29 gallon need sump or no?

I have a 29 gallon FOWLR right now and I'm using a HOB Coralife Super Skimmer with Pump for the 65 gallon. I love the skimmer except for the fact that it leaks whenever I take off the collection cup, and that it makes hella bubbles.
It takes a couple tries of putting on the cup so that it doesn't leak too much (if anyone has suggestions for this problem pls, I would like to know).
The bubbling is what I'm worried more about. The bubble diffuser releases a bajillion tiny bubbles into my tank. Also I recent raised the water level of my tank and this causes the diffuser box thing to overflow which gives me even more bubbles in my tank. It looks pretty bad, but I was wondering does having all these bubbles affect the water chemistry? Will it hurt my fish?

Anyway the leaking and the bubbles are driving me crazy so I was thinking of getting a sump, I never even thought about getting a sump until now so I'm kind of clueless:
1. What size sump? 10 gallon? 5 gallon?
2. How do I build it and attach to the main tank?
3. Do I put live rock in the sump?
4. How much will it cost? Would it be cheaper to just buy a new, better skimmer? if so which one?
I'd appreciate it if someone could link me to somewhere that can teach me the basics of getting a sump
5. Can I build this sump without disrupting my main tank? Like, without drilling or anything.

Sorry I have so many questions and also thank you! I'll attach some pictures of my bubble problem

 

Bump!

Thanks!

Ken

 

I would go with a 10 gallon sump, filled with live rock and a deep sand bed. You could also have an area for an algae scrubber (which is nothing more than a heavily-lighted portion to grow well... algae, which helps to take some nitrates and phosphates out of your water)
There are also HOB overflow boxes.

Buying a 10 gallon tank and building the baffles yourself would be the cheapest way to go about this. The most expensive part of building a sump is the return pump.

 

I would go with a 10 gallon sump, filled with live rock and a deep sand bed. You could also have an area for an algae scrubber (which is nothing more than a heavily-lighted portion to grow well... algae, which helps to take some nitrates and phosphates out of your water)
There are also HOB overflow boxes.

Buying a 10 gallon tank and building the baffles yourself would be the cheapest way to go about this. The most expensive part of building a sump is the return pump.

I've been making due with my bubble and leaky problem. I think I'm going to look into building a sump in a couple months since I'll be moving soon.

Are the HOB overflow boxes used to catch the overflow from the bubble diffuser? If so how effective are they? I feel like if I could raise my skimmer my problem might be solved but I have no idea how :/

 

The overflow boxes are for when you can't or don't want to drill the glass. They work the same as a traditional in-tank overflow. As the return pump from your sump adds water to the tank, the overflow box allows the displaced water to return to the sump. It takes water from the top level of the water column via a siphon.

 

The overflow boxes are for when you can't or don't want to drill the glass. They work the same as a traditional in-tank overflow. As the return pump from your sump adds water to the tank, the overflow box allows the displaced water to return to the sump. It takes water from the top level of the water column via a siphon.

thanks! Ill definitely use that, I don't have a tool to drill thru the tank. Looks like I have a lot to learn about sumps.

 

Diamond hole saws are used to "drill" glass. There are also specialized glass drill bits to make smaller holes. I believe they are similar to masonry bits.

 

When and if you do set up a sump I would use a 20 high, or another 29. This will give you more water volume and more room for live rock. Once you have the baffles in a 10 gallon you are not really adding much in terms of volume to the system. A 10 would work to a degree, but you would get more benefit from a larger sump in my opinion.

 

Diamond hole saws are used to "drill" glass. There are also specialized glass drill bits to make smaller holes. I believe they are similar to masonry bits.

Just don't drill tempered glass! It can (and most often does) shatter... Even the most experienced glaziers are hesitant to drill tempered glass.

Search youtube for some vid's on drilling glass/aquariums if you're interested.

To the OP, Saltwater setups do not NEED a sump per se. However, all systems can benefit from the increased water volume, not to mention they are a great place to hide your equipment.