# In-progress sump design



## Threnjen

Hubby and I have been working for a while on a 90g tank. It still doesn't even have water yet. I wanted to share the design of our 29g sump. Primarily we want to show it off, although I'm open to any constructive critiques (although there may not be much we can change at this point as I don't want to blow a ton of money on a redesign)









The whole design at a glance









Here's the start - a 29g tank. At the bottom left you see 4 pedestals (pvc plugs). 2 airstones (one arrived broken, replacement on the way). Our eheim pump off to the right, also on a short pedestal.









These two lengths of acrylic go in the left corners and are part of the eventual supports for the filter trays, which you'll see later. We could have used lots of things as these two pedestals, such as some PVC pipe, but we went with these 3" strips with holes drilled so that we can fit bio balls into the space. The more bio balls the better, right?









This is our bio-ball basket. We had some concerns about ability to access the airstones if the bio-balls were not capable of being removed. With this basket we can pull the entire bio-ball structure out of the sump if needed.
This basket LOOKS really fiddly but it's actually just held together by zip ties. It's not even cut/assembled with perfect measurements. Simple but effective.









Poured in the bio-balls. I had not done this before now. I didn't have enough to fill the basket! I might order some more. Can I have too many?
You see that the basket sits on the little pvc pedestals. This keeps the balls up off the airstones so that the stones can send bubbles up into the balls.









You maybe can't notice the addition here but there is a plexiglass baffle in front of the bio-ball basket. The opening is at the bottom. This is going to form the front support for our filter trays, along with being sealed on the sides of course.









Here's the mechanical filtration. It's a Sterilite 3-shelf unit. We'll have the overflow box feed right into the top. Each shelf has gradually finer filter sponges. The bottoms of the trays are cut out with egg crate inside. This all drips straight into the bio balls.









Peeking inside one of the drawers









You can vaguely see the addition here, it's another baffle. I've read threads suggesting that we really don't need an over baffle, but we have a few reasons we are opting to do it anyway. It gives us an area on the right to do water changes and add the new water with Prime without killing the bacteria, among other things.









The completed design.


Comments? Suggestions? Do you like it?


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## Raymond S.

I'm sure that in the A.M. he'll contact you in a reply. But look over this post to familiarize yourself/w it as I think you two
will be talking for a while about your new build. Your filter and his share the same components, just in your own "style".
Look great to me(both actually) and I'll say that salt is not me so I'll back off for now except for one thought. But do check
what I'm saying/w salt people as I'm not. Bio Balls are low in effectiveness when compared to other bio-media.
The quantity which you have for a 90 G likely is more than enough to compensate for that. I'm familiar/w the use of it in
freshwater environments so do check this/w salt people but Matrix is awesome for freshwater filters. Comes in "Pond" size also.
Seachem. Matrix
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f37/simple-diy-sump-filter-42406.html


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## Threnjen

I should have mentioned this is freshwater  I know we don't really need a sump for freshwater but we really like the idea of having all of the fiddly stuff out of the main tank. I want to add more water to the system etc etc so a sump was an easy choice for us even though I know it's unnecessary. Plus we tend to do our projects a little big-sized just for the fun of it. I love to DIY!

That Matrix stuff looks great. Maybe instead of getting more bio-balls I will finish out with this stuff and mesh bag it, I don't really want it loose in that setup I've made. Is Matrix heavy? The egg crate box couldn't take the weight of stone or anything like that. Maybe I will check the pond size, I just don't want pieces so small that they will fall through that egg crating.

Thank you for your comments, I have noticed you are a friendly and helpful presence on this board 

I just found coralbandit's post yesterday and I was pretty darn pleased with myself for coming up with my sump designs before seeing his! His sump is amazing. I was looking for some elements to take away from it like the overflow holes drilled in the fronts, but hubby pointed out that we will have overflow out to the sides of our drawers if needed just the way they are designed.


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## Threnjen

Looked up the Pond Matrix and that seems to be a great size. I will pick up a bucket of that instead of doing more bio-balls, and probably swap out most balls for the Matrix. Thank you for the tip!


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## Raymond S.

Threnjen said:


> I should have mentioned this is freshwater  I know we don't really need a sump for freshwater but we really like the idea of having all of the fiddly stuff out of the main tank. I want to add more water to the system etc etc so a sump was an easy choice for us even though I know it's unnecessary. Plus we tend to do our projects a little big-sized just for the fun of it. I love to DIY!
> 
> That Matrix stuff looks great. Maybe instead of getting more bio-balls I will finish out with this stuff and mesh bag it, I don't really want it loose in that setup I've made. Is Matrix heavy? The egg crate box couldn't take the weight of stone or anything like that. Maybe I will check the pond size, I just don't want pieces so small that they will fall through that egg crating.
> 
> Thank you for your comments, I have noticed you are a friendly and helpful presence on this board
> 
> I just found coralbandit's post yesterday and I was pretty darn pleased with myself for coming up with my sump designs before seeing his! His sump is amazing. I was looking for some elements to take away from it like the overflow holes drilled in the fronts, but hubby pointed out that we will have overflow out to the sides of our drawers if needed just the way they are designed.


They do have some weight in them. The 500ml(one half liter) bottle I bought did not weigh as much as that same amount of rocks though. Some type of sack would not hurt anything. I have that same grid for the bottom of my filter and it doesn't go through it.
I'm sure the pond Matrix won't as some of the smaller regular Matrix pieces look as though they might. This is a side view of my
DIY built in bio-filter/w Fluval Pre-filter on the bottom under "Bio Bale" which is on e-bay, but the other tank has the Matrix in
place of the Fluval. Forgot to mention the Bio Bale before.
Top view: discharge top where the bubbles are/pick-up lower right at bottom.

Side view: pick-up at lower left near bottom.

Did this because you said you like DIY. I am working/w putting a same level air activated sump/w my next ten G. LOL

What the heck: this is it just after first set up.

And this is it today 2.75 yrs later after recent substrate change on 09/12/13.


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## MASTERSURGEON04

I HAVE ONE ? HOW HI UR WATER LEVEL IS GOING TO BE BECAUSE BIO BALLS SUMERGE IN WATER IS NOT GOING DOE U ANY GOOD:animated_fish_swimm*old dude*c/p*


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## Threnjen

MASTERSURGEON04 said:


> I HAVE ONE ? HOW HI UR WATER LEVEL IS GOING TO BE BECAUSE BIO BALLS SUMERGE IN WATER IS NOT GOING DOE U ANY GOOD


Just curious, where are you getting your facts to make this statement? Multitudes of threads that I have read tell me otherwise.
Are bio balls BETTER in a true wet/dry system? Yes
Are they USELESS fully submerged? Definitely not. They still provide surface area for bacteria to grow, regardless of where they are. I haven't read anything yet that has convinced me otherwise but would be open to some informational links.

I'm probably going to replace most of them with Pond Maxtrix anyway, but I'm regardless not convinced that they would be rendered completely ineffective if submerged.

I think they will be out about 3/4-1" right now, but I can lower the water level some if it's going to be a serious issue.


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## Threnjen

Raymond, amazing filter setups!!! Did you custom build those right into the side of your tanks? That's fabulous


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## coralbandit

I only use sponges for biological media in all my sumps(fw and salt).Eventually the bio balls will become nitrate factories and need to be rinsed(cleaned) or water changes will have little effect(found out all about it with my 180g).I just pull the sponges (not alot of them either) once a month or so and rinse them in old tank water.Way easier and more efficient than bio balls.I'll never waste money on bio media again(have buckets of bio balls and bio wheels in my attick).No more "fancy " bio media for me again!
With the sump/surface extraction and good mechanicals in the "tower" part of sump a couple of the aquaclear 110 sponges is all I need for my 180G.Less bio media leaves more room for mechanicals that get cleaned regulary also.
The balls will work submerged.
AQ advisor says my 180 is 210% stocked and I have no real problem keeping nitrates around 20-40.They used to be double,even triple when I had bio balls or the bio wheels(been through a few set ups in the last 30 years!)
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f20/bio-balls-like-39082.html


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## Raymond S.

Threnjen said:


> Raymond, amazing filter setups!!! Did you custom build those right into the side of your tanks? That's fabulous


Yes and the drawing for the glass pieces was on a paper bag that I split open...LOL...took it to the glass place to get the pieces cut.


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## MASTERSURGEON04

I TALK FROM XPERIENCE I USE BIO BALLS FOR A PERIOT OF 30 OR MORE YEARS AND I HAVE THE BEST RESULT WEN I HAVE THE BIO BALLS ABOUT THE WATER NOT IN THE WATER I ALWAYS HAVE MY BIO BALLS CLOSE TO THE WATER BUT THAT SET I HAVE A FLOST TRY TRIQUE TO THE BIO BALLS AND BIO BALLS ABOUT THE WATER I NEVER ENCOUNTE ANY PROBLEM WITH DETRIUST OR NITRATE OR NITRITE WELL MY PERSONAL OPINION WITH 41 YEARS IN THE HOBBY THANK U :animated_fish_swimm*old dude


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## seove

MASTERSURGEON04 said:


> I TALK FROM XPERIENCE I USE BIO BALLS FOR A PERIOT OF 30 OR MORE YEARS AND I HAVE THE BEST RESULT WEN I HAVE THE BIO BALLS ABOUT THE WATER NOT IN THE WATER I ALWAYS HAVE MY BIO BALLS CLOSE TO THE WATER BUT THAT SET I HAVE A FLOST TRY TRIQUE TO THE BIO BALLS AND BIO BALLS ABOUT THE WATER I NEVER ENCOUNTE ANY PROBLEM WITH DETRIUST OR NITRATE OR NITRITE WELL MY PERSONAL OPINION WITH 41 YEARS IN THE HOBBY THANK U :animated_fish_swimm*old dude


I agree with the above comments. I also like to keep as much of the bio media above the water line as possible and use the space in the sump for other things like chemical media bags (if you use them), heater, livestock, plants, etc. My bottom drawer is only 1 inch below the surface (to reduce the trickle noise). I use pot and bath scrubbers for bio media.


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