Just Finished My 40 Gallon Breeder Sump

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I don't have a build thread here, but I am in the process of partially overhauling my 7 year old 140. It is currently in a neglected condition and I am rebuilding the filtration and then will tackle the scape, cyano deluxe and invasion of GSP, anthellia and nuisance algae. This is what my tank looked like last year:

00Reef-11-6-2010.jpg


Needless to say, it doesn't look like that now. Here is the first step in an atempt to turn it around. I purchased a dollar a gallon PetCo 40B and began building a sump. The skimmer is a LifeReef that I originally used on this tank. I was using a ReeFlo Orca 200, which is a much larger, external skimmer, but it had a bad habit of overflowing without warning. So, it came back out and I am going to try the old standby before buying another, more modern skimmer. This one did a pretty good job to begin with. Anyway, here are some pics of my monstrosity.

View from the back
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Reactors and my frag section. I have a larger Next Reef reactor coming for my GFO. I will use the stuby for my carbon.
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Top down
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Filter sock section, with mini-bulkhead fitting for addition of calcium, alkalinity, mag & ATO fresh water.
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The white thing is a DIY "Bubble Buster" that I saw elsewhere. The idea is to reduce turbulence entering the sump and allowing some of the bubbles to burst before exiting that container. Just thought I would give it a try.
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Top down in skimmer section
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Top down in frag section. There are three movable "shelves of eggcrate." Frags can be placed in the lower section for acclimation to LED lighting and can be moved up or covered with one or more of the eggcrate panels to reduce the light. Will also have an MP-10 in here for water movement. I will have an LED fixture over it, just not certain which one at the moment.
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Sorta from the front left corner of the sump. My work room is small and a major mess after this. :)
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Sorta from the front right corner. Didn't move the sump for front pics.
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The plumbing is painted with Kylon Fusion. Never cared for the look of white PVC and this is cehaper than using schedule 80, or black PVC. I will hopefully get this thing under the tank soon and move on to the next step to recovery. Hope this works. Ha! Thanks for looking.
 
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BattleAthletics

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Wow what a beast of a sump fin, where did you get those mini bulkhead fittings for the doser? Did you have all the glass cut or diy? Lol still have the dimensions of the cuts? Im doing a 40g breeder sump and dt, thats why im asking.
 
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Thanks. I wanted a sump that would would be easy to work on and in. I know it looks crowded, but a lot of thought went into making sure I can get everything out of there easily (like the skimmer and pump simply lift out as one assy) and that the sump could be completely disconnected from the tank plumbing and moved outside for periodic clening.

I cut all of the glass myself (except I bought the 40B) out of scraps from past projects. I find glass easier to work with in most cases and with a little cleaning, it can look as good as new later down the road. Sorry, I don't have a list of the dimensions.

I got the mini-bulkheads from JEHMCO - Bulkhead Fittings
You will need a 5/16" drill bit for the necessary holes.

Now all I have to do is find the time to install it. :)
 
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Thank you for the comments. I really don't have an update on the sump in action yet. It is still on my workbench. I am working on several different projects at once and I just haven't gotten around to the install just yet. I will soon and will be sure to post more pics here.

As far as the bubble thing... The name that the original DIYer gave it is - "BUbble Killer." I mistakenly referred to it as something else. Mine is not exactly like the one he made and I did not do a DIY thread on it. I found this idea on another forum and don't want to link to it, but I will share HIS pics and parts list. Not too difficult to figure out to put it together from the pics. His worked for him and I have no idea yet if my version will work at all.

"The parts list consists of a 4" PVC Cap (modified), 4" Coupler, piece of 4" PVC, and a 1.5" piece of PVC for the drain."



BubbleKiller-1_zpsd46613c1.jpg


BubbleKiller-2_zpsdd498c48.jpg


BubbleKiller-3_zps2bbfef2c.jpg
 
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Thank you for the interest. Unfortunately, it is still sitting dry. I decided I wanted a larger skimmer - one that would fit in the small confines of the designated section of the sump. I ended up adding a RLSS R8i (8" body) internal skimmer. Anxious to see it in action too. But, I have a couple of trips coming up in the next 4-5 weeks and I don't want to install a new sump and skimmer, then go off and leave it unattended for a week at a time. So, I am still a ways out getting this tucked under the aquarium.

New skimmer

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Plus, I am making a stand out of EZ-Tube for a 37 gallon refugium and 29 gallon fresh water reservoir that will go behind the display tank. Still working on that in my spare time. So, I will post updates when I get everything finished and running. I am known for taking forever to finish stuff. :)
 
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Basically, I chickened out. I had a ReeFlo Orca 200 External skimmer on the 140 before I started this upgrade. It worked very well ordinarily, but unfortunately, the Orca had a tendancy to overflow every now and then, without any obvious reason. Not often, but it was something that I didn't want to happen again. I have a friend that also had one and his did the same thing. So, I decided to go with an in-sump skimmer. If it is going to overflow, it will be in the sump.

The old set up...

Orca2-Day1.jpg


UnderStand.jpg


I had the 6" skimmer already, so I decided to try that, since it was an internal skimmer. Then I decided to add another 40 gallons to the overall system volume (the remote refugium) and I began to worry that the smaller skimmer wasn't going to be big enough. With the refugium and larger sump, the water volume will be creeping up around 180 gallons. So, I started looking for a larger skimmer that had a footprint that was close to the smaller skimmer. This one fit the bill, so I will give it a try.
 
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Well, it took me a few months to get this under the tank, but yesterday was the day. Still tinkering with it and bringing it up to speed slowly and addressing each adjustment needed as it comes up. I had a leaking bulkhead on the back side of the sump and it took me several tried to get that stopped. Letting the skimmer break in now. Have not added media to the reactors yet. For those that have asked, here are a few pics of it now.

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Very sexy sump. I remember seeing this earlier and subscribed to it. It was the inspiration for my new 40 breeder sump I took the opportunity to set up during a tank move.
 
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Very sexy sump. I remember seeing this earlier and subscribed to it. It was the inspiration for my new 40 breeder sump I took the opportunity to set up during a tank move.
Thank you. Glad someone got some inspiration from my project.
 
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The ReeFlo (which I still have) is an external skimmer and it had a bad habit of overflowing. A friend of mine has one too and he had the same issue. After flooding my floor a few times, I decided early on to go with an in-sump skimmer. Wasn't easy finding one with a small enough footprint to fit in the small amount of space I had limited myself to in the new sump. Also, my tank is in my living room and the Dart is not the quietest pump. The RLSS internal skimmer is silent. It wasn't a very expensive skimmer, so thought I would give it a try. Time will tell if it was a good decision, or not. I had also read here on R2R where Tony Vargas was using an RLSS (the R10-i) skimmer on his build, although it was the next larger model to my R8-i, internal skimmer. Just thought I would try one out.
 
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More progress today. Finally put the doser under the tank and got it plumbed to the sump.

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Doser and ATO dump into the sump in the filter sock section, through the wall by way of mini-bulkheads.

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Skimmer a couple of hours after cleaning. Doing better with skimmer maintenance. Cleaning it at least once per week, instead of a few times a year. ****

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A few things in the frag tank. Everything seems to be doing well that I put in it.

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