Aquarium rack and sump build

This build is a bit of an early Xmas present for The_fishy. I got some input from her on the design and this is the product as it sits today. Right now 3 of the 4 10 gallon tanks are running. The stand itself is 2x4 which has been stained and had a generous coat of polyurethane applied by The_fishy. All of the tanks are ran on the 29 gallon DYI sump. For mechanical filtration we are getting some sponges for a fluval FX filter to fit in a 6inch piece of pipe. Right now the bioballs are being weighed down by some plant pots which will be removed later. The pump leads to a manifold with 5/16 inch adjustable valves. I had to remove the built in check valve out of each valve to help improve flow. The 1/2 inch overflow does not allow for the valves to be fully open so I am upgrading to 3/4 inch. For now the system can run with the valves opened about 1/3 of the way. If anyone has any questions about or ideas to improve the build please comment!!!

 

Pretty cool project, I love nano sump builds. I'll be tagging along to see how your process goes.

 

Here are some of the in progress photos on the building and staining of the stand. Both shelf panels are removable. The little one is nice as a workspace or to siphon water into the sump, but it can also be removed to add a fifth tank. Each tank has a drilled intake.

 

The current problems I am having with the set up are the overflow from the 1/2" elbows and tubing is not as much as I would like. I am going to upgrade these to 3/4" and hopefully that will allow for a better flow. For now I am leaving bubble filters running in each tank. The other issue I am having is too large of a heater. I had a 400W heater sitting I thought I should try on the system and it is too powerful. I am going to swap it out for a 200W heater. Currently there is no mechanical filtration in the sump since I haven't yet gotten the sponges. As I make changes I will continue to update this thread

 

Just a small update. I upgraded the 1/2" overflows to 3/4". This really increased how much flow I can have going to each tank. I had to get a clamp to keep the filter pipe upright. I'll be getting the sponge and adding it into the pipe this week. I also added some screw eyes so I had points to zip tie all the tubing and organize it better.

 

I got the filter sponges and floss today! It worked out better than I thought the 6inch pipe is slightly smaller than the round media used in the fluval fx filters. I plan on changing out the bioballs with some ceramic because the balls want to float. I stacked one course sponge on the bottom followed by 3 fine floss and 2 course sponge on top. The water level in the pipe is about an inch or two above the level in the sump. Overall this set up is pretty quiet there is some water drainage sound but the loudest part is the hum from the pump.

 

If you want to see the bio Balls do their job, put a couple big air bars under their compartment. They will spin and tumble and take turns sinking once you are moving enough air. Balls make great trickle filters, but even better fluid bed media.

 

If you want to see the bio Balls do their job, put a couple big air bars under their compartment. They will spin and tumble and take turns sinking once you are moving enough air. Balls make great trickle filters, but even better fluid bed media.

I'm hoping to put some live plants in there instead of the bioballs. The overall bioload shouldn't be too bad since the plan is to use the 4 tanks to raise wild bettas.

 

there is something about sump filters that really satisfies me lol

 

So I ran into a bit of an issue... The tank on the end developed a crack over 4 inches long and had to be taken down. This was the oldest tank I had drilled and already had a small chip in the front corner. I plan on drilling another 10 gallon to replace it and will take this one apart and cut it up to make lids for the other tanks.

 

The cracked tank has been taken apart and turned into 3 lids for the other tanks. We got a new 10 gallon and drilled it to take the place of the other tank and I put an old lid I had laying around on it. I'm hoping this will cut down on the evaporation. I also got a drawer organizer for the fish stuff and set up the shelf to be a brine hatchery. I have an actual hatchery coming in the mail but for now I'm just using some mason jars I had laying around. I also cut the filter pipe in the sump down so I could put the glass lid back on it.