madmark285

You can use an air powered sponge filter. if possible, mount the air pump above the tank so no worries about siphon issues.

For a refugium specifically designed to grow pothos emersed, I can make the refugium 20" long, ~1.5" wide with a water depth of 4". The refugium will be attached to the back wall of the sump (29 gallon aquarium). This will only use ~.6 gallon of space in the sump. That's perfect. The cover can be a bunch of small pieces of PVC with a hole cut on the side. So screw down one piece, put plant in, screw down another piece. I have a spare Hygger Full Spectrum Fish Tank Light (24") Big thanks to all, this should work great! NOTE: I could make the refugium using a 2" piece of pipe, just drill a hole on top and stick a plant in. But this would be difficult to clean.

Here is a top view of the sump (29 gallon tank): To add a refugium, I eliminated one filter sock. The fluidized bed will use 3 gallon of K1 media and is ~15" x 5.75" x 14" tall. With the pump off, the water reservoir holds ~10-12 gallons. This is for a 75 gallon Mbuna tank but I have no plans with water additives. Ph is around 7.8 and somewhat hard water. But I will add crushed coral inside the return pipe to help stabilizes the water, act as a muffler and prevent debris from entering the pump section.

So in my latest sump, I want to add a refugium for growing Java/Christmas moss emersed. The primary goal is filtration ie: remove nitrates. The refugium is basically a tray which will be attached to the last baffle wall in the sump. The tray will be ~2" tall, 4" wide and 20" long. Below is a simple diagram: So the water flows over the Sump Baffle into the Refugium then down the Water return pipe. I was thinking about a 1" water depth in the refugium with a screen for the moss on the water surface. But I am clueless on this, I suck at growing plants. I can mount the screen in the middle of the water and could increase the water depth. I would gladly accept any ideas. Mark

What are you using for an overflow box? I have the same problem, I lost a Hillstream loach who went into the sump. If using one of these, make sure it has a top. That would have stop my Hillstream loach. For the front slots, I am thinking about embedding small magnets on the front face then build a frame/screen with magnets. So the screen can be easily removed for cleaning, you don't want this to get plugged ie: overflowing your tank issues. For my 75 gallon Mbuna tank, I will be buying baby fish which could get sucked into the sump. So I will initially put a screen over the slots and once they get big, I can remove it.

And I have no doubt, it will work and look great! Interpid Partner is very talented on building things, the stand is amazing. Not to throw a monkey wrench into this build but I wish we could go back a year, Interpid Partner could have built an amazing sump using a 55 gallon tank. Oh no!!! Should I start investigating a UV sterilizer for my latest sump build 🙂

So would adding a Yugang reactor help on the inconsistent issue? Just let the yeast/sugar pump Co2 into the reactor and let the water absorb what it can.

Thanks Mmiller, this reactor is so cool! I love creative DIY stuff. Horizontal CO2 Reactor - Yugang 鱼缸 Reactor FYI, for a Halloween prop, I drilled into PVC pipe/fittings using a forstner drill bit and screwed in Pneumatic Push to Connect fittings. No clue if this is safe for underwater use. This will self tap into the PVC pipe ie: cut threads. You could just start a new hobby, brewing mead 🙂

Most likely you will not be producing enough CO2, would a diffuser bell work ie: capture all the CO2 being produced? I never tried this. @Mmiller2001 uses a DIY Co2 reactor built from PVC pipe, there may be a design suited for DIY CO2 system. Someone suggested using yeast used in fermenting mead such as Lalvin K1-V1116, this can handle high alcohol content (?? 18%).

Excellent job, looks great!

If I had sponges for mechanical filtering, I would toss them in the washing machine and see what happens :-) I was thinking about the issue of a washing machine not cleaning filter socks. So for my latest and hopefully last sump design, I going to glue the sock holder (4" PVC coupling) to the sump cover/lid (1/2" piece of cellular PVC). For maintenance ie: changing the socks, I don't have to remove the sump lid. If I have to switch to sponges ie: wife buys a front loading LG washing machine, just knock off the sock holders and stick a sponges in that chamber. Couple other features I put in my sumps, I glue in a 1/2" piece of CPVC. For water changes, I get a siphon going and stick the hose on the pipe to drain the water reservoir chamber. I also put the heater in a coffin just in case I forget to unplug it when I drain the sump.

The solution to pollution is dilution. As @Mmiller2001 says, you can't test for alot of the crap in your tank.

FYI for concerning plumbing. My 75 gallon tank sat flush against a wall, there was an open in the wall behind the tank. Bottom line, I could not access the thru hull fitting/plumbing behind the tank. One day, the tank started a slow leak, I assumed it was the silicone seals. Turns out, the nut on the thru hull fitting was loose and the tank is fine. Next time I am going to put a stainless steel set screw into the nut so it can't loosen up.

Yes. I am currently doing this with K1 media for a fluidized bed.

This is my current sump design. The filter socks go in the 4" PVC pipes, the water exits the fluidized bed chamber on top of the white panel with 2 blue lines. I need a sump with enough water capacity that it does not need to be top off for 2 weeks. So instead of the refugium which would use alot of space, I would just build a rectangular planter box ~2-3" tall filled with gravel and connected it to water exit. The water would flow thru the planter box then into the sump. I would grow emersed plants. Basically, the plant box would sit on top of the sump. My next sump for a 75 gallon Mbuna tank will be much simpler design and will have a planter box. I want to put crushed coral/dolomite in the box but will plants grow in crushed coral?

Starting the bacteria colonies is a good idea. I would put the Oase bio media in the 10 gallon tank for a weeks or so. Then move the Oase to a 5 gallon bucket and start dosing it with ammonia in a bottle.

That could be the difference, I have a top loading washing machine. Even with the extra small setting, the socks are swimming in water. I will have to remember that if we need to buy a new washing machine. For sponges, you have the right design, use alot of them. My first sump was poorly designed. Another forum member, @OnlyGenusCaps, is thinking about using poret foam in the filter sock holders. Bulk reef supplies sells plastic cups which fit in the sock rings. He has a saltwater tank and needs to change the sock every few days. His logic, rinsing out sponges is easier than washing the socks all the time.

I just toss the socks into the washing machine with a little bleach and a second rinse. I have multiple sets, I wash all of them every few weeks. Washing the socks by hand would be a pia. I hated removing the sponge from the sump, all that crap in the sponge would dump into the sump. So then I would have to siphon all the water out of the sump to clean it. My first sump used two large sponges (course and fine). After a week or so, the water would just flow over them as the sponges collected crap from the tank. I prefer to get the crap out of the tank before it breaks down to ammonia. Video link. I need to add an air value to balance the flow between the airstones. I also put a 4" PVC coupling on top of the pipes.

You won't regret getting the gate value. For a quiet system, you should have a couple inches of water above the main siphon drain in the overflow box. So if your water pump is operating at 432.7 gph, your main siphon line needs to be operating at 432.7 gph. It's not that hard to tune. Once you are close, you just tweak the gate value a little and wait a few minutes to adjust. FYI, the full siphon flow rate of 1.5" pipe may be over 1,500 gph. On easy maintenance, having filter socks makes a big difference. I am a strong believer in separating mechanical and bio filtering. So if your filter socks are removing much of the organic crap in the tank, the bio media (ceramic rings?) would rarely need cleaning. And if you change the filter socks weekly, you are removing organic material before it breaks down into ammonia. You should get less nitrates in the tank.

Cool sump!! I hate sponges but with your system, you don't have to clean them often. This is my latest sump. It is somewhat complicated because I like building things. The sump currently under construction will be much simpler. The white panel with the 2 blue dashes is where the water exits into the return pump chamber. I added a couple more inches to it after testing the sump. Similar to HOB filters, this panel is sloped so the water slides down it ie: this eliminated the waterfall which can be very noisy. For the fluidized bed chamber, the water inlets are the 1" PVC pipes (both have air stones on top), the outlet is the box structure. The white panel labeled "top" was added just in case the box didn't work. It was not needed. Both work fine.

I setup my 40 gallon breeder this way, the overflow box on the side and the return line next to it in the corner. I had poor water circulation issue with just the single return line. I added another return line, now I have a return line, overflow box and another return line on the side of the tank. This improved circulation greatly.

Understood. I believe you bought a Seamless sump, how quiet are these? Intrepid Partner built a stunning Aquarium stand but it may not dampen noise from the sump. So i understand your concern. On a moving/fluidized bed filter, circulation pump would be quieter. I tried using an Aqueon pump, the K1 media got sucked around the pump shown below: To get a self cleaning filter, the K1 media needs alot of movement. But you should be able to use a timer and only run the air or circulation pumps a few hours/day. A bio filter with static K1 media is still very effective.

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) used by Seamless sump may be the best material for sumps. For DIY'er, it is hard to find a HDPE tubs and adding baffle walls may be a challenge. For a 20 gallon sump, 26" x 18" x 15" White Plastic Food Storage Box (~$50/shipping) might work. For sump using aquariums, I use 1/2 in. x 24 in. x 4 ft. White Reversible PVC Trim/Sheet ($42) for the baffle walls. Easy to cut and glue. The sump I am currently building will use 4 in. PVC Coupling ($3.88) for the filter sock holder, they fit perfectly. So for a large sump using 40 gallon breeder, 3 filter socks and a fluidized bed (~5 gallons K1 media), this would cost: Aqueon 40g on sale: $65 PVC sheet: $42 3 PVC couplings: $12 Heavy PVC glue& primer $15 Tube of silicone $8 K1 media ~$60 6 filter socks $30 Air pump (Tetra 150 class) & air stones $50 Orlushy DC-5000 water pump $65 Total $350. Note: You could build (2) 29 gallon sumps using the DC-4000 pumps for $220/each. A sump is on par with the Fluval FX canister filters concerning cost.

A few years back Amazon had a 1" version of this value, ProLine Stop Valve PVC, for around $15. I can't find it anymore. The Seamless sumps are not cheap, not sure why they don't offer a gate value.

I tried a 1" PVC ball value, a complete disaster. For the final fine tuning, I am just nudging the gate value. I can no longer find cheap gate values (1" or large) on Amazon, the Spears 1 1/5" cost ~$100 at BulkReef.