New Idea would like some seasoned input

[amf82380]

I was browsing some other fourms last night and came across this one and it gave me an idea for people like me who would love to have a sump and refugim and all the benifits of having one but not enough room to place one under the tank so I was wondering if this idea would work:

Take two AGA 10gal tanks take a secetion of trim off of the back of one and the front of another make some cuts for a overflow and drill (if you didnt want to do the over the top method) for the return silocone the two tanks together and there you have it a 10 gal with a matching sump/refugim

I really dont see many issues with it other then the drilling and cutting of the tanks no real expensive parts to buy you can get the 10 gal tanks at walmart for $10 and no complicated plumbing to try and route or figure out

I am seriously considering trying this. I have made up a rough diagram to give you a better idea of what I am talking about so let me know what you all think

 

[TimSchmidt]

It sounds very feasable. Seems to me it's just another variation of putting a false wall in a larger tank. I would make sure to silicon those two together very well and make absolutely sure the surface you will be placing them is strong and level so as to not seperate the tanks later on.

 

[amf82380]

yeah the stand they would go on is in this section its a custom made one I dont know if I would use silicone or something else stronger being that the surface wont be coming in contact with water going in and out of the tank I could always use some time of construction adhesive like liquid nails or something like that I guess it would give a stronger bond without the flex that silicone would.

 

[ripcurrent]

I've seen something similar done to two 20 gallons and it seemed to have worked just fine.

I wonder if you wouldnt be better off though by completely removing one of the sumps pains of glass. So you'd basically have just one piece of glass seperating the two tanks. I cant really think of a reason not too. You'll have less glass to cut (not a fun task) and eliminate a possible area where water could leak (between the two panels where the water would have to overflow over).

Sounds like an interesting venture. YOu could probably make a pretty nice tank out of your idea. Good luck.

 

[amf82380]

rip,

The reason I was going to leave the two pains of glass was because I would becutting the trim off the top of the two tanks in those sections and I have heard mixed opions on taking the trim off that its there for support and all but I havent heard of anyone actually taking it off so I am not sure what to do with that any ideas about that?

Aaron

 

[amf82380]

also with this set up I could probably be able to get away with using a power head for a return pump being that the tanks will be even right? if so which would you recommend (dont want to spend a small fourtune but also dont want a walmart cheapy) dont need to come home and find the sump over flowing and the display almost empty.

 

[Anonymous]

the top trim doesn't do much if anything as pressure is related to depth.......bottom trim helps some of course but by cutting it anywhere you have comprimised that anyway - i wouldn't worry about it.
i think though if it were me i would do as tim suggested in the first place and start with a larger tank and do a false wall your looking at about 20x20 take the side panel off a 20H and put it on its side with a new back and you have 24 x 16 and a 29 gives you a 22 x 30 like my figi tank.... sounds like a lot of work but it is easy and then you don't have the vertical seam in the middle

 

[amf82380]

Yeah it does sound a little more pratical but I have always had this fear about doing anything structurly to a tank hence why I have never atempted to build my own and I like the cub look I wanted a oceanic 30 cube but cant afford one so this is my next best step with out building my own and I would leave all the trim on the tanks with the exception of the trim on the front of the back tank and on the back of the display tank then once the two tanks were attached to each other I would join the remaining trim on the two tanks.

 

[Anonymous]

try it..........there is no reason it shouldn't work
post some pics when your your done

 

[TimSchmidt]

Piratesreef is a great tank builder, maybe he could give you the encouragment to build the tank yourself. Looked really easy and actually cheap.

 

[Anonymous]

Tim is right, if it were me, I would just build it out of 1/4" glass. That way, you would have one solid structure to hold the water and a partition to divide the display from the sump & filter area. I was going to do something like this before Pirate's Reef came about.

The only hurdle is hiding the stuff in the back area. The thoughts I had on that were: to use a black acrylic divider, use black spray foam (actually saw this done on a good sized tank on RC and it looked pretty neat), or actually glue small bits of live rock onto the front part of the partition to make a "rock wall" background. I actually did this years ago on my 200 gallon, but used feather rock. I wouldn't recommend using that stuff though.

If you are not sure what size to have each piece cut, use the GARF Tank Building calculator. Just plug in the dimensions you want and the material you will use and it will give you a cut list to give to the glass shop.

http://www.garf.org/tank/buildtank.asp

Once you get the glass cut, it's just a matter of gluing stuff together. If you decide to go that route, I would be happy to give you some more tips later on.