So I'm not trying to be overly negative here, but I've been giving your issue a bit more though and thought I'd re-post on it.
If you're stand won't fit a 10g tank as a sump, you'll likely want to consider what you're hoping to gain with the sump and what you're planning on putting in it. Measure everything you want to put in the sump, maybe make a mock cardboard sump and see how it actually looks and if you've got room to work in it and clean it. I built my sump out of a 40g breeder and some acrylic for baffles. It sits under my 120g tank in a 4'x2' stand (give or take). The sump fills about 2/3 of the space under my stand an an ATO system takes most of the rest. While I've got enough room to do my water changes, etc., I'd love more space for a reactor or dosing system. Make sure that you can actually fit your body above the sump inside the stand so that you can reach stuff or siphon in the back. Also make sure that there is enough room in the stand to remove your skimmer (body and all), the return pump, and anything else you might put in there without having to drain it and pull the whole thing out of the stand.
With a sump that small, you will run out of space quickly once you place your skimmer and return pump in it. You may also be creating a top-off water nightmare for yourself if you can't make room for an ATO reservoir and top-off switch/pump. The upside of a sump is that you never see evaporation in your display tank, the level only drops in the return section of the sump. If there isn't much water there, the return pump can rapidly go dry. If you're sump isn't divided by baffles, this may also play havoc with your skimmer as water levels rise and fall. I've never had a tank that size so I'm not really sure how much of an issue evaporation would be in a 29g.
|