Installed the first power board of many, I’m sure I’m going to need more in the future, but this will get me started for now. I intend to install a second power board in the hood so that I don’t have power cords running down the back of the tank. Still need to source an electrician to install some power points for me.

So here is how I have layed out my plumbing for the sump. It is a little crowded in there now. I was hoping to have alot more room to work with. I’ve tried to make the plumbing easy to get to, easy to remove and maintain, as well as being modular for future expansion.

First up is the skimmer output. These are 32mm pipes so it should alow plenty of flow from the skimmer (since the input is ~ 19mm). The bottom of the pipe (not in picture) is a 45 degree elbow so it isn’t just dumping the water straight in.

Next up – put in the return plumbing and the union connectors to the bottom of the weir pipes. I’ve seen some tanks with these unions connectors and they are great for removing bits of your plumbing to do work on things. If I ever need to remove a section of plumbing because of a fault or to extend it later this makes it easier.  You can see my awesome PVC gluing skills (gee that stuff stinks!) at work here. The return pipe (20mm) comes from the left hand side of the sump, more on that later.

Next, the emergency overflow pipe (25mm). This is the pipe where I don’t want water to flow down . There are no taps to restrict any flow because this pipe is used if (and it will) the durso overflow pipe is clogged up, and it saves the family room (and my marriage).

Finally the most complicated piece of plumbing – the overflow (25mm). I’m kinda proud of this bit as I worked this out myself, being the awesome plumber that I am. There are 2 taps here, and a t-piece to the skimmer. The intention is that the top tap shuts off the entire overflow pipe (if I remove the skimmer) and the bottom tap controls how much water goes into the skimmer. If I ever remove the skimmer I made a cap that screws over the t-piece (see below for details).

Here is a close up of skimmer attachment. This clearly proves I’m a plumber now. Basically it is 2x25mm to 19mm barb hose connectors and a 90 degree 19mm barb connecter with some very tight hose between them all. I haven’t got any kind of clips on the hose, but I don’t think I’m going to need it. I had to soak the hose in very hot water to fit the hose, and I don’t think it is going anywhere in a hurry.

Finally, here is all the plumbing work nearly done. I haven’t completed the return pump section yet as I’m waiting on a return pump. The bit with the tap on is so that I can throttle the return pump if needed to regulate the flow. I’m also going to get another union join for this so that I can easily remove the return pump and replace the fitting with something else (like my water change idea).

My idea is this for doing a water change: I connect a full container of water with a pump to the return pipe union joint. I also connect an empty container to the output of the overflow (where the skimmer was). Turn on the pump with the new water as it flows up into the display tank, old water flows down the overflow into the empty container. When the new water container pump is switched off, so does the old water container. Sounds simple in theory – we’ll see how well it works in practice.

Still lots to do. I’m setting a date around February to get this baby wet.

Stay tuned….

I obtained a 2′ x 1.5′ x 1.5′ tank which I want to divide up into 3 sections. The skimmer will be sitting externally so the first chamber is small (with a bubble trap). The second chamber will be a Deep Sand Bed or Refugium (haven’t decided yet). Finally the 3rd chamber is the return section (where top ups will be done).  Unfortunately, this is the biggest sump I could fit in my cabinet without some serious remodelling. I think it should be ok, but time will tell.

After placing the sump on the dinner table you draw a rough idea on where the glass sheets will go (I had previously had some glass made up for me so I had already measured it all out).

I placed the two outer glass panes with silicon. I thought I was quite clever in using magnets to hold the glass in place while I ran a bead of silicon around each sheet of glass. Silicon when curing has a very strong vinegar smell which went through the whole house.

After an hour or so I was banned from continuing inside (due to the smell) so I migrated out to the back cover. I was starting to get sick of the smell myself. I must remember not to silicon inside the house.

After moving outside I was trying to work out how I was going to rig up the next piece of glass as it sits up in the air. You can see below my awesome skills in carpentry at work again as i rigged up a template. Those magnets came in handy again.

You can see one of the magnets are a little ‘algea’ green.. that’s from my fresh water tank (I needed an extra pair of ‘hands’ for this one.

Finally I placed in the final piece of baffle. I also put the bracing back on the tank. Again my awesome carpentry skills are at work again. I probably don’t need this brace, but it might be handy for a lid of some sort. I can always remove it.

After waiting a few days (next weekend) for the silicon to cure it was time to fill her up and test there were no leaks.

So far so good.. the first chamber done, and the bubble trap was working as I intended. It isn’t often things work first time for me.

I’ll fast forward here, to where the sump is almost full. No leaks! I even tried to make micro bubbles with the hose in the first chamber while it was being filled, and the bubble trap works as designed.

Here is the same picture as above, but I’ve drawn on how the sump is going to be working. Simple

Here it is, in it’s final resting place. I underestimated how much heavier the sump was with the extra panes of glass in it. Too a bit to get it in there (I have to put it in sideways, and rotate it 90 deg as i move towards the right. This gives me enough space for some extra things on the left (like an auto topup device) and other equipment.

Still a bit more to do before I see any water.

• buy a return pump (I blew up the last one).
• plumbing the sump, skimmer and return pumps.
• get an electrician to put in some power points (I want a sep. circuit for the tank).
• IBC for outside (for water storage).
• Lights
• Powerheads

I’m getting closer….

How did I get it in there? well, to get it out, I slide it to the left a little, and rotate it clockwise 90 degrees, then i can slide it out the front. It only ‘just’ fits (by cm’s). anything longer and I wouldn’t be able to rotate it 90 degrees to fit it in.

Hopefully the hole is in the right spot. All I need now is some bodies to give me a hand to lift the tank off the stand so that I can slide the foam underneath it. Without it, I’m reluctant to put any extra weight in or on the tank.

I also have a photo of the newly positioned sump, and where it will end up sitting:

There are no divisions in this yet as I am still to determine where the plumbing is all going. I plan to place the skimmer to the left of the sump (external).

I’ve also got 2 x 150w heaters, but after doing some calculations I think they are a little on the small side, considering I have about 600L to heat up.

That’s all for now.

This was the biggest size I could fit. I would have loved to have a 36″x15″x15″ sump, but there was no way to actually get it in there without some major hacking to the cabinet. But the different between the 2 in terms of water volume isn’t really that big. Having the smaller but taller sump leaves the entire left hand side of the cabinet for other things.

I’m planning to get an external skimmer to sit next to the sump. I’m currently looking at the Reef Octopus Hurricane 800 shorty, which will fit quite nicely (and it looks good). The idea is to connect this directly to the input from the weir, and the output into the first chamber of the sump. Might have to wait until next pay day before I buy one of those.

What I need to work out now is how to divide up the sump into its different chambers. My current thoughts are 3 chambers: Input -> Refugium/DSB -> Return.

I’ll put up some photos when there is something more exciting to look at (it is just an empty glass tank at the moment).