# Simple DIY sump filter



## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

I have been gathering and preparing the materials for "a simple diy sump filter".
I will use a 30 gallon breeder aquarium as the main sump.
Inside this I will have a 10 gallon" turtle tank".
Also I will use a cat litter bucket.(the kind you can purchase cat litter in).
These will be the three main components of the whole build.
The thirty gallon aquarium was a previous fiter I had built, that does have one piece of this build siliconed in place.A "holder" for tank divider that is easily purchased(although it seems new dividers lack this specific piece{I don't know}).
Besides this one piece there will be NO caulking or glueing necessary,yet there will be a refugium,over flow,and mechanical filter compartments seperate on their own.
I have made several(if not many) wet/dry,sump style filters in my past(20 years) including 2 seperate systems that ran a LFS saltwater section completely.
This will be as described a simple yet through my experience effective filter that will function well for reef/salt systems as well as any freshwater(and yes freshwater does benefit from sump filters) aquarium.
My intention is truely to build a GREAT FILTER, but time and previous builds tell me that this is also the simplest of builds.
So I hope all who even feel "not super skilled or handy" give this a look and possibly even find an easier approach,or build one like this for themselves.
My tank,a 120 gallon reef ready already has two overflows built into it,but if your tank does not have built in overflows than a surface skimmer like CPR,or REEF OCTOPUS will work just as well.
Next I will provide pictures of all material and explain what is done(very little).
I hope all who don't understand or have wet dry/sump filters veiw this and realise how simple this most efficient filter available can be to have.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Will be watching this closely as I intend to build my own in a while and I have experimented/w my own brand of such because I do freshwater plankton
as I like to call the scuds/daphnia and such and need a filter which does not filter. LOL 
My filter will allow fish fry and shrimp fry plus any of the other "bugs" that I mentioned to pass right through, but does much the same/w particles of
whatever that may be suspended in the water. But mine are built into the tanks and I would like for them to be sump type instead to get my whole tank
for viewing instead of part being a filter.
Aquarium Gallery - Second bio filter after some growth
Aquarium Gallery - Built in Bio Filter
I am keenly interested in this especially the smallest details of it.
Filter materials..Fluval Pre-Filter nodules 500g box (did not use whole box) on bottom under "Bio-Bale" bio-filter media found on e-bay.


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## briandeeds13 (Jan 17, 2013)

looking forward to this as I want a bigger tank and would love to add a sump to it


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

So here are the parts of filter;

This is a 10 gallon "turtle Tank".What makes it a turtle tank is one side of the aquarium is only 6 inches high so a hob filter could be used without filling the tank to top.

This is a tank divider holder.This part was already siliconed into the 30Breeder and located where I could use it so in this build I will use 2.One on each side of 30 breeder to hold acrylic baffle.

Another view of holder.

This is sponge I will use.I cut it in half to fit where it goes.

This is the cat litter bucket with holes drilled in bottom 1 inch apart in each direction.The holes in center are 1/4 inch and holes on outer edges are 1/2 inch.Smaller holes in middle are not necessary with how I will do this but if mechanical pad will lay directly on the bucket then they help make water go through hole pad instead of just middle.

This is bucket in turtle tank.Not just chance that it fits perfect and if a wider turtle tank is used(20 gallon)then the tidy cat rectangular bucket will work,but measure first.The bucket bottom is about 4 inches above the bottom of turtle tank allowing good flow.

This is the 30 Breeder with tank divider holders and acrylic baffle with a cut out where the sponge will be.

This is the set up without the bucket.The overflow of the turtle tank is towards the end of the breeder tank and has about 1 inch space.The sponge fits nicely cut in half along side of turtle tank and is in front of cut out in the acrylic baffle.

This is the whole filter with bucket in place.
Hers how it will work ,or the flow pattern;
Water will enter the top of the cat litter bucket(I have not yet drilled the holes ),then the water will flow through bucket with mechanical material in it .Gravity will do all the work here,and the mechanical material you choose is up to you.I will have a couple layer of different micron filters going coarse to fine.You could and I have just used filter floss(buy big bag $9).After comming out holes in bottom of bucket water will fill turtle tank until it overflows the 6 inch high side(I will have calurpae in this part and lighting above)No syphon tube or anything (which I do have in other DIY filters) to fail just water overflowing the cut out side of turtle tank.Next water will travel along the side of turtle tank until it gets to the sponge where it passes through into the main(equipment area of sump).I have water travel under baffle,through sponge instead of over so I get maximun water volume in my filter.If water must go over then all water before baffle is not usable in waterchanges or or evaporation and will cause pressure on baffle,bowing it or even dislodging it.(Ask me how I know).
So water will be in equipment section and ready to be heated,pumped into other filter equipment(protien skimmer,bioplastic reactor,whatever you want)and finally pumped back to aquarium.There is 12x 18 inches of space in this last compartment to fit most equipment.Depending on your pump size(for other equipment) and heater they may fit along the side of turtle tank before sponge.
That's where I'm at right now,and the whole idea should be pretty clear.I will drill holes for supply into top of bucket,and arrange mechanicals,and install the whole filter to the aquarium next,but most of the work is done.You may have to silicone holders for baffle(tape in place till silicone dries) and drill holes in bucket(supply and drains),but not alot of work.I don't give specific measurements as you may use any size turtle tank or sump tank and they may be different,but all in all this is a simple build.I will follow with mechanicals and supplylines and set up but there it is.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

It looks really simple..great and thanks for the step by step. People often leave this out.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

So I plan on stacking buckets(inside each other) to have different stages for different density mechanicals.There are shorter buckets(cat litter) that will work well.I tried to use a couple screw/nail buckets yesterday(the same size),but they cracked when I tried to drill them.So staring at the bottom of the buckets I noticed different recycling numbers which mean they are different plastic.Look for the 5 inside the triangle as the buckets that cracked had number 2 in the recycle triangle.With enough room in stand you could stack several bucket to have multiple layers of mechanicals.I also plan on drilling overflow holes so I can tell if media gets clogged as buckets are not clear.I didn't want clear buckets anyways as with lights on the refugium 24/7 I didn't want algea to grow inside mechanical area.I'll follow this up with photos when I get to finalising.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

OK finishing up besides installation;
I finally found a shorter bucket with the #5 in the recycling triangle(this does make a difference as the #2 cracked everytime).I drilled holes in the bottom just like the first bucket and then stacked them together and drilled overflow holes in the SIDE of both(I drilled through both at the same time).



I also drilled overflow holes in the lower bucket that only go through that bucket.
Next I drilled holes in the lid to receive 2 pvc fittings that the drain hose from the tank will connect to.I used rubber O rings to help make tighter connection and hold the pipe in place(1 on outside of lid one on inside of lid.Then I fit a pvc coupler to hold it all even better(no glue).



And finally both buckets in place.

So all that is left is installation.That's next.
The overflow holes will allow air to help water flow and show when the mechanical pads are clogged by allowing water to exit the buckets,flowing into the refugium .


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

So about 1 1/2 hours later the filter runs!
Here's the before filter;

Here's the after;

I gained 10-12 gallons of usable water in filter ,10x the mechanicall filter material and room for so much more.I also got better order of equipment with heater and protien skimmer pump running along side of the turtle tank,where all water must pass.I have several more sponges and a refugium with calurpae and 24/7 lighting.My protien skimmer now returns water on top of the sponges also helping with any microbubble issues.Before I had protien skimmer return into a sock.
Here's the mechanicals I have in use now;

The top bucket has 3 layers of lifegaurd felt pad and spiral matrix(the black stuff on right)seperating each layer along with matrix on bottom over the drain holes(allows full pad usage instead of clogging where the holes are).The second bucket has corallife 100 micron filter pad x3 with the matrix also.Both pads come from Drfosterandsmith and are well priced for the amount you get.They come in 30"x36" sheets.
So no wild rabbitt, it is up and running .
I'll update any issues or mods that take place.
The previous filter(berlinner 125) is a good filter,but had limited mechanical,which slowed flow quickly and no where near as much water in the sump as I wanted.Possibly I'll drill my 29 with 2 overflows and use it there?


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

So filter is running well.I need to make one modification(not necessary but I choose too).The level the water i at in the turtle tank portion of the filter is high enough in comparison to the depth of the deep bucket, that in 4 days water was comming out the relief holes.I don't think this is a problem truely as in saltwater there are still other parts much more important than mechanical filtering.Also the bottom(deep) bucket uses 100 micron filter pads which is much finer(tighter) than most any other aquarium pads(considerably tighter).

So I just cut the top off of another bucket and placed both buckets in it to boost them up another 2 inches,which will help.
Otherwise the filter seems to running great and I just cleaned the first coarse pads for the first time and they were doing a good job.


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