rubbermaid tote

[scottp]

Are the rubbermaid tote bins good to use as a sump or would i be better off making a 5 sided box with wood then sealing it thank you

[slevesque]

Rubbermaid is good and cheap for sumps. A lot of people are using them.

[Yose]

They make ok sumps but over time they distort in shape. IMO if you get one for a sump, wrap a tie-down strap around the tote for icreased stability.

[eshook]

Many people will make a box out of 2x4's to keep the shape of the sump.

Another suggestion is to "double 'em up"

I would think the first would be better than the second but its just a matter of opinion.

[CaptainCoral]

Use Sterilite, much sturdier than rubbermaid.
The one in my gallary is 39 gallons, has no distortion and is solid. :)
I simply cut the center out of the lid and zip-tied the remaining rim on as a euro-brace.

[scottp]

thanks guys.
Captain in your sump is it open in there water dumps in the pump pulls water out or do you have any baffles in there

[CaptainCoral]

scottp....
I have left it baffle less for simplicity. The pic is several months old now. Currently there is an upgraded skimmer (ev400, it's an ev180 in the pic) and I'm using two 100 micron filter socks on the tank returns and skimmer output. The two 3" tubes connected to the tank return lines (in the pic) was the original bubble baffle and worked well. I had them stuffed full of my DIY frag rocks at the time.

Baffles in a sump of this style can still be accomplished and if we beg some folks to show off their creations, we may see some pics. (this is the part where you guys decide to post replys ;) )
I know some people have joined bins with bulkheads, and others have placed other bins/containers inside the larger bin.
I've decided to use the filters to remove bubbles and everything else that manages to go down the {amusement park} drain lines.
I've managed to have enough space in my sump for extra live and frag rocks, so I've reverse lit it with a couple 30w spiral compact flourescents.

(if someone kicks me, I'll upgrade my old pics)

Good luck with your project scottp. There's $$$ to be saved making your own sump, and you can engineer it the way you want it!

[Reefer Wannabe]

My overflow tubing goes into a 5 gallon bucket where the skimmer is kept. I have a hole in the bucket (dear Liza, dear Liza) where the water dumps into the rubbermaid onto my macro. The return is on the other side of the rubbermaid. I'm not a DIY kind of guy (but I'm cheap).

This seems to work well for me.

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/83640ghetto_fuge.JPG

[scottp]

Cool I'm pretty cheap myself I'm a little confused about the baffles i thought they were there in case power went out and it help prevent overflowing either the tank or sump I guess i'll look into that thanks guys/girls I do like the bucket idea

[CaptainCoral]

Yeah, the main function of baffles is to keep bubbles away from return pumps. Some sump maufacturers also have sponges incorperated into their baffles for the added benefit. The number of plates in a baffle system improves it's performance if no sponge is used, but small snails and whatnot can still make it to your pumps in no filter socks are employed.

For your overflowing concerns, just make sure the sump is large enough to handle the water volume draining from your display tank in the event of a power failure.

Let's see some more DIY sumps here folks. I know there are lots of 'em hanging around here with varying degrees of complexity, and I for one, would like to see them all. :D

[fservillon]

ok, here's mine. pretty simple. a mag12 feeds the skimmer, phosban reactor and reutrns water from the sump to the display tank.
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b188/grim_reefer_92563/100_6613.jpg
the bin is from home depot and costs less than $10.

[Nano_reeflover]

Bump^ lets see some more of this type of sump!

[Reefjunkee]

GOOD INFO

[reverendmaynard]

3 18 gal rubbermaid roughnecks, some uniseals, and some 1.5" PVC. I don't know if I would recommend it exactly the way it is, but it does work. I should have used at least 2" pvc to connect them, or even dual 1.5s, because horizontal pipes don't flow very well unless there's some pressure built up behind them. The way it is, there's too much waterlevel fluctuation in the different compartments depending on conditions.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/epolacek/125_sw_tank/sump_1.jpg

[scottp]

what do you use the kitty litter bucket for?

[wfrost]

Watch your heater. I have heard of them melting rubbermaid tubs and similar items.

[CaptainCoral]

I don't think that should be any concern. The water surrounding the heater will displace a lot of heat. (I'm reminded of a science trick involving a flame and a plastic cup of water)

[reverendmaynard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6788943#post6788943 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scottp
what do you use the kitty litter bucket for?

Thats my remote deep sand bed. Look in the All Things Salty forum and there's a stickied thread, called Deep Sand Bed in a Bucket I think.

I don't think heaters will melt the tubs, but I do use the suction cups to keep them from actually touching the tubs just in case.

[eshook]

*Kicks CaptainCoral*

I'd like to see some updated pictures if your willing .... I was thinking of making a system similar to yours. Do you have problems with LR crud going into your return pump? If you were to do it over would you do anything differently? (This question can be made to all that have replied / will reply to it :O)

advTHANKSance
Eric

[reverendmaynard]

I don't have a problem with that. I use a 800 micron filter sock on the outlet pipe from the fuge (middle bucket). It's on the side of the pipe that's in the fuge so anything that gets caught in it is still in the fuge. This way algae won't clog up the pipe, and pods can get themselves off the sock.

[eshook]

Thats a good idea, its more of a self cleaning system so to speak. I like that, less worrying about a piece of algae breaking a pump or something.

[reverendmaynard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6793704#post6793704 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eshook
Thats a good idea, its more of a self cleaning system so to speak. I like that, less worrying about a piece of algae breaking a pump or something.

Yup. I hope that most of the gunk from the main tank will either get skimmed out or settle in the first compartment, to be siphoned out later.

The outlet pipe from the fuge sticks into the fuge about 6-8" and has many 1/4" holes in it for the water to drain. This way there's very little suction at any one hole in the pipe. When I clean the sock (weekly) I pick off the larger pieces of macro and throw them back where they should be. Then I try to scare off any pods that wont fit through the sock. Then I peel off the sock so it's inside out (all the detritus that was on the outside is now on the inside) then dunk it a few times in the fuge water to give the smaller pods a chance to jump off (seems to work because it freeks them out to be pulled out of the water, so they let go of the sock, and only ones small enough to slip through the mesh are in there.)

Nothing bigger than 800 microns (.8mm I think) goes into the return compartment.

[eshook]

Would you implement a triple tote system if you were to do it again? I have thought of this instead of dealing with baffles in a rubbermaid tote (which usually changes shape after some time so the baffles become disconnected from the walls)

[reverendmaynard]

Here's a pic of the inside of the fuge compartment so you can see the pipe arrangement.
The top pipe is coming from the skimmer compartment. It has a long thin slit in it for the water to come out. I was trying to simulate the water overflowing a baffle. It doesn't work very well though, for a couple of reasons. I had to drill holes in the cap at the end to improve flow because the skimmer compartment was filling too much. Also, the water wants to keep going straight down the pipe, not turn 90 degrees to flow out the slit, so most of the water ends up flowing out near the end, with very little flow near where the pipe enters the tote.

The bottom pipe is the outlet going to the return.

I've also got a shot of the return. The pumps not plumbed in there or anything, but you can see the bubble tower I made out of 3" pvc that the inlet pipe (out from the fuge) ends in. I filled it with LR rubble to cut down noise and bubbles, since the waterlevel in the return section is always lower than the pipe.

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/epolacek/125_sw_tank/empty_fuge.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d41/epolacek/125_sw_tank/empty_return.jpg

[reverendmaynard]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6793834#post6793834 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eshook
Would you implement a triple tote system if you were to do it again? I have thought of this instead of dealing with baffles in a rubbermaid tote (which usually changes shape after some time so the baffles become disconnected from the walls)

If I had to do it again I'd probably splurge and get a standard glass tank and glue some baffles in it.

If I was definitely going to use totes, then yes I probably would do it again, except I'd put the return in the middle and split the overflow water to the fuge on one side and the skimmer on the other. The problem being that at max volume, the flow through the fuge is too strong (the macro all gets mashed into one corner), so I have to throttle back the pump and/or devise an alternate route to the return compartment from the skimmer. I actually do use a siphon tube (like a u tube overflow) made from 1" pvc to send some of the flow up and over the fuge the way it's running now, and my skimmer pumps from the skimmer compartment but dumps into the return compartment, but I bought a smaller pump, and will use my bigger one for a CL, so the regular flow path should be sufficient.

[scottp]

reverend what type of sand is used in that dsb?

[reverendmaynard]

Pretty much any fine-grained sand will do. If you've got the cash, use aragonite. If not, play sand from HD/Lowes will work. I'm using "White Play Sand" that I found at HDs. It's made by the same company that makes southdown, so I was hoping it was southdown when I bought it, but it's not. I think its calcite or dolomite. It fizzes in vinegar, but not as much as aragonite.

Unlike a regular dsb, you don't have to worry about whether critters that live in the sand will be able to digest it, so silica sand is ok too. Normally, you wouldn't want to use silica (or the sand that I'm using) because it's got very sharp edges on the grains that can be harmful to sand sifting organisms. There shouldn't be any organisms except bacteria in a RDSB.

[CaptainCoral]

eshook.... Kick noted. :)

I should have a new pic posted here today sometime. I needed an excuse, and a kick, to do some cleaning and organizing down there anyway.

[eshook]

Thanks captain, its no rush, I'm just curious on the setup ;o)

[CaptainCoral]

Alrighty, here are the updated pics.



http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/CaptainCoral/Sump3.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/CaptainCoral/Sump2.jpg
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/CaptainCoral/Sump1.jpg


The rocks are the DIY variety, and the lights were added recently.

The pvc "T" at the far right of the sump holds my ATO float switch (which I've wrapped in fiberglass windowscreen) and topoff water enters through the top of the "T".

I currently have the air to the skimmer shut off and its water level raised because I'm in the middle of my second Interceptor dosing, but that is another story. ;)

[eshook]

Thanks for the info captain. Thats a nice setup.

I like the eurostyled brace everyone has made with their tote lids. I had never seen that before and is a good idea that I might "borrow" ;o)

Thanks again
eshook

[keeperofthefish]

Is grey the "food safe" color? Anyone have any thoughts/issues with chemical issues related to using these bins?

[eshook]

I think enough people have used them without ill effects to consider them reef worthy. Or the ill effects have been blamed on something else ;o)

I've seen a a lot of people use these and no-one has attributed problems to them once, so I figure they must be ok.

[CaptainCoral]

There was a lot of debate about these issues a couple years back and the threads should be around somewhere. At the time there was paranoia involved with the use of any plastic other than rubbermaid "brute" containers. If I could find the threads to help ease any minds I gladly would. It is, however, left to those premium members now to do the searching. It has been cleared several times over now that plastic bins, garbage cans and so on are ok to use without worry. ;)

I should add that the clear plastics have been determined to be more brittle than the opaque's.