Looks fantastic Grizz! Can't wait to see it full of water.

What are you doing for lighting? sorry if I missed it..

Thanks J, going to be using my large diy LED's that are on my 165 after a few tweaks to it are done.

Those 3 DC pumps look sexy all lined up and ready to go...

Wish I had mad DIY skills like this! Nice work!

I love the small size of these pumps, makes it easy to plumb 3 in line on both ends of the sump.


Thanks Antrias but some days I think MAD is the key word :loco:

Pulled the sump out tonight, ran some white silicone down the bottom back edge where the panels meet ( makes it look so clean )
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps01c63ad3.jpg
also working on getting the baffles into the sump, 6 done 4 to go.
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps1a7d60d7.jpg

Wow looks fantastic!! My only question is ... Noise. How loud do you think the pumps skimmer reactors etc could be once this sexy tank is wet??

Either way I would live with it looking at a build like that!

Noise and DC pump doesn't really co-exists ;)

With everything in a cabinet that is going to be sound proofed and the fact that DC pump are so silent that I have to put my ear to the one I have running now on my 165 I dont think there is going to be a whole lot of noise at all.

So true.

Currently run three speedwaves/wavelines and you can definitely hear them, they were pretty quiet at first but now are the noisiest part of the fish room. I run them internal as well so something to be aware of for sure but a minor issue none the less.

My waveline on the 165 has been running for almost a yr now and is still a quite as the day I put it on line but I also clean it once a month as well.

Well after a long day I preceded to get the sump finished after supper, the wife is second guessing herself now in telling me to build it in the house but its to late now. Just have to hook everything back up and finish the little bit of plumbing and its ready for a water test.

Cut out some holes in some acrylic for the filter sock and finished up the baffles

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps21b4fa83.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps94130585.jpg

We need a "Best Sump Design" contest me thinks!By the way your sump is bigger than my tank...I hate you....Ok just kidding:biggrin:

Frick that thing is looking good!!!

Not sure if my sump would be dest design worthy but I hope it works good.

Thanks Stacey but it would look really good with a custom white cabinet front made by a expert carpenter :wink:

Well maybe we can work something out as soon as I find an expert lol, I am sure we could do something for you though Greg give me a call tomorrow or something .... Hey btw I was close to being your neighbour but someone but the property down the road from ya we were longed up next to having a viewing there lol

So looks like you have six return pumps total? I remember thinking you had a lot but six? :lol:
I'm a little concerned about the two sides, it appears the baffles progressively get lower starting off pretty high, I don't see anyway the two chambers on each side are going to be able to equalize. Is there a gap under all the baffles or what's the deal? What happens if one side requires more water than the other or if more water just happens to drain more to one side? How does it balance?

YES Steve there are 6 pumps and like I stated on page 4 only the 4 DC10000 will be running back into the 300 gal, one pump for every 2' of tank. In theory, the water running into the filter socks should evenly to both sides but I will not know until it is full of water and running. I was going to drill threw all the baffles and put in a piece of PVC as an equalizer but changed my mind. Worst case I will have to drill 2 - 3/4" bulkheads into the front of the sump at each end and run a pipe to equalize the volume or come up with some other amazing idea.

All right then, since I am off for the day due to pinched nerves in my lower back I might as well update a little bit of the progress.

Got all the plumbing for the 4 return pumps and glued together so all the drains & returns are done. Also picked up some electrical raceway to hide all the electrical lines. Put a 1/2" size raceway on the inside of the front stand leg & over to one end where all my pump power supplies will be installed.

Just need to get a replacement power supply for the Waveline DC10000 running my 165 gal so I can hook up all the return pumps and fill it with fresh water for a leak test and good clean out.

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps30f13a86.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psddbe7a7a.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps5daf4f51.jpg
http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...ps8ebb76b8.jpg

Yeah you'll need some way of equalizing the flow from the chambers on the two sides.

Those pumps will all have slightly different head pressure and will in no way all flow exactly the same amount and the water will not magically flow from the socks to each side to match exactly what the pumps on each side are using. There is no theory to support it otherwise, just wishful thinking. My advise, fix it now rather than later. Personally would have just left a 1/2" gap under all baffles.

Leaving a gap defeats the purpose of the baffles entirely, once it gets a FW test it will be getting drained out into my pool or pond anyways as I still have a TON of work to do.

Here's a FSS........

http://i765.photobucket.com/albums/x...psab8e8f68.jpg

wow, started going through your thread and couldn't stop - this is quite a project and looks amazing!

Thanks Noy, wish it was closer to completion but there is still a whole bunch more to do yet.

Does that mean you are going to use dry rocks?

Well yes and no, I have about 100 lbs of dry marco rock and around 400 - 500 of dry once live rock plus what is in the 165 gal tank now. I have most of the marco rock in the sump of the 165 gal getting seeded. Once the new tank is running salty I will move the marco rock out of the 165 gal sump to the 300 & add some hand picked dry OLR to the 165 gal sump to seed until I have the new tank aquascaped to my liking. Once I'm satisfied and have all the fish moved in I am going to boil all the rock left and reseed in the 300 to use in the 100 gal FOWLR that is next to build after this is done.

LIST OF TO DO YET

1. fill test run
2. add the 2 end towers
3. move over my diy LED heatsinks
4. run 2 - 20amp dedicated power circuits
5. build electrical control center in the left tower
6. set up my Profilux 3EX controller with Touch screen, 2 PAB 6 power bars,Temp/Ph/Redox/Salinity probes, 4 channel doser, LAN card & EVG control boards for the LED's.
7. finish rebuilding 60 gal cube & hook into system
8. build auto water change system and ato
9. sound proofing & build cabinet incloser

There are a few more things but that what come to the top of my head atm.

Wow that sump is a work of art.

That's a lot of dry rock you'll be using. You may already be aware of this but a word to the wise regardless - expect phosphates and lots of it. I think it's getting to be more and more recognized that dry rock emits phosphates like crazy but even two years ago when I got my 280g going it wasn't really a universally recognized thing. 2.5 years in for me and I still have massive PO4 coming out of nowhere if I let the GFO slide. A bit disappointing because it's a much bigger expense than I expected. I'm considering building a lanthanum reactor at some point to experiment and compare results.

Tanks Tony, yes I am expecting some PO4 but have been able to control it in the current display with GFO and Vertex pellets. I have 3 NextReef MR1 reactors that will be plumbed in to one of the DC5000. Don't Know exactly how much rock I will end up using in the display but I want to keep it to a min to allow lots of swim room for the monster tang squad.

That's frickin AWESOME
Few shillings in fitting too........

Holy hana! Wow.. Tony is right, that sump is art! I nominate it for Sump of the Month!!

Thanks Mike, actually it wasnt to bad. got all the gate valves for $200 shipped, check valves around $80 for 4 roughly and all the rest of the pvc parts at wholesale from Emco for about $250ish.


Thanks Kiener but I dont think Sump of the month exists..............or does it :twised:

Wow That is an awesome sump. I can't wait to see this set up completed. Great job

Lets start a thread and make it happen! You could be a pioneer!

Sump Of 2013 has a nice ring to it or Insane Plumbing of 2013 :lol:

I think to qualify it needs to have water in it :boink:

Staring the slow FW fill tonight for a leak test & run.

Holly dc pumps batman !!!!

OH MAH GAWD!!!!!! If Chuck Norris had a sump... that be it!

Holy Moly!!! Dayum your plumbing is soooo good Mario should be fighting you instead of bowser!!!