sump under a 55 gallon..... 5 gallon sump?

I did something similar for my 40, but used stainless steel braces in it. Probably overkill but imo it was worth the extra $25 or so. I feel like the stand is a lot stronger than need be, which makes me feel secure about it.

Sumps can add noise to it too. If you don't set it up right, the draining is noisy. Is your tank a reef setup? You might be able to just change the water a little more and ditch the skimmer, for now. And the powerheads aren't noisy are they?

 

Go to WalMart or Target and find a rubbermaid tub that can be bent/warped/twisted to get under there. They come in all sizes and are inexpensive. Forgo the refugium for now, and just address the problem at hand. At least that is what I would do.

 

Agreed. I ran a tank with a kids plastic playtub for a while because I made the mistake of not measuring the stand before setting it up. All your sump options are small, so be careful to set your pump return up correctly with a siphon break high up so you don't get a lot of water in the sump. Also use a smaller return pump so there is less lifted volume of water at any one time.

That all said, you can make it happen for a while at least with a small sump.

 

I know you don't want to mess with the brace with the tank on there, but if you could maybe get a 55 gallon drum and pump 3/4 of the water into it to make the tank almost empty, here is an idea for you:



That is a 30 gallon (30"x14") sump for my 55 gallon. I obviously had to rebuild the back of it, but it was not that bad. I reused the center brace. Just another idea for you.

 

If your system is set up correctly, (and it better be to avoid floods), your sump should handle any power outage.--easy to accomplish- another thread though. You could PM me if you like on that one.

Can you use varying shape plastic containers- sold at any big box hardware store, to get the sizes you need? The beauty of them is that they will bend around corners when empty getting them in the stand, etc. I had a 50g 'rubbermaid Roughneck' container as a sump under my 125reef. It's now plumbed to the basement.

My point is, it doesn/t have to be a 'tank' to work as good or better.

 

Ditto, Sorry, I didn't see this before I posted.

 

Doesn't bending the rubbermaid containers before filling put stress in that area that would lead to it cracking eventually? It doesn't have to last years for him, but I'd still be concerned.

 

Im not really crazy about the rubbermaid tubs. I think im going to build a small dual 10 gallon stand to sit beside the 55 with the equipment in the bottom 10 enclosed in the stand, and the other 10 sitting on top. 55 will drain into the top 10 gallon display refugium, and then overflow to the bottom 10 gallon housing the reactors, protein skimmer and return pump. We were going to do a small 10 gallon green mantis tank at some point anyway, so i can put the mantis in the refugium.

I may go 20 long, but not sure, depends on the space. I have a christmas tree sitting there now, and there is usually an end table there, so Ill have to wait until new years to take the tree down and measure the space.

 

I have a mantis you can have if you need one!

 

lol, shipping would probably cost more than I can pick one up for at my LFS. They sell them for $10.