $10
Acrylic sheets - $151
Plumbing - $32
Playground sand - $2.50
LIVE SAND and Caulerpa - $15

Total - $210.50

[rockethead]

TAP Plastics is were I got the acrylic and yes they did cut all my pieces for free.(or at least their $6 per square foot price includes cutting service. http://www.tapplastics.com/

I put baffles between the inlet from my overflow and another set of baffles just before the water flows into the section where the return pump is.

When I was looking for the sand I just wanted to make sure I got small grain size and I tried to avoid Silica. Since silica dust can be harmful the playsand mix advertized on the bag that it contained no silica. Here is a good article about sand beds that I read. http://www.rshimek.com/reef/sediment.htm

[rockethead]

The light I installed for the refugium was a clamp on camping light fixture from Home Depot with a spiral fluorescent daylight bulb that is rated at 6500K. It consumes 19 watts but is rated as a 75 watt bulb. I'll post results later if this light is a good choice. The fixture cost $5.29 and the bulb cost $7.49.

[rockethead]

I have had a few people request a schematic drawing in personal messages, so I thought I would just post it here.

http://images.snapfish.com/339%3C%3B%3C8723232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3B9%3A5%3B367ot1lsi

[witche42]

hey ponycar,
the acrylic you can get at any platics or hd location. the silicone i used was regular silicone from hd or lowes. you DON"T have to buy the super expensive silicone from the lfs thats 13 bucks a tube, the silicone i used was only around 2 dollars but it has to be 100% clear silicone. i cut my acrylic with a table saw and made. took about 2 hours to make completely.

[flyguy340]

Can you silicone acrylic to glass?

[fastredponycar]

yeah that's what i was wondering because my 10 gal tank is glass and a few acrylic sheets and silicone would be dirt cheap.

[damick11]

sweet! I think you just inspired me to ditch my small sump and build one!

Oh, and to those asking about acrylic to glass- yes, I have successfully done so when I built a terrarium several years back. I had no issues at all.

[YYZ_125G]

To use silicon with Acrylic rough up the acrylic 1/4" next to the edge with sandpaper or the silicon won't stick well.

[RJPII]

Creative idea! I am sitting in a position similar to where you were with an old wet dry 'shell'. This prompts me to seriously look at prepping for my own DIY project.THANKS

[rockethead]

If anyone is thinking of an acrylic DIY project this is an excellent how to booklet online:

http://www.tapplastics.com/aa/pinfo/a_working_acrylite.pdf

[Ryan]

How big of a refugium could you buld with this method without having to upgrade to a larger thickness acrylic? Just wondering

[Freeskier98]

Hi,
I just had one question for you about the homemade sump/refug you made.

In your schematic drawing....

When the water first enters the sump from the overflow, is it entering simply a smaller cube box with a holed out bottom to drain the water into the main sump section??

Also how does the water get into the outlet chamber section? does it rise to a certain level then spill into that chamber?

Thank you
I new to all this, but want to start off on the right foot and build something right :)
Bryan

I attached a picture explaining where on your schematic drawing i have the questions...

[Freeskier98]

here it is

[rockethead]

Hopefully my artwork will make sense. When the water first flows in from the overflow I have a shelf with holes drilled in it so I can put some carbon in if I choose. After passing through the carbon and the holes in this shelf the water has to rise over a small wall and then pass under one the goes to one inch from the bottom. THe other half of my drawing shows the return pump chamber. The water enters through an opening one inch from the bottom, then flows over one wall and under another and over one more before reaching the return pump.


http://images.snapfish.com/33%3A38%3B9923232%7Ffp54%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3C2%3C84762ot1lsi

[rockethead]

I spaced the baffles in each of these chambers one inch apart, if I had it to do over again I would have made them a little farther apart (1 1/2 or 2 inches) because now the water flow through the baffles is fast enough to take some micro bubbles all the way through to the return pump. It is not a big problem, but it justs bugs me that any bubbles are getting into the tank. If the baffles were farther apart the water would flow through more slowly, allowing the bubbles to rise to the surface easier.

[Freeskier98]

Thank you so much for explaing that :)
Looks like im taking a trip to home depot tomorrow :)

[rockethead]

If you are going to fabricate your own sump from sheets of acrylic like I did make sure to familurize yourself with this how to unless you have done this before. http://www.tapplastics.com/aa/pinfo...ng_acrylite.pdf And definately test it outside of your house or in the bathtub, I would hate to be responsible for encouraging you to flood your livingroom. Mine has been running for 11 days now without any problems.

[flyguy340]

where do you find weldon or what other cement should be used?

[rockethead]

I went to my local Tap Plastics location and spoke with one of their acrylic guys. He recommended the two cements that I used. If you need a source to buy them they also sell the cements online.

http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/category.php?bid=21&

He suggested the capillary method described here to cement the acrylic sheets together.
http://www.tapplastics.com/uploads/products/pdf/pb02.pdf

He recommended the Weldon 16 to seal and reinforce the seams after the acrylic was assembled. The Weldon 16 has the consistency of maple syrup. To use it I tipped my sump up on one edge at a time, ran a bead of Weldon 16 along the full length on the seam, and then let it dry for 15 minutes per edge while the sump was propped up between some 4x4 posts to keep the Weldon 16 from running. Something like this.
http://images.snapfish.com/33%3A3995523232%7Ffp58%3Dot%3E232%3C%3D476%3D768%3DXROQDF%3E23234%3C3594898ot1lsi

[rockethead]

Ryan, Sorry I missed your post. I am not sure about how big you can go with 1/4 inch acrylic, the employees at Tap Plastics just told me that for my demensions it would be more than enough. I immagine if you email the guys at tap plastics with your dimensions they would tell you what thickness you need. There is a link to email them here. http://www.tapplastics.com/info/acrylic.php? And if anyone is wondering, I don't work for Tap Plastics but they were very helpful with this project.