10 gallon Sump/Refugium custom build

[Petrichor]

Hey all, I'm working on adding a 10 gallon DIY sump/refugium to my Current Cardiff AIO tank. I am not going to be drilling the glass, but using an overflow, and while I have the main mechanics worked out, I'm stuck on some of the finer details. The main goal is to have a good-sized refugium to put a surplus of live rock, macro algae, pods, and eventually dosing without spending tons of money on a pre-built. Hiding equipment is not a large concern as it's all in my AIO.

Here's the general plan: a Seapora Nano Overflow Box will drain down to the sump into the refugium. The refugium has baffles that lead to the return pump which pumps up and over my tank glass back into the main display. All in all about 10 feet of tubing (5 per side).


So questions!
1) As my tank has a built in skimmer I will not be adding one to my sump. Instead I am planning on having a float valve in the sump to shut off the overflow in the event of power flickers/outages. The tube and float valve will be attached together via an elbow joint. How do I attach the tube and/or float valve to the sump without drilling the 10 gallon? Suction cups holding the tube to the glass? Is a float valve even necessary for this type of setup?

2) The 10 gallon I'm planning to use has had fish medicine in it before. It was previously freshwater, and I believe it had snail killer liquid used in it (I'm not 100% sure) Can I just cover the current silicone with new silicone and call it good?

3) Does my refugium need a powerhead? It will be approximately 10"x10"x8". Also looking for simple, budget-friendly lights for it.

Thank you for any help and suggestions!

 

[glb]

Hey all, I'm working on adding a 10 gallon DIY sump/refugium to my Current Cardiff AIO tank. I am not going to be drilling the glass, but using an overflow, and while I have the main mechanics worked out, I'm stuck on some of the finer details. The main goal is to have a good-sized refugium to put a surplus of live rock, macro algae, pods, and eventually dosing without spending tons of money on a pre-built. Hiding equipment is not a large concern as it's all in my AIO.

Here's the general plan: a Seapora Nano Overflow Box will drain down to the sump into the refugium. The refugium has baffles that lead to the return pump which pumps up and over my tank glass back into the main display. All in all about 10 feet of tubing (5 per side).


So questions!
1) As my tank has a built in skimmer I will not be adding one to my sump. Instead I am planning on having a float valve in the sump to shut off the overflow in the event of power flickers/outages. The tube and float valve will be attached together via an elbow joint. How do I attach the tube and/or float valve to the sump without drilling the 10 gallon? Suction cups holding the tube to the glass? Is a float valve even necessary for this type of setup?

2) The 10 gallon I'm planning to use has had fish medicine in it before. It was previously freshwater, and I believe it had snail killer liquid used in it (I'm not 100% sure) Can I just cover the current silicone with new silicone and call it good?

3) Does my refugium need a powerhead? It will be approximately 10"x10"x8". Also looking for simple, budget-friendly lights for it.

Thank you for any help and suggestions!

I wouldn’t use it because of freshwater medication in the past. It’s just too big of a risk IMO. You could pick up a new 10g when Petco has a 1$/gallon sale. As far as the float valve, all the ones I’ve seen have been drilled. If you decide to drill, make sure the side glass of the tanks isn’t tempered. I don’t know the answers to your other questions so hopefully others will chime in!

 

[Sick_man]

go to walmart or petco and buy a new 10 gallon, its like 15 bucks at most

 

[huckilt]

A float valve to stop the overflow? All the float valves I’ve seen are made to connect to 1/4” lines or something similar. And when used on a sump are usually for an ato to keep water level stable. Overflows usually have at least 1” drains and choking it down to fit the valve would not work at all. No float valve necessary as the overflow will only keep flowing till the water level drops below the weirs. So as long as your sump will hold whatever the overflow will continue to drain plus whatever your return will back-syphon (if it doesn’t have a check valve) you should be fine. You can test this by letting the system run then jus turn off the power and see what happens if it’s about to overflow kick the pump back on so it doesn’t. Keep your return lines as high as possible so it doesn’t suck down too much(if it don’t have a check valve) water

Yea a new ten gallon at Wally isn’t that’s much but if you have the room jus go for a 20 Long and then you know you’ll have the space for any water that will drain to the sump in a power outage.

No power head in the sump the flow going through it should be enough as long as your return pump is properly sized.

Get some cheap led strip grow lights. That’s what I got growing algae on my diy algae scrubber.

Hope this helps

 

[Petrichor]

To everyone saying to buy a new tank: I live in Canada, so there are no Petcos and sales. The best price I can find for a new tank is $35 (with tax), and all stores are sold out within an hour drive of my city and have been for several weeks. :/

New question: I've scrapped the inside of the aquarium free of silicone, washed it several times with vinegar and hot water, and resealed with aquarium safe silicone. Is there any tests I can do on it to see if there's copper still left? Would macroalgae die if there was copper in the tank? My DT grows tons of it. I have an abundant supply of freshwater pond snails otherwise.

A float valve to stop the overflow? All the float valves I’ve seen are made to connect to 1/4” lines or something similar. And when used on a sump are usually for an ato to keep water level stable. Overflows usually have at least 1” drains and choking it down to fit the valve would not work at all. No float valve necessary as the overflow will only keep flowing till the water level drops below the weirs. So as long as your sump will hold whatever the overflow will continue to drain plus whatever your return will back-syphon (if it doesn’t have a check valve) you should be fine. You can test this by letting the system run then jus turn off the power and see what happens if it’s about to overflow kick the pump back on so it doesn’t. Keep your return lines as high as possible so it doesn’t suck down too much(if it don’t have a check valve) water

Yea a new ten gallon at Wally isn’t that’s much but if you have the room jus go for a 20 Long and then you know you’ll have the space for any water that will drain to the sump in a power outage.

No power head in the sump the flow going through it should be enough as long as your return pump is properly sized.

Get some cheap led strip grow lights. That’s what I got growing algae on my diy algae scrubber.

Hope this helps

Thank you very much, this is all super helpful! I will ditch the float valve since I now understand better how it works, plus with how my AIO tank deals with water when its pump stops I think the overflow will work fine. I'll keep an eye out for a new/new-used tank, but I'm not very hopeful.

 

[huckilt]

I’m sure if youve gone through all those steps to clean out the tank you have it should be good enough. I jus had a run in with brass fittings leaching copper into my water almost killing my tank but with some new plastic fittings and some diligent water changes everything’s bouncing back after about 2 weeks and the fittings were there since I started the tank in march. My live rock has cleared, up went through various stages of nuisance algae outbreaks till I realized my mistake of using brass fittings. And like I said everything’s bouncing back after around 3-50%
Water changes over the first week and now during the 2nd week all the leftover algae is clearing up and my few drags and snails who took it the worst are all pretty much back to normal.