Hey i have a 29 Oceanic biocube and was thinking of adding a DIY 20 gallon sump. it would give me 49 gallons of water to mess around with and a good place to house a fuge. is 20 gallon sump an overkill or is it even neccessary to add a sump, any help would be great thanks.

any suggestions?

I'd do it!

I have a 10g on my 33g cube and it does the trick, but there is never anything wrong with more water. I wish I had the room for a 20L in my 33's stand. I would add a much larger fuge if I could.

I'll be adding one to my 14g BC when I move and take down the 33g.

sweet, thanks for the advice!! What do you have in your fuge? other than sand and rock?

I have a big ball of chaeto in there. It serves as a home to tons of pods, bristle worms, snails, and brittle stars that just grew out of the mess (hitchhikers) and a pair of hermit crabs that were banished to the sump many months ago. The rock is just rubble that serves as a home to the inverts and frag plugs for me when needed.

Sump is always a good idea...adding water volume, place for skimmer and other equipment, place to dosing and water changes, plus it can house chaeto as mentioned above....here is what i was planning on doing http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...p;#entry2394782

I have a 13 gallon custom made sump that will fit under the biocube stand....still working on plumbing though!!

hey thanks for the input, was planning on making a custom stand so the size of the sump wouldn't really matter. i like the DIY overflow box, but i've heard bad things about DYI overflow boxes so i'll probably just buy one.

bought a pump for my sump today after consulting my LFS buddies, RIO + 2100, will definately have enough power to shoot water up 4-6 feet

also found some Acrylic for the DIY sump, supposably my uncle has some dope marine safe cement stuff that will hold it to the glass guarenteed for 10 yrs or something

any opinions on an overflow box, was looking online and the Eshopps overflow boxes looked pretty good. more specifically the 300 gph one, any concerns with a RIO+ 2100?

2100 seems a little over kill...its almost 700gph. You will probably need a ball valve to control the flow. I am looking into the Rio Hyperflow 8 which is 550gph 4-6.5 head

well today i grew some balls and bought an eshopps overflow box 300 and some acrylic for my sump

the Rio has a control valve in it

Keep us updated with the build and grab some pics too....i might start buying my plumbing stuff this week and give it a shot this long weekend

yeah for sure, got to get some good glue/ silicone or some thing.
my pump came with like 4 1" bulk heads lol

any suggestions on substrate for a fuge? i was thinking like miricle mud

well i decided DrsFoster and Smith is quite a quality company. i ordered my overflow box from them on sale and it came in 2 days standard shipping!!
i've definately ordered things from places that took two weeks

Nice...take pics on the setup....as for the mud, i havent heard much about it...most people i think just use live rock and chaeto....adding sand or mud i guess would be ok but from what i have read it could just help add nirtates since it can build up stuff in there unless you have an adequate CUC in there too! I am planning on very little sand and some live rock.

I am currently running a 6G sump for a Biocube 29. As soon as I get my camera I will post some pictures. The system is up and running for about 7 months and seems to be well stabilized now. I do weekly 5G water change because I have a very heavy bio-load.

As far as sump. It has been a challenge to match the return from sump with the need of both Biocube original back filter (original pump) and the sump. I felt like doing another PhD in hydrodynamic. I didn't want to modify the cube in any way. The only thing that I have done was to remove the original cartridge filter. Rest is in place as the original. The overflow was the biggest challenge. I made one out of 3/4" pvc pipe and inserted in room 1 where the filter used to be. Pictures will tell you the story.

Good luck,
Marian

Pictures:
The overflow. System stops twice a day for feeding. Overflow starts without any problem and flow stabilizes in about 1 min.

The sump. Rather complex. Return comes into a narrow skimmer area, flows over the top of bioballs through a floss filter, follows a flat and calm section for skimmer (Tunze 9002) and heater, after that comes on the pumps section where I have a SilentOne for main return and a small Viaaqua for Phosban reactor and UV sterilizer.

Two other nice additions:

i have a pretty cool CUC planned, a lot of thought has gone inot this project, pictures of progress will be up tonight... haha progress good one

Marian that is one crazy setup!! i think mine will be way less complex since i'll have more space

here's pictures of my stand and sump so far
this is my sump so far
Click to view attachment


Here is my stand is of... now
Click to view attachment

Fishzilla,

I built my stand out of a broken cabinet that I bought from Lowes for $15. But, the stand itself is critical for future. Think not twice but three times before attempting anything. Planning is the key to success.
Now, you are dealing with a monster (so to speak) from hydrodynamic perspective. If you plan on closing down the built in filtration of Biocube (room 2 and 3) your life will be much easier. But, room 2 can be a very nice refugium where you can grow cheato. Using room 2 and 3 is one of the rewards for adding a sump to a Biocube. Matching the flows will be the challenge. If you follow my setup the height of the first pipe of the overflow is the controlling factor. You will have space for a build out of 3/4" PVC pipe. Put a sleeve over the first pipe so you can adjust its height. Once adjusted there is no other maintenance to perform. I didn't do it this way and I had to go by incremental cuts till the right height.

... hope it helps.

Good luck,
Marian

hey thanks, i'm making chamber two into the place where the intake of my over flow goes to my sump. Much much time has been put into building the stand and i think i got a pretty good plan that will hold, at least it can hold a fridge

chamber 2 will see changes in water level due to evaporation. Even with an ATO, this might be a problem. I'd go in chamber 1 because it's constantly at the right level.

alright, i'll just fuss with it to see what workd best

have't updated lately but i started building the stand, cut my acrylic for the sump, made a cool frag statioin out of pvc and egg crate, and trying to see if overflow box and pump are working good together

also have some left over acyrlic for putting over open area's of tank, stupid lowes and menards only sell .220 in acrylic inch 18" x 24" or 2" by 4", so i got a 2" x 4"

tank as if now, uncle estimates it can hold 1 ton lol
Click to view attachment

+1 for room 1. Water level in room 2 fluctuates not only with the evaporation, but also with any change on performance of the pump from room 3. This is one of the reasons guys who tried to fit a Tunze 9002 in room 2 have a hard time keeping steady skimming performance.

\cheers,
Marian

Fishzilla,

Did you put that Eshopps overflow box in yet?
Does it fit?

I have a 14g Biocube and was thinking about getting the same overflow for my cube.

Why not just drill it and put a stand pipe in chamber three real low? Only down part is alot of build prep.Im really tryin to get the courage to drill my empty 29 gallon,total noob with plumbing tho.dont want to flood my living room if anyone has drilled a biocube or nanocube or something, show some pics already.haha. Fishzilla that stand looks real nice.everyone is soo crafty these days its good to see.keep up the good work guys.

this websites boring.no one ever responds to my questions.just like normal everyones out there just for themselves

did you even ask a question?

stop whining.



yeah you really can't have too much water volume.

if you got room for it i'd get about the biggest sump you can fit under your stand... don't those biocubes have a little sump built in the back tho?

Well, the OP hasn't been on since September 25th, so I'm guessing you're not going to get a response from him. If you're asking your question for your own cube, I'd recommend posting it as a thread of your own in the All-in-One section. You're much more likely to get a response there, because there are more folks who may have done exactly what you're asking.

true that.you guys are awsome i was just messin around.To correct myself this website is the top of the line.Everyone on here is so helpful in theyr own creative way.nano reef is a sweet site.LOVE IT