[Dan Knowlton]

I am starting on a 55 gallon tank but the stand is too narrow to fit any tank except a 10 gallon. To fit anything bigger, the stand would have to be almost 2 inches deeper from front to back.

I was thinking of linking two 10 gallon tanks with bulkhead fittings and flexible tubing to give me a larger sump/overflow capacity. I am putting the tank in the family room and REALLY don't want water spills because that would REALLY irritate my wife! And she is a redhead!!!

Now, what I REALLY want is a 300 plexiglass tank with a 75 gallon sump...but that is not gonna happen!

Dan K

 

[AVN]

Have you considered odd sized tanks like 17g or 20g tall? There might be weird sizes that fit, rather than trying to splice two tanks together. That is a real headache.

 

[Dan Knowlton]

Have you considered odd sized tanks like 17g or 20g tall? There might be weird sizes that fit, rather than trying to splice two tanks together. That is a real headache.

That would be nice, but I only have 11.5 inches and I have not been able to find a tank larger than 10 gallons that does not take at least 12 inches of width.

I have thought about sticking with a single 10 gallon sump but that would not give me much margin for power outages and water fluctuations. I would use the bulkheads and flexible vinyl tubing with stainless steel clamps - with the tanks close together so that the tubing would not kink. And silicone adhesive, of course!

Dan

 

[minorhero]

A standard aqueon 20h and 29 gallon tank is 12.5 inches wide. A 10 gallon is 10.5 inches wide. Typically you want a sump that can hold 1/3rd of the tank volume. I guess if you have a shelf only 10.5 inches wide I can't help but wonder what size tank you are putting above it. Because either a single 10 gallon tank should be fine or your stand is super weird.

Anyway I have not done what you are thinking about doing. But I imagine installing a couple of 1.5 inch bulkheads down low would be safe and easy enough. Just a pain. Would probably double the overall cost of the sump, but that still wouldn't be much.

Edit, just saw your new post. Do not use silicone with a bulkhead. This way leads to madness.. and also leaks.

 

[Dan Knowlton]

The stand is really narrow for a 55 but the tank is solid and it was almost free (yeah, I know...). Actually, I meant silicone on the stub under the tubing and clamp - I just was not clear.

The budget problem is that I just got a new Nikon D850 and that wiped out my mad money for now. GREAT camera but I could have bought the 300 gallon acrylic I wanted for the same money!

 

[NotThePainter]

Is the back of the stand open or do you have a brace there? Maybe the sump tank can stick out the back.

10 gallons doesn't sound like much room to hold the filter material and hold the overflow from a power failure.

I have a free sump in my basement if you want, but it is only 9 gallons, but it was designed as a sump so the space is used efficiently. 03431 zip, will not ship. You will need to patch one hole I drilled, but hey, it's free.

 

[jellopuddinpop]

Dumb question, but why do you need to go with a sump? If there's no room for a sump, just use a canister. If the tank is already drilled, you can still use a canister as long as you have shutoff valves where needed.

 

[ZChalk]

Probably echo the comment above if you need a sump vs canister filter. If you go with a sump I would get one of those alarms/sensors that detects water on the floor in case Murphys law comes true. I had a couple of floods over the years for whatever reason and several close calls.

Also, there's a lot more tweaking that has to be done with a sump in my experience. You can use a gate valve to restrict the water in the overflow to not make a gurgling noise. With a canister it is pretty much fool proof, set and forget. Out of curiosity, what's driving the need for a sump? I understand for a saltwater setup but for a planted aquarium the only thing to add is co2 and possibly a heater.

 

[minorhero]

The stand is really narrow for a 55 but the tank is solid and it was almost free (yeah, I know...). Actually, I meant silicone on the stub under the tubing and clamp - I just was not clear.

The budget problem is that I just got a new Nikon D850 and that wiped out my mad money for now. GREAT camera but I could have bought the 300 gallon acrylic I wanted for the same money!

yeah but now you got a crazy good camera for fish pics ;P

Your stand is a little weird ;P I mean support for a 13 " wide 55 gallon tank but not a 12.5 inch wide shelf underneath.

Anyway if it were me I'd either buy a cheapy canister filter like this guy (which is a sunsun under a different name) or if I were really committed to a sump I would make my own out of either glass or acrylic.

 

[Dan Knowlton]

I was able to take a really quick look at the back of the tank and I might be able to modify the stand. There is a brace right in the middle of the back but I will check to see if I could insert a couple of stringers of 3/4 plywood in there and brace it in thirds. Might work but I would want to overbuild it.

On why I want to do a sump - I have been doing different kinds of tanks for over40 years now and want to try a sump. On canister filters, I am an Eheim diehard and am running a 2032 on the tank in my man cave/music room. But trying something different appeals to me. My plan is to do a filter sock and then 10, 20 and 30 PPI Poret foam with a polishing pad. I would also like to put the heater in the sump and will do a smaller pump with either a Cerges or Rex Grigg reactor for CO2.

I did not have much time to look as I played at church tonight (and again tomorrow). Music is my life even though I have way too many hobbies. In addition to church, I am playing in a jazz band and a jam band for fun.

The Nikon D850 is nothing short of amazing - I had a D800 that croaked and this is a HUGE improvement in almost every way. The RAW (file type, sort of ) files are 46 MB and the detail and dynamic range are unbelievable. I am kind of tied to Nikon as I have several expensive lenses that would all have to be replaced if I switched to Sony. IMHO, Canon would not be much of a step up from my old camera.

Dan

 

[FischAutoTechGarten]

I did that with two 20 gallon long aquariums. I wanted to include allot of hardware in the sump and to spread things out.. and had to locate the two sections on different shelving units about 8" apart. I also use poret foam, but even go down to the 45ppm size too. I have 400micron filter socks just to catch debris... Here is the full write up:

Sonoran Desert Fish Nook - a build thread

I neatened up the connections for the Float Level Switches on the RO Storage... Everything has shrink wrap tubing to prevent snags and is fastened to the vessel. Of course, the wiring runs 25' through the RO Bodega raceway to the Aquarium Controller in the Fish Nook... (graphic is shown in...

www.plantedtank.net

On simplyDiscus I did a thread just on the sump:

Dual Chamber Sump (2x20L) Design as a Common Filter for a Rack of Aquariums (4x20L)

Folks, Settled down in Arizona and resuming my aquarium rack build. This thread is about the Sump Design. Want to show what I'm proposing and looking for feedback (I've casually posted this design on PlantedTank.net, but it wasn't in it's own thread to gather opinions and constructive...

forum.simplydiscus.com

I rest both of my sump sections on two layers of 1/4" cork (for 1/2" total padding). Care must be taken to drill the holes to join the tanks carefully... I prefer more than one hole in the event that one gets plugged you won't have one section of the sump overflowing. I have two 1" sections joining the two sump sections. It's also a good idea to put emergency overflows in each sump section...So, I have a 1/2" overflow. I also installed a drain on my sump to make draining the two sections easier, for that I installed a 1" bulkhead just on one... so I can take the level far down, but not completely empty with the drain. It's good enough. .

I find it is best to connect everything up... and then do the final tightening of the bulkheads that join the two sections once they've found their own perfect alignment. That's the beauty of the holes being a big bigger than the insertable part of the bulkhead... you have a bit of final adjustment and don't have to worry about your adjoing plumbing causing stresses on the glass. I use flexible tubing with barb fittings as they won't put the strains on the glass that rigid, glued in place pvc might....

 

[Dan Knowlton]

I did that with two 20 gallon long aquariums.

Thanks for all the info - lots for me to think about. I was thinking of using silicone tubing because it is even more flexible than vinyl but I was also thinking about a sleeve to keep it from kinking...

Good idea about the emergency overflow. I am using an eShoppes Eclipse M for the tank. Maybe use a float ball valve in the normal overflow area to keep it from overfilling. I was also thinking about coarse filter socks for debris, too.

Dan

 

[Oughtsix]

I would not use bulkheads to connect the two tanks together. Uniseals should work much better for this job and give you a LOT more wiggle room. Hole alignment won't be critical with Uniseals. You can also shift the tanks around individually instead of being ultra careful about moving them as a single structure. Moving the tanks closer together or farther apart won't require any trimming or replacing the connecting pipe with a longer pipe. Pick up some plumbing silicone grease to make pushing the pipe through the Unideal easier.

2'' UNISEAL Flexible Tank Adapter (Bulkhead) - 5 Pack: Pet Care Products: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific

P.S. I will stay with my A7RIV, thank you very much!

 

[Dan Knowlton]

As NothtePainter suggested, I figured out a way to modify the stand to fit a 29 gallon tank in there. The stand supports the tank on the front rim and the side rims but not the full length of the back of the tank. I can take out a 1x4 and have enough space to put the 29 in there. I've been able to clean the calcium off the tank and have started to sand the stand and will pick up paint for the stand today.

Oughtsix, that Sony is a nice one! I needed to stay with Nikon because of the amount I have invested in great lenses.

THANK YOU ALL FOR THE SUGGESTIONS!

Dan K.