Fast forward 24 hours. My sump has cured for a full day and most of the joints feel sturdy (as I had mentioned my welds were far from perfect on the joints). I was real anxious to fill the sump up and do a water test to see how it worked! I was pretty much 99% sure the tank was going to leak if not completely BURST at the seams due to my poor craftsmanship. So, I gave it a go! And who would had guessed...
.JPG)
The mother effer held water!
Not only did it hold water but it didn't leak. Pretty much at all! After 8 hours a small bead had formed on the bottom of the tank (I had forgot to weld a seal on the bottom corner in a spot so this was understandable). I was truly shocked and amazed. If my poor craftsmanship could make something that held water perhaps I actually do have a shot at making this work!
There were issues though. First off the long walls of the sump were bowing out a bit from the water pressure. I had seen people say that happens sometimes online but I'm not too comfortable with that. I think I'm going to find a way to further support the walls to ensure they don't rupture 2 weeks into my tank being set up and flood my living room. But that's an issue for another day.
There were issues though. First off the long walls of the sump were bowing out a bit from the water pressure. I had seen people say that happens sometimes online but I'm not too comfortable with that. I think I'm going to find a way to further support the walls to ensure they don't rupture 2 weeks into my tank being set up and flood my living room. But that's an issue for another day.
So I took my sump and performed a fit check and hey! 2 for 2! Things are looking good so far.
Yay it fits.
So I knew I wanted a protein skimmer in my sump. I also knew I was going to NEED a return pump. I began looking online for options. Here's something I never mentioned- part of the benefit of a sump is you can put all your unsightly equipment out of field of view. you can put your skimmers and pumps and all sorts of stuff away so it's not hanging on the back of your aquarium. Keep in mind you can absolutely buy protein skimmers that hang on the back of your tank. You can also buy water pumps that work externally, so they don't have to be IN the sump. The real difference is going to be price. I looked at a lot of different options and decided what I wanted. Take a look!
The second item I purchased was a Danner Mag-Drive Supreme 9.5 submersible water pump from MarineDepot.com for 110$. This would be the pump which pushes the water back to the display tank from my sump. It's rated at 950 gallons per hour (gph) but there are some technical issues with that. First off when picking a return pump you want to know how many times per hours ALL the water in your tank is cycled through the filtration system. It's recommended at least 5 times per hours with 10+ being okay for a reef tank. Some hobbyists even go so far as to do 30-40 cycles per hour. So with a 44 gallon tank 10 cycles an hour is 440 gph. I was aiming for 10-20 cycles so I was in the 500-750 range. So why did I buy a pump rated for 950 gph? There's this little thing called "head distance." The head distance is how far the pump needs to push the water up. The further the distance the harder the pump needs to work. So at 1' head distance my pump pushes with 780 gph. At 3' 740gph. I approximate my head distance to be about 4-5' so at the low end my pump pushes 685gph at 5'. Not too bad. Lets design this sump!
I updated my schematic and came up with this...
As you can see my sump is quite full in this schematic. I also feel I should explain what the blue area is. It's called a bubble trap and it's used to do exactly what it sounds. When saltwater splashes around it creates what are called microbubbles. Just really fine bubbles in the water. Also, I believe protein skimmers can increase microbubbles but don't quote me on that. Anyway a bubble trap is made of 3 separators called "baffles." These baffles direct the flow of water toward the bottom of the tank while at the same time the microbubbles float to the surface and pop. Here's a beautiful illustration to illuminate my point.
So back to my schematic. So the water flows in through the yellow input drainage. The water gets cycled through the protein skimmer, travels the bubble trap and overflows into the output chamber. As you can see due to the actual size of my skimmer/return pump I have no room for a refugium which is also sad. I could get an external pump but that'd be more expensive and I'd still only leave me a 7.5'' x 7.5'' space for a refugium which still isnt very good. Realistically I'm not increasing my water volume much because my skimmer/pump are displacing a large volume of water by being inside my sump. What a pain in my ass. This plan is quickly going to hell. Now what do I do?
Day 2
Cost- 260$ in aquarium supplies
Total Cost Supplies- 300$
Total Cost Tools = 80$
I had reached the maximal amount of space underneath my tank and had produced a water tight sump. I was pleased. Now I just had to decide what to put in it and how to design it (technically I had already done this prior to building anything and recommend anyone trying this does the same).
So I knew I wanted a protein skimmer in my sump. I also knew I was going to NEED a return pump. I began looking online for options. Here's something I never mentioned- part of the benefit of a sump is you can put all your unsightly equipment out of field of view. you can put your skimmers and pumps and all sorts of stuff away so it's not hanging on the back of your aquarium. Keep in mind you can absolutely buy protein skimmers that hang on the back of your tank. You can also buy water pumps that work externally, so they don't have to be IN the sump. The real difference is going to be price. I looked at a lot of different options and decided what I wanted. Take a look!
T
he first item I purchased as an AquaEuroUSA Classic Protein Skimmer 55 from CSNstores.com. It's a skimmer made for a 55 gallon tank (slightly larger than what I have) and it put me back about 150 dollars after shipping. Really very modestly priced as far as skimmers go.
he first item I purchased as an AquaEuroUSA Classic Protein Skimmer 55 from CSNstores.com. It's a skimmer made for a 55 gallon tank (slightly larger than what I have) and it put me back about 150 dollars after shipping. Really very modestly priced as far as skimmers go.
The second item I purchased was a Danner Mag-Drive Supreme 9.5 submersible water pump from MarineDepot.com for 110$. This would be the pump which pushes the water back to the display tank from my sump. It's rated at 950 gallons per hour (gph) but there are some technical issues with that. First off when picking a return pump you want to know how many times per hours ALL the water in your tank is cycled through the filtration system. It's recommended at least 5 times per hours with 10+ being okay for a reef tank. Some hobbyists even go so far as to do 30-40 cycles per hour. So with a 44 gallon tank 10 cycles an hour is 440 gph. I was aiming for 10-20 cycles so I was in the 500-750 range. So why did I buy a pump rated for 950 gph? There's this little thing called "head distance." The head distance is how far the pump needs to push the water up. The further the distance the harder the pump needs to work. So at 1' head distance my pump pushes with 780 gph. At 3' 740gph. I approximate my head distance to be about 4-5' so at the low end my pump pushes 685gph at 5'. Not too bad. Lets design this sump!I updated my schematic and came up with this...
As you can see my sump is quite full in this schematic. I also feel I should explain what the blue area is. It's called a bubble trap and it's used to do exactly what it sounds. When saltwater splashes around it creates what are called microbubbles. Just really fine bubbles in the water. Also, I believe protein skimmers can increase microbubbles but don't quote me on that. Anyway a bubble trap is made of 3 separators called "baffles." These baffles direct the flow of water toward the bottom of the tank while at the same time the microbubbles float to the surface and pop. Here's a beautiful illustration to illuminate my point.So back to my schematic. So the water flows in through the yellow input drainage. The water gets cycled through the protein skimmer, travels the bubble trap and overflows into the output chamber. As you can see due to the actual size of my skimmer/return pump I have no room for a refugium which is also sad. I could get an external pump but that'd be more expensive and I'd still only leave me a 7.5'' x 7.5'' space for a refugium which still isnt very good. Realistically I'm not increasing my water volume much because my skimmer/pump are displacing a large volume of water by being inside my sump. What a pain in my ass. This plan is quickly going to hell. Now what do I do?
Day 2
Cost- 260$ in aquarium supplies
Total Cost Supplies- 300$
Total Cost Tools = 80$
No comments:
Post a Comment