Internal Sump
This is a 20 gallon internal sump that I constructed out of an old 125 gallon acrylic tank. It will extend 6 inches from the rear of the tank and go across the back for 48 inches. Total tank volume will remain 125 gallons, with approximately 100 gallons left for swimming room. I plan to place the majority of the live rock in the sump. Water will overflow into the sump, effectively skimming the water's surface, and be returned through four 1 inch PVC ports by a 1017gph Pentair 4000 Quiet One pump. The intake box on the right will allow the insertion of various filtration media as desired. The sump will also house a Sea Clone 100 skimmer powered by a Maxi-Jet 1200. I feel that the water pressure loss using the Sea Clone as a HOB skimmer is significant in it's failure rate. I have seen it used successfully as a sump skimmer. I am hoping the Sea Clone will be more effective than in my past experince with the Maxi-Jet mounted directly to the bottom. I already have the Sea Clown, so I am going to give it a try. This internal overflow sump will also house a 200 watt and 250 watt heater for a total of 450 watts of heat.
This is the front of the sump, in progress. I am covering it with Great Stuff expanding polyurethane foam insulation. Specifically. I am using DOW Great Stuff Window and Door foam, which remains slightly soft and flexible after curing. Once inside the tank, the sump will be siliconed to the back glass, and blended in with the foam.
Many people in Europe are using this product in saltwater tanks, and a few on the U.S. side of the pond have tried it in nano tanks with amazing success. I am applying it over a matrix of leftover tubing, PVC scraps and a few plastic cups to provide tunnels, caves and pockets for the fish to retreat into. This is a close-up of the foam, with some of the interior spaces zip tied to the acrylic. From my online research, I have learned that algae, including coraline, will readily grow on the foam, giving it a much more realistic appearance after a month or two. One of the best web pages on the foam technique can be found at this link.
What Happened to the Sump?
They say necessity is the mother of invention........or something like that. When I began to fill the tank with freshwater to do a trial run of the hardware, it quickly became apparent that foam floats. In fact, it floats enough to give me a doubt that the silicone could hold the sump to the rear wall of the tank.
I decided to go with another tactic, and to have a couple of "pylons" driven down into my "sea bottom" and try to replicate the look of a pier setting. I have always been fascinated by the dichatomy of organic life and man's influence, so I decided to go whole hog, and have a bit of chain, a pulley, and some rope.
The left pylon, which is made out of half a garbage can, houses the Pentair pump and two heaters. I can toss a bag of coral rubble, bio balls, or activated carbon in it if needed. A one inch PVC manifold with four quarter inch ports crosses the back of the tank to the right pylon, where it is capped. I arrived at quarter inch ports simply by dividing the pump's outlet diameter by four. By using a quarter inch port, the water pressure leaving the manifold is maintained, and I get better circulation. The right pylon is made out of a 90 degree slice of the same garbage can. The right pylon houses the Sea Clown skimmer with the Maxi-Jet 1200 directly on it's bottom. Both pylons are siliconed to the rear of the tank, and have overflows cut with a Dremel.
The pulley is made out of a plastic clothesline pulley with all the metal parts removed. I replaced the axle with a teflon bolt. The rope is standard yellow boating rope. The chain is standard plastic decorator chain. I put on a bit of rusty red paint, and voila! A rusty old pulley system!
Obviously, over time, the tank has filled with rock, effectively obscuring the pier idea. The internal sump remains though, and it works great.
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