Cali Kid Corals

Sump advise appreciated...

671_H2O

671_H2O

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...I'm currently running a 40tall that came with a Fluval 205 canister. Got it because the wife liked it (the stand matched our living room theme) and married folks know "Happy wife Happy life". So there was no changing that. Now I know that the canister is pretty much a nitrate factory so I've opted to buy/build a sump. Question is which is more sensible? If you know where I can get my hands on a good deal or where I can get the materials to DIY it (since I'm fairly new to the Bay Area/Concord) I'd greatly appreciate the help. Cliff.
 
Sorry I can't help with exactly where to get everything, but it's quite easy to build a sump. Especially if you have limited requirements for it.

I'm hoping/assuming that your stand has some space in it for the sump. The most basic sump would be to get a tank (anything that will fit in the stand) and silicon some baffles (glass or acrylic pieces) into it. Glass pieces are available from OSH, Home Depot, Lowes etc and the same with acrylic pieces. The thin ones are easily cut @ home as well. Silicon should either be 100% aquarium silicon or GE I with no anti-microbial stuff in it. Again, available at HD, Lowes, OSH, etc.

I personally like building a sump vs buying one unless there's a ridiculously good price on it. This is basically because I'm cheap, and building a sump breaks down to:
$5 silicon
$8 (4 @$2) for baffles (I've done it with 3 before and it worked just fine)
$3 for acrylic cutter or glass cutter.
?? a used tank. Since it doesn't have to look pretty, anything free/cheap works fine.

This all just my opinion. If you want me to layout a true DIY for it, just let me know and I'll type one up. BTW, it can get a lot more complicated if you want a space for a skimmer, return pump, fuge, X reactor, etc etc.
 
Thanks for the response phishphood! I almost forgot the catch...my stand will most likely only allow me to construct one with he dimensions of 11"W x 16"L x 16-17"H. Building one does sound more fun though. Your opinion is greatly appreciated and a layout would be an awesome start/guideline for me. Can you factor in a skimmer if it's no bother? Will this be my main filtration method? Thanks alot! Cliff.
 
Hey Cliff. Sounds like you are in a bit of a space crunch so you will have to play with the numbers to get it to work. If you google a combination of DIY, sump and/or design you'll find tons out there. Here is a basic design I borrowed from someone (the file is named drewfuge but don't recall who Drew is, so thanks Drew :)) I'm thinking you'll most likely need to remove the fuge (since a 3 inch fuge wouldn't do much). Since you'll evey inch of space you have I'd go with acrylic since, not sure if Tap is cheaper than Lowes or HD but it shouldn't cost very much. hth
 
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