DIY sump and pump controller project finished!
Well its 4:40am but im finally finished with the project I started this morning. Wouldnt have taken quite so long but I had couple of hour drive to pick up 30g tank. I have been using a 20g rubbermaid tub for a sump ever since I set up this tank a few years ago and decided to add a refugium, then I decided to build a new sump, then decided to try my wavemaker idea, then decided to add a auto top off, man I should have stuck with the rubbermaid tub! The only thing I bought was a 30G long and a 10g aquarium, a float switch, and some silicone. The glass I used for the baffles in the sump I got from the local lumber yard for free since they were small pieces cut from scraps they had. The electical parts I had on my work truck except for the recycle timer which I got from a electrician friend. The sump has a small area for my skimmer, baffles for somewhat of a bubble trap, a small area for my return pump, and a decent sized refugium. All total iwhen running it should hold about 22g of water. I am using the 10g tank to keep my make-up water in. I dont have a RO system but the 10g should last 5-6 days before it has to be refilled. I used a small float switch in the pump return area which closes a relay to turn on a powerhead in the 10g tank to transfer the makeup water to the sump when needed. I used a relay with a 12V coil for the float switch and used the common side to run through the switch. The float switch says it is rated at .5 amps which is plenty for the small powerhead but I didnt want to chance it and will let the contacts in the relay handle the load instead. I added a second float switch for a "all pumps stop" backup to keep from overflowing the tank or the sump. Redundancy is never a bad thing when it keeps the floors dry! The recycle timer will run two powerheads in the main tank kinda like a wavemaker, turning on only one at a time with a cycle of about 6 minutes. I am running about 250 gph through the sump and because I had plenty of old pumps around I opted to use a second pump to cycle water through the refugium. It should move around 80gph from the return pump section of the sump to the refugium which will drain back into the return area. I am waiting on the silicone to dry on the sump/refugium and will probably fill it tomorrow evening and see how everything works. I took a couple of pictures and would sure like opinions/suggestions on this setup so I can correct any mistakes before I add water!
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