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View Full Version : First time Do It my self project need help



Discus master
09-23-2010, 02:43 PM
Ok so I will admit I usually buy everything I need already done up and enginered. So here is what I want to do, I have a 55 gallon disucs tank and I am currently using a canister filter, my wife is letting me upgrade in the not to distant future and I would need to get a beefer filtration system.

So my question is this I was thinking i wanted to try and make a sump, run it on my current set up for a few months than move it over to my new set up once I get. The filter will already be cycled and I will already have all that BIO media I can re use, I have a basket in my canister filter now dedicate for ceramic rings so I would like to use those and then add whatever bio meadia would be good for the system

I have a 30 gallon tank thats water proof it was a small community tank, I would love to use this for my sump if that would be large enough for say a 100 gallon tank or so?

I was thinking of having three chambers first would be for drip plate and bio media, filter pad, second would be for my heaters I could finally get out of my tank, and in between the second and third section as I often see a small area big enough for a filter block and a bag of purigin, then obviously the third section would be for the sump pump it self.

I am planning on buying a pre drilled tank with a built in over flow maybe two depending on how big the tank is.

I am not sure how this all works how the water gets feed down to the sump and what pump rating I would need for the GPH and the drainage from the tank I am not sure how to keep the sump from over filling and I am assuming its gravity feed and then the sump return the water? but what controls the speed of the intake? and how do you set the depth of the thing and of power goes out how does it stop from over filing? I have a bit of an idea of how this thig works but I need plans. I was thinking plexi glass I could cut on my dads jig saw and using that aquarium silicone for the sealing.

Basically I have no idea how to do this I need help from beginig to end I would love to save my self a ton of money and make it my self I see tons of others do it and the store ought ones are expensive and I know you can make em at a fraction of the price. I am not sure how poerful of a pump I need and if it would have two returns a spary bar or what. I want enough flow but not to much as it is a discus tank. I want a killer sump with great filtration for this new set up best of all all the equipment ill be in the sump instead of in the tank and it increases my water holding capacity a bit as well. So help please! Thank you in advance as always thank you very much every one.:D

GoingDiscus
09-24-2010, 09:16 AM
Well lets see I really enjoy DIY stuff and didnt know anything about a sump set up, The guy at the LFS here had a sump setting in the back of his shop collecting dust it had been drilled full of holes and he said it wasnt doing him any good and he didnt want to mess with it, so he gave it to me.
I brought it home and cleaned it up sealed some of the holes and raised the 1st divider for more water in the first compartment,then in the second compartment I put about 3 inches of the gravel that is for plants eco complete, and planted about 20 lucky bamboo shoots in the second compartment,the water has to run thru the gravel from the top to the bottom to get to where the pump is, so the plants use alot of the waste.
I also have a crawdad in the first compartment that eats any big pieces of food or whatever may come down the pipe feeding the sump.
I have this setup hooked into a tank with 2 Oscars and they are pretty messy fish when it comes to eating.
for the over flow you can either drill a hole in the tank where you want the water level to be( had to put the hole there on this tank because the bttom had a label that said not to drill the bottom) also Ive noticed this set up doesnt make the gurgling sound the stand pipe does.
You can also use the type with a stand pipe which from what Ive seen is very common.
Te sump will only be about half full or so when the tank is full so if the pump should fail you will have room for the water coming out of the tank and not have an overflow. the water coming to the sump will be the same amount that your pump is puting in the tank, I use a one inch pipe to the sump so I am sure that the sump pump wont overfill the main tank.
Youll determine the size of the pump you need depending on the size of your tank and the amount of turn over you want.
Im still experimenting with this setup and have a few things I would like to try as soon as I get some hard number as to water quality and such. I can say this if I turn the sump off for about 4 days the water starts to get kinda dingy looking and when I turn it back on it will be as clear as if I had changed the water in about 5 or so days.
You can build a sump out of an aqaurium and some sheets of glass from a glass shop, and its realtively cheap, I just got a marine land lagoon setup and its pretty pricey.
There are a ton of DIY sump plans out there some are pretty extravagant ans some are simple just do a search for DIY aquarium sump and get some ideas, I built mine out of things I had.
I hope this helps you some, and good luck let me know how it turns out
Ron

Discus master
09-24-2010, 09:52 AM
Well lets see I really enjoy DIY stuff and didnt know anything about a sump set up, The guy at the LFS here had a sump setting in the back of his shop collecting dust it had been drilled full of holes and he said it wasnt doing him any good and he didnt want to mess with it, so he gave it to me.
I brought it home and cleaned it up sealed some of the holes and raised the 1st divider for more water in the first compartment,then in the second compartment I put about 3 inches of the gravel that is for plants eco complete, and planted about 20 lucky bamboo shoots in the second compartment,the water has to run thru the gravel from the top to the bottom to get to where the pump is, so the plants use alot of the waste.
I also have a crawdad in the first compartment that eats any big pieces of food or whatever may come down the pipe feeding the sump.
I have this setup hooked into a tank with 2 Oscars and they are pretty messy fish when it comes to eating.
for the over flow you can either drill a hole in the tank where you want the water level to be( had to put the hole there on this tank because the bttom had a label that said not to drill the bottom) also Ive noticed this set up doesnt make the gurgling sound the stand pipe does.
You can also use the type with a stand pipe which from what Ive seen is very common.
Te sump will only be about half full or so when the tank is full so if the pump should fail you will have room for the water coming out of the tank and not have an overflow. the water coming to the sump will be the same amount that your pump is puting in the tank, I use a one inch pipe to the sump so I am sure that the sump pump wont overfill the main tank.
Youll determine the size of the pump you need depending on the size of your tank and the amount of turn over you want.
Im still experimenting with this setup and have a few things I would like to try as soon as I get some hard number as to water quality and such. I can say this if I turn the sump off for about 4 days the water starts to get kinda dingy looking and when I turn it back on it will be as clear as if I had changed the water in about 5 or so days.
You can build a sump out of an aqaurium and some sheets of glass from a glass shop, and its realtively cheap, I just got a marine land lagoon setup and its pretty pricey.
There are a ton of DIY sump plans out there some are pretty extravagant ans some are simple just do a search for DIY aquarium sump and get some ideas, I built mine out of things I had.
I hope this helps you some, and good luck let me know how it turns out
Ron

Well yes this does help, but I do have a couple of questions for instance so I want to go to home depot or Lowes can I use plexi glass and cut it my self and use that aquqrium sealant to seal the sections in the sump? or is the plexi glass toxice or something I heard of people using Acrylic I thought plexi would be fine as well it is eaier to work with and I cun cut it on the jig saw. Also I understand that the flow comming out of the tank will be the same going in but thats with a gravity feed sump, how does the ones work were you have to start a spyhon on? I mean how do you control the ammount of water comming in versuns goiing out? I am worried A the spyhon would take to much out suck air and stop or the spyhon would not be fast enough and the pump would put to much water into the tank and over flow the tnk so how do these work? I have an older tank rite now and scared to drill on it but my new tank I am getting in the hopefully not to distant futre will definatley be pre drilled with probably to of those corner flows built in i want to up grade to like a 100 - 125 gallon tank for my 7 discus and then I maybe able to buy and fit 9 adults in comfortable in a 125 or larger. thanks for the help so far

GoingDiscus
09-24-2010, 04:05 PM
Not sure how those that use a syphon work, It just looked to me that too many things could go wrong. so I never used one,but I think they work pretty much the same way.Ive Never used plexiglass either and not sure if it will absorb impurities or not. Glass is plenty easy to work with and if you check around a glass shop they might just give you some of the drops from sheets they have cut. Ive drilled a couple tanks and one is the old slate bottomed type and had no issues, the bottoms are where the makers used glass that will break, just drill slow and let the bit do its job and you should be fine. I learned to drill from info on the internet keep the bit straight and just let it rip lol..I was sweating bullets the first time I drilled a whole in a corner tank but it worked just fine..
Ron

Discus master
09-27-2010, 02:51 PM
Not sure how those that use a syphon work, It just looked to me that too many things could go wrong. so I never used one,but I think they work pretty much the same way.Ive Never used plexiglass either and not sure if it will absorb impurities or not. Glass is plenty easy to work with and if you check around a glass shop they might just give you some of the drops from sheets they have cut. Ive drilled a couple tanks and one is the old slate bottomed type and had no issues, the bottoms are where the makers used glass that will break, just drill slow and let the bit do its job and you should be fine. I learned to drill from info on the internet keep the bit straight and just let it rip lol..I was sweating bullets the first time I drilled a whole in a corner tank but it worked just fine..
Ron

I have read you have to use special bit and some of those for glass are crazy expensive from what I hear. But then I heard there are cheap ones that are good for a few holes and their done, that be ine for me as I only have one tank to worry with. The next tank I buy I think I will get one pre drilled for a sump for sure, I priced them out new they cost about 60 - 100$ more than the ones that are not pre drilled but I maybe ale to pick up a good combo set up new from that fish place in Lancaster PA which is 35 minutes for me. Thanks for the info still curious as to how thoes over flow boxes work and how the flow control works with them.

csarkar001
09-27-2010, 03:21 PM
a few points:

gluing plexiglass to glass is not easy. silicone does not work well if there is any pressure on the joint. i have read in other forums that to glue plastic to glass, the best glue is "Mr. Sticky's Underwater Glue." but i have no personal experience with this.

if you can cut small glass panes, putting that in your glass sump with silicone will work much better.

glass to glass is easy (silicone). and plastic to plastic is also easy (weldon). but mixing the two is not so easy.

you can get cheap bits to drill glass at glass-holes.com. however, drilling glass is time consuming and nerve wracking. you should set your drill bit to a low speed and limit the amount of pressure you apply.

good luck with your project.

Discus master
09-28-2010, 01:04 PM
a few points:

gluing plexiglass to glass is not easy. silicone does not work well if there is any pressure on the joint. i have read in other forums that to glue plastic to glass, the best glue is "Mr. Sticky's Underwater Glue." but i have no personal experience with this.

if you can cut small glass panes, putting that in your glass sump with silicone will work much better.

glass to glass is easy (silicone). and plastic to plastic is also easy (weldon). but mixing the two is not so easy.

you can get cheap bits to drill glass at glass-holes.com. however, drilling glass is time consuming and nerve wracking. you should set your drill bit to a low speed and limit the amount of pressure you apply.

good luck with your project.

I think I would rather play it safe and use an over flow box, as far as building my sump is considered I need to get exact measurements and hom many pices I need or want at what sizes then have them cut perfectly straight and then silocone them in? I wonder how much the glass would cost me? how thick it would need to be and how many panes I would need all questions I need to find the answers to I better start measuring very very percie measurements. I just wish I could dind the plans for one using the same tank I have, it is a standard all glass aquarium from aqeon 29 gallon

DiscusOnly
09-28-2010, 01:10 PM
I think I would rather play it safe and use an over flow box, as far as building my sump is considered I need to get exact measurements and hom many pices I need or want at what sizes then have them cut perfectly straight and then silocone them in? I wonder how much the glass would cost me? how thick it would need to be and how many panes I would need all questions I need to find the answers to I better start measuring very very percie measurements. I just wish I could dind the plans for one using the same tank I have, it is a standard all glass aquarium from aqeon 29 gallon

You know you can build a DIY sump using a rubbermaid container along with a 5 gal bucket. It all depends on your budget and whether you care about the look.

Discus master
09-29-2010, 02:18 PM
You know you can build a DIY sump using a rubbermaid container along with a 5 gal bucket. It all depends on your budget and whether you care about the look.

yeah I know i have seen the you tube, video for that. I wanted to make mine with a little more class we will say. I am not loaded or whatever but I got enugh money to make something nicer. My used 29 gallon has nice straight line to work with so I thought that would work nice. I se the problem though of trying to use aquarium silicone and to a glass surface I did not think about that, I may start to price the store bought ones out.

csarkar001
09-29-2010, 11:08 PM
did not mean to discourage you from building your own sump using your 29g. it should be fine. many more people in the marine hobby build their own sump rather than discus keepers. (how many discus keepers even have a sump?)

for this reason you are much more likely to find detailed help on reef central for your sump project under their DIY section. (Mods: if my mentioning of RC is a violation, please feel free to edit out).

my wife did some stained glass work in her past and knows how to cut glass. she says you just score it and snap. if you want to take a whack at it, i think the tools are fairly cheap ... as long as you have some scrap glass to practice on ...

but if i were in your shoes, i would probably secure some DIY plans from RC or other on-line resource and have a glass shop cut the panes you need. you can then silicone everything together into your used 29g yourself without much trouble. connecting glass to glass using silicone results in surprisingly strong bonds and is fairly easy to do.

also, this thread may be helpful:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_overflow.php

Discus master
09-30-2010, 08:36 AM
did not mean to discourage you from building your own sump using your 29g. it should be fine. many more people in the marine hobby build their own sump rather than discus keepers. (how many discus keepers even have a sump?)

for this reason you are much more likely to find detailed help on reef central for your sump project under their DIY section. (Mods: if my mentioning of RC is a violation, please feel free to edit out).

my wife did some stained glass work in her past and knows how to cut glass. she says you just score it and snap. if you want to take a whack at it, i think the tools are fairly cheap ... as long as you have some scrap glass to practice on ...

but if i were in your shoes, i would probably secure some DIY plans from RC or other on-line resource and have a glass shop cut the panes you need. you can then silicone everything together into your used 29g yourself without much trouble. connecting glass to glass using silicone results in surprisingly strong bonds and is fairly easy to do.

also, this thread may be helpful:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_overflow.php

Thank you, I think I will begin to look into how much it would cost for the glass and to have it cut for me, not sure how many sections I need yet at what length and so forth but I will sit down and roungh out a draft of the plans and make some calls. Hopefully they do not charge to much, I wonder if I need to supply the glass my self or if they will have it to sell to me? I hope its not to expensive though or I would have to buy the already made up ones, I want this to look nice and profesinal as possible hence no 5 gallon bucketts and or rubber made container you know what I mean?

Discus master
09-30-2010, 08:37 AM
did not mean to discourage you from building your own sump using your 29g. it should be fine. many more people in the marine hobby build their own sump rather than discus keepers. (how many discus keepers even have a sump?)

for this reason you are much more likely to find detailed help on reef central for your sump project under their DIY section. (Mods: if my mentioning of RC is a violation, please feel free to edit out).

my wife did some stained glass work in her past and knows how to cut glass. she says you just score it and snap. if you want to take a whack at it, i think the tools are fairly cheap ... as long as you have some scrap glass to practice on ...

but if i were in your shoes, i would probably secure some DIY plans from RC or other on-line resource and have a glass shop cut the panes you need. you can then silicone everything together into your used 29g yourself without much trouble. connecting glass to glass using silicone results in surprisingly strong bonds and is fairly easy to do.

also, this thread may be helpful:

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_overflow.php

Forgot to thank you for the advice as I always do, thanks for helping me out!

csarkar001
09-30-2010, 08:10 PM
good luck with it! if you're doing it just to save money, i'm not sure it will save that much. but building something like this has its other rewards.