DIY 20 Gal L Refugium/Sump

[jl1x1]

So today I built myself a 20 Gal L refugium/sump. I bought the tank from PetSmart for $31, and the glass dividers for $3/ea from Lowes. For a total of about $50 after buying silicon and stuff. Here are the build pics, I had to remove the center brace on my tank stand to get the fuge under it. So I drained about 35 gallons out of my 75 Reef and removed the center brace.

[OIIIIIO]

There's not much room left over in your sump with those dividers that high. Can it hold the water when the power goes off to the return pump? The dividers in my sump are 8" high and the water fills up to almost the trim when the return is powered off.

Nice job on getting it under the tank. I have the same tank/stand and I had to drop my sump in prior to putting the tank on the stand. Did you put the center brace back in and how did you secure it if you did?

[OneDummHikk]

Looks nicely done. I took the divider out of a cabinet that appears identical to yours other than the one I did was painted black. To date I haven't had any issues with the stand. We didn't even bother to put the divider back in although we still have it. I considered making a way to put it back in but it still be easily removable.

[jl1x1]

Originally Posted by OIIIIIO

There's not much room left over in your sump with those dividers that high. Can it hold the water when the power goes off to the return pump? The dividers in my sump are 8" high and the water fills up to almost the trim when the return is powered off.

Nice job on getting it under the tank. I have the same tank/stand and I had to drop my sump in prior to putting the tank on the stand. Did you put the center brace back in and how did you secure it if you did?

Ya I thought of that after I had it all put together. I guess I am going to have to rig up something so it cant overflow. Any ideas? And I did put the center brace back in it was glued in so thats how I put it back.

[OneDummHikk]

Personally, I would test it first. Get everything up and running, then shut the return pump down. Be ready to turn it back on in case it wants to overflow but test it. If it turns out that it wants to flood, you can move the anti-siphon holes up in the display, and/or remove the last baffle and shorten it. The single baffle. That will lower the water in about half the sump and give you some extra room for an overflow.

Or, drill the sump tank, drain it into an overflow bottle. The only problem then is when the power is back on, it won't be "full" since it went in the overflow bottle/box. Not an ideal solution.

[James Robert]

I bult the same sump for my 60 gal. Baffles are 8.75 high. I used a cal. from one of the sight. When power is out , its right to the rim.

[jl1x1]

Just got done building the plumbing. I used 1/2" with a check valve on the bottom and a ball valve mid way up for maintenance and such. Ill post another pic once I have it under the tank and running.

Whoa weird, I was looking at the picture and I saw a face in the carpet. Look at it close, it takes up almost the whole picture. Let me know if you see it too. I showed my mom the pic and she sees it too.

[OneDummHikk]

I wouldn't depend on the checkvalve. Its going to get salted up and fail eventually. Simply drill an anti siphon hole in the return pipe right below the water line. One on each side so that they both can't get stopped up. Just 1/8" holes. You could even drill 4 of them for some built in backup, but don't depend on the checkvalve.

[jl1x1]

Okay now I just got done hooking it all up so here are the pics. I definetly lost some storage space by putting the sump in, but I think it will be worth it. I added bioballs, some Fluval 405 sponge filter pads and some floss to act as my mechanical filtration now. And now all I need to do is get my denitrator working and I will have a big chunk of my biological filtration, along with a deep sand bed and some macro, and it will be all done. I am really happy about the inside of my tank now, the back wall is clean and now not crowded with the UV, heater, skimmer, and other stuff.

[jl1x1]

Well today I got the refugium light put in. And put some sand in the fuge section. Also ordered some Chaetomorpha on ebay.

[jl1x1]

Got my Denitrator in now. Chaeto should be in on Wed.

[jl1x1]

Got the overflow box put on today and got the plumbing done.

[quick_murdoc]

WOW nice!

[jl1x1]

Originally Posted by quick_murdoc

WOW nice!

Thanks, it was pretty easy to do. I wish I had done it earlier. Total cost was about $73. and an extra $50 for the overflow, but cost includes plumbing and all.

[OneDummHikk]

Very nice and a very good price on getting it finished.