10g Sump Design and Planning

10 Gallon Sump:
This is my design for a 10 gallon sump using a standard 20″ x 10″ x 12″.

My design had to accommodate for my Coralife Super Skimmer 65 as well as Mag 5 return pump. I didn’t have either of these items yet and guessed at the dimensions for a layout.

This is the updated design to match the changes I had to make for actual sizes. The pump section was about an inch bigger than it needed to be and the skimmer was an inch and 3/4ths bigger than I thought. The bubble trap ended up bigger because I couldn’t find something that small to fit in between it to hold the baffles in place while it dried.

Here is how it ended up now that I got all of my pieces of equipment in and can see what sizes the baffles really need to be. I choose to use glass and had 3 pieces of 1/8″ glass cut to the size 7″ x 9.5″, this cost about $5. Be sure to have room to get the glass in the sump and be able to position them, that is why I used 9.5″ on a 10″ side.

Front

Front – Angle

Top

Front view with pump and skimmer

Return System:

The plan for the return system will be one that I read about from an article by Anthony Calfo, which can be found here. The idea is to use a manifold and several tees to help evenly disperse the flow back into the tank. I also plan to use a tee and a ball valve down in the sump to regulate the flow going up if necessary.

Due to the fact that I only have a hand saw and didnt think about my hang on the back light or how the overflow box would interfer with my manifold I have since changed it to a single outlet and may change it sometime in the future.

I finally got some cheato as my macro algae, this pretty much finishes up my sump. For lighting I have a light strip from a 10g tank with 2 25W screw in bulbs.