DIY sump?

[FrAnK3333]

I plan to make a sump in prep for my upcoming Sw tank. I have $50 and doing some thinking it wouldnt be that hard to make a sump. I plan to buy a 5 gallon tank and have a overflow box, which would be one of those things at the lfs they put the fish in before bagging them. Think that I can do it?

 

[pleder]

Have you thought of a rubbermaid instead of a 5 gallon. They are cheap and easy to work with. DIY sumps are not hard. I think you can do it for $50.

A DIY overflow is very easy o make.

 

[FrAnK3333]

did get a plasttic containor instead of the fish tank. So far the totla cost has been 3 dollars. I already have a pump so that woudl be the big cost I know of.

 

[Navarre]

what do you want to put in the sump? most sumps are the same really but if we were to know what type of filtration was going in the sump then we could advise with a better design.

 

[DannyBoy17]

Use rubbermaid. The only big costs on mine were the glass cutting but, the pump and the bioballs. I will get a pic if you want for tommorow?

DB

 

[FrAnK3333]

Could u get a picture? That would would be nice and helpful. I was just think of bio balls.

 

[FrAnK3333]

No more help?

 

[FrAnK3333]

No more help? Where Navarre?

 

[damia713]

i thought bio balls were a no-no in marine tanks?

bio filtration produce nitrite which isn't desirable in saltwater.
but i could be wrong, i am very new to saltwater but i have spent almost four months studying this stuff

hope that helps

 

[Def]

Bioballs produce nitrAte, not nitrIte, and that is useful in biofiltration tanks (ie: miracle mud) that grow algae as nutrient soaks. The algae uses up all the nitrates for improved growth, increasing the nutrients taken out the tank(when you harvest).

Frank, as Navarre said, it depends on what you want to use the sump for. This is my typical 3 section sump for miracle mud:

 

[Navarre]

Sorry for not replying sooner, been a little busy and missed this post. )

Here is a standard MM sump as recomended by eco systems.

And here is a similar sump with a crypto partition