Fluval Vicenza sump build and diy sump info

i have made the decision to add a sump to this tank

details of the tank
the tank is a Fluval Vicenza which is 150ltrs and comes from factory predrilled at the bottom of the tank for the fluval external filter's, this offeres 2 problems within its self.



1st problem is the the place where it is drilled in 2 places right next to each other so in affect i cannot use a weir as such other wise it would just be turning over the sump all the time

2nd problem is the height of the out let which is very low down in the tank and would drain half the tank into the sump its self

so how i will get arround these problems are quite simple tbh swap the out let to the inlet pipe and that will mean i have an outlet infront pushing the skimmed water away from the outlet pipe at this point

the second problem was simple as well, all i did was get a hold of a water fountain pump tube for the fountain part and removed the spray section to leave me the black tube which just fits over the pipe work in the tank which is hand and was proving difficult to get a piece of black pipe to fit it to this i have added the fluval filter strainer which will stop the fish going down to the sump


then this is the pipework sorted on the tank and only cost me ?5 for the fountain pipe

right now the sump

started with a new 18x10x10 30ltr tank from clearseal

i added 4 peices of glass all sized at 9"x8.5" which gives me a 2"gap at the side of the baffel and also an inch at the top for an over flow option and also 2 small 5"x5" peices to give me an area where i can have a dsb with out it being desturbed

their is a reason behind this and these are
it will allow faster flow throught the sump with out any additional noise
it allows the pump to remain under water till the lower baffels are no longer coved which saves replaceing a pump just because i wasnt arround when the tank lost too much water through evaporation should this ever happen or i spring a leak in one of the pipes
also this give the ability to have a fast flowing sump with no disturbance on the top of the dsb

right the sump with water in it to show that it can have differnt levels in each part



showing the small baffels in place to hold the dsb with no movement



the same on the oposite side also notice that the gap is on the opposite side to the other one which causes a diagonal flow through the dsb area



well it has been wet tested and run with 2 different pumps in it

the first is an eheim 1048 @ 600lph (note how queit it is lol)

and the second test was with a hailea 2000lph multipump (note the noise of this pump lol cheap ones dont do so well lol but good for a mixing pump)


to make a sump like this one (if you would ever want to lol) you will need
a tank
glass pre cut or you can cut it your self ( i chose to get it pre cut)
aqua silicone
tape measure (i used a class 1 tape)
marker pen (not nessisary but handy)
superglue (again not nessisary but useful)
and some tape (any will do)

first get the tank cleaned and measured up and decide where you want the dsb area in the tank and what compartments you need for the equipment you are adding including the size of the pump in relation to the return section size (this is where the marker pen comes in handy) mark it all off with the pen or tape

then grab the glass you have got and place this in the section you have marked out (this is where the superglue comes in handy) add a small drop to the pannel and place it where you want it to go and hold in place the glue should hold the pannel in place but also use a small bit of tape to hold as well

at this point is the time to apply silicone to the panel at the sides and the base (you can tape off if you want to make a nice clean finnish) and then apply with finger arround the pannel where you have applied silicone to make it seal then the same is done for each pannel untill you have finished the sump sections (after about 20mins remove the tape from the siliconed sections if you chose to make it nice and clean if you dont do it now you wont get it off cleanly)

then leave the sump for at least 12hrs (or what your silicone states cure time is) then wet test it to see if you have any leaks in any of the sections if so dry it and silicone the leaking sections up and repeat this till you have no leaks

after 36-48hrs the sump should be ready to add to the tank

right i have now fitted it all

as you can see the pipe work has been rearranged and fitted with the new pipe work



next was to sort out the pipework under the tank



and the dsb already in place (took a cupfull out of the existing tank and added new crushed coral that is in the sand) and the water out of the tank was drained into the sump via the handy open close valve of the fluval pumps


next i removed one of the fluval pipes so it would reach the return section as the current ones were too small


took the skimmer (red sea prizm) from the top of the tank and fitted it to the sump with the inlet where the water comes in and the outlet where the dsb.


did a wet test and found the 2000lph pumps i had were not man enough for the job so added a 1048 just for the time being till i can get a hold of a 1260 or 1262 fired it up and it seems to run fine with the smaller pump on which is good for the min (also the 2000lph ones were noisy as hell lol) topped it all up and here is the finished product













as you can see in the last pic i am not getting full power from the pump as i had to try and step up the out let size temporarily so it is flowing some back to the section

so all in all not too bad a job to do tbh but their is a little noise from the suction to the sump will have to sort this out 1 way or the other and is just a little slurping noise and when the hood is on it isnt bad but still want it to be silent or at least not far from it lol

That is a great seet up kb. You have done a lot of work on it but it will pay off in the end.

only time will tell tbh

better than the fluval filter that was on it befor hand tho

tank looks more natural with out the skimmer on top of it lol

I had a fluval 405 for a while and never liked it

I hated the 'brand name media' only thing, I hated the all too easy to clog pre filter idea and I hated the low throughput (and the 'fluval' only hoses)

So i replaced it with a much cheaper and infinitely better tetratec ex700

ive seen the new fluvals pushed by pfk - based on previous experience - wont be looking at them as a purchase any time this millennia

great set of photos K nice progress mate


dekker

narrower tubing may stop the noise to the sump - if their is an air gap within the pipe - ie an inconstant flow and full pipe - it will make noises - no need to worry if the pipes are wide and through holes in the glass as you can get reducers from most decent lfs or online