Please help Building a sump

[edshas2]

Well my friend picked up a 125 g drilled tank, we want to add about a 55g sump but want to build it ourselves, how would we go about it and has anyone done it, what would supplies cost, and whats the best configuration to have your sump, i believe theres someone here that builds acrylic sumps just dont know exactly who, anyways would really appreciate any advice thanks

[hobogato]

acrylic will cost you around $120 for a 4' by 8' sheet of 1/4 extruded. that is what i used to build them out of. once you have an idea of the area you are working with and what you would like to include in it (skimmer, type of return pump, fuge, filter pad area, etc) then i will be glad to help you draw one out. you can also find some good plans on www.melevsreef.com, as well as some how to stuff. i will be glad to give you some pointers about building as well.

[alton]

Yep what Ace said and melevsreef is a great place to check out for designs.

[Mephistefales]

I got my acrylic cheaper than that at Lowe's. You absolutely have to have a router to perfectly true the edges. I built a router jig for my table saw and it worked great. A router table really isn't enough. It would also be a great idea to get one of those plastic bubble/hood things for your router so you can hook up your shop vac and suck away all the tiny acrylic flakes. They're a real PITA to clean up, and you will never be completely rid of them. We kept finding pieces tracked in for months, and when I moved, I was still finding those stupid flakes after we had everything out of the garage. I also inserted the last partition, between the fuge and the sump, at an angle, so the water isn't as loud when a gallon or so evaporates. I went a little overboard on the complexity of the stand/sump I built, so I'm not sure I would ever do that again, but of course, it was very rewarding and I'm glad I did it (once... and *only* once). You might enjoy it far more than I did if you approach it knowing in advance that it is a tedious and exacting job. Maybe I should clean the nasty thing up and take some pictures to post.