Turning 2 Foot Tank Into A Sump

[NoRp]

is it possible?

basically i have a 2 foot tank i want to turn into a sump to fit below my display tank, now i have built tanks before so i know how to silicone and stuff but instead of taking the whole thing apart id much rather just slide in the dividers and silcone them in place, my issue is with the dividers that hit the bottom of the tank. if im correct there will be a few mm of silcone stoping the new panes for sitting flush on the bottom of the tank. any ideas?


heres my idea

 ______________________________________________________________________________
|	i   |								   |			 |				   |
|	n   |		 |						 |	  |	  |	  |			|
|	t   |		 |						 |	  |	  |	  |			|
|	a   |		 |						 |	  |	  |	  |			|
|	k   |		 |						 |	  |	  |	  |			|
|	e   |	 (2) |				 (3)	 |   (4)|  (5) |	  |	 (6)	|
|		|		 |						 |	  |	  |	  |			|
|  (1)   |		 |						 |	  |	  |	  |			|
|		|  <3">   |			  <10">	  |	  |	  |	  |	 <4">   |
|<3">			  |						   <2"> |<1">	 <1">|			|
|__________________|________________________________|_____________|____________|

(1) Ceramic tiles?
(2) filter spong
(3) heater, co2 reactor, sand substrate to Grow out plants
(4) more filter media ( recomend some)
(5) the buble stoper? see all sumps design with this not sure why
(6) the return pump


lemme know if this is a good idea or any changes you would make?
i was also of thinking to do it in a 3d kinda way, so in section (1) i would put in another diving glass 6 inches in to split it in half ( front to back) ideas on that also

 

[NoRp]

all them views and no reply's?
surly someone must have an idea

 

[Colin_T]

you shouldn't have much in the way of silicon between the dividers and the bottom of the sump. If you put a bead of silicon on the bottom and sides of the sheet of glass and then slide it in. The weight of the glass will squish most of the silicon out to the sides and the glass should almost touch the sump base. Silicon is also water proof so there is no worries of the water seeping through it.

how big is the main tank that will be running on the sump? The sump will need to be able to hold any excess water from the main tank when there is no power.

the setup for the sump should be:
fine filter material to trap all sediment.
courser layers of sponge to hold bacteria and trap remaining partices that pass through the fine stuff.
ceramic beads or noodles if you want them. (the filter materials can normally all go in the first section, certainly filter wool and sponges can).
The section where you have 3, 4 & 5 can be opened up to one section, you don't need all those dividers. You can put heater, CO2 etc in there.
The return pump can go into section 6 as you have it.

The divider you have at the first compartment should be slightly lower than the top edge of the tank. That way if it clogs up and overflows the excess water will flow into the next compartment and not onto the floor.

Not sure what a bubble stopper is.