building a sump for my first tank ever oh boy

Ok i have decided to try to make my sump/refung for my 40g breeder tank. i dont have anything yet other then the 40g tank so im starting from scratch. i am planning on using this as my tank stand because it matches all of the furniture and the tank should fit on it great. Walmart.com: Sauder Vinegate TV Stand, Antiqued Paint: Furniture
the only thing is i might have to add some support to it because of the weight.

the thing about the stand is space. i dont have much height inside the stand. only 19 inches. So i need to find a good skimmer that would be short enough to fit. i really want to have it in the sump.

im about to run to the pet shop know i belive a 20g should fit in the space i have. it just the shimmer that i have no clue about. So i need a short good skimmer for a 40g tank any ideas?

 

maybe an octo 110 but i am not shure how tall they are. or you could check out their external skimmers

 

That height is going to be hard to work with. There are 18" or 19" high skimmers but that doesn't give you any room to remove the collection cup. You may have to adapt a HOB skimmer into your sump in order to find one that will fit.

 

ok i just got back from the LFS and was look at their sumps and the only thing i found was the one that they has on one of their tanks. so we was trying to see what kind it was but the logo has ether can off or their wasnt ever one on it. the girl working said she would find out what it was though. it looks like this one Aquarium Protein Skimmer: Marineland Pro Skimmers actually it might be the same one.

i also found this
CPR SR2 Protein Skimmer

ASM Protein Skimmer - Fish.com

know as for the tank i looked at lfs and the tanks i found that would work is 2 20g tanks their is a regular 20g 24Lx12Dx16H. but i also found a shorter one. its a 20g long 30Lx12Dx12H. what one do you all think would be better? both would fit fine.

 

GO LONG!!!!! I just like long tanks, real cool, you'll get the spacious fuge you rightfully deserve.

 

Ok i decided to go back to the lfs and see how tall and what kind of skimmer that they had in their sump. to me it looked like the Marine Pro 100 and it looked like it would fit in the tank stand i want to use. after going back down their (LFS) i found out that it was the Marine Pro 100. know on that web sight it says that it is 18inches tall. well its not. i pulled out my tape measure and it is 17.5 inches. well kinda closer to 17.25 inches, but i rounded up just to be safe. So know that big question, show i order the Marine Pro 100 or is their a much better one that is short enough for the space i have?

 

How much clearance do you need to get the collection cup off the skimmer, though?

 

Well the pro 100 has the gray lock nut that holds the cup in place and when you undo that nut, the cup comes off without haveing to lift it up. Of course their is also the cap that is on very top as well. That has to be remove to empty the the cup, Once the cup is actuly removed from the main body of the skimmer.

 

Thanks to the lady at the lfs I got to see hands on how the cup is removed and cleaned. When we was measureing the hight of the skimmer they had on their display tank (pro 100) she notice that it needed cleaned so we took the cup off and cleaned it.

 

Excellent!

 

One thing I was wondering though, how deep does the water need to in the refung area for it to be effective? I want to make sure that the shorter 20g tank will work and not be so short that it will over flow in the case of a power outage.

 

the water in the fuge area needs to be deep enough to cover your cheto or whatever your gonna grow in there, if you have 1 inch of sand, and a 3 inch ball of cheto, then i'd say start with 5 inches as a minimum.

 

Um what is crito? I thought that you put live rock and live sand in the refung area.

Oh yah somthing that I have been wondering is whith that skimmer that I have been looking at the pro 100. I have read all over and from what I read. It should be in about 3 -5 inches of water. It can be in water up to 8 inches but doesn't skim as well. So I'm shooting for close to 3 or 5. What I'm wondering is how do I keep my skimmer before the refung area in the sump ( read I should have it that way) but have the refung area deeper then the skimmer area. To me it sound um imposable. Any ideas would be great.

 

What you need to do is build yourself a little stand or shelf for the skimmer to sit on, that way its not all the way to the bottom... I built my stand out of that light diffuser material that everyone calles eggcrate, and some zip-ties, just measured it all up, cut it with some good heavy scisors and bingo, my skimmer thinks its sitting in 8 inches of water, but my sump is more like 12 inches deep

cheato (chetomorphia) is a plant, or actually an algae to be more precise, and lots and lots of people buy it from thier local fish store, or get some from a friend or whatever, and they grow that in the fuge area in the sump. The idea is that the plant life will pull bad stuff out of the water, and eat it for food, then the plant grows, then you cut some and throw it away, this process is called nutrient export. Some people use cheato, personally i'm growing calurpa, but i think its illegal in some places, and there are some dangers with calurpa, so do your research before you decide....

 

Cheto imean

 

hehehe yea, i kinda figured, thats why i answered it above

 

ok well i decided to just build me a nice stand for my 40g. i just didnt find it safe to use the stand i was wanting because of the weight. my plan is to build my stand to look just like the one i was wanting but just a lot stronger. i got started on it today and it is coming along very well. i will have alot of room for my sump and plenty or room for any skimming that is out their , just as long as it under 27 inches in height

So the big question. know that im not as limited on the skimmer height, what is a few good skimmers that you all would recommend for a my 40g DT and a 20g sump/refung?
top few in different price ranges would be cool.

oh yah i would love to post some photos but im not sure how to do that.

 

figured it out i think.

 

i have beed reading up on skimmers again. and the Reef Octopus Needlewheel 110 Protein Skimmer looks nice. know i did see the new Reef Octopus DNWB-110 Protein Skimmer *2009 Model but if im reading it correctly it uses 2 pumps. anyone know how much more effective of a skimmer it is? i kinda wanted an in sump setup. i was reading that the duel pump setup might cause a increase in heat in my water because of the second pump and i would want that, im not wanting to have to run a cooling setup.

i still like the looks of the Marineland Marine Series Advanced In-Sump Skimmers. that is the one the LFS is using. it is about the same price as the octopus. idk any thoughts would be great.

oh yah. know of a good place to order all from?

 

some photos of my sump. the leak test went very well, with no leaking at all. i took and made a cover for the inlet line to mount my tubing but also to reduce the sound of the water. i still need to drill the hole for that. im just waiting until i get all of my stuff in first before drilling. it turned out good though and it saved me alot of money.

the stuff i used:

20g aquarium
30x72 Plexiglas (need the extra for another project)
Plexiglas cutting tool ($3 A MUST it makes cutting the plexi supper easy to do your self)
Loctite 100%silicone AQUARIUM SAFE ($3 a tube at wal-mart $8 at LFS, your choice)
Super glue GEL (just to set the Plexiglas into place.)
1 sharpie ( already had)
tape measure ( unless you have really good eyes you should use one)

WAY CHEAPER TO DIY AND SUPPER EASY (much easier then i thought it would be. just dont make it harder then it is)

If anyone wants im more then willing to post my plans, but their is alot on the site already. i just modified mine for the equipment im buying.