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jacksprat
24-11-06, 12:01
Ok so as alot of people have said they would love to have a sump on their nano cube. Cyber aquatics now offer a service of drilling the tank before you get it.... Now i had thought about a sump beofre but then thought it too much trouble to have one put on but now i think it can be done.

A few problems really:

1. My tank is stocked so will have to be done fairly quickly and i will run a temporary smaller tank for a few days while either I drill it or i try and find someone who will! - Or Maybe someone will allow my stock in their tank for 2-3 days. Anyway thats not too much of a problem.

2. Where do i get the holes drilled? and how big....... as i will then run pipes down through and into the stand below which will house the mini sump.

3. How should the sump be designed - i will post dimensions up of the stand tonight however it may be better to get a new bigger stand that can fit a bigger sump in? Although it would be an achievement to fit it in the existing stand... could a "2 tier" sump be achieved? as the stand is tall and narrow.

4. As there is a back compartment siliconed on i could actually remove this and it would in turn create more space within the tank i could then just use the returns from the sump as the flow within the tank???

This would allow me to house all filter materials and chaeto in the sump and then even have a small protein skimmer down there or a chiller if need be in the summer.

Let me know what you think. Your input is appreciated as always and also any other ideas. Would be helpful if any questions 1-4 could be answered. As i know many people have though of this and given up but i would like to follow this through as i think i could do it relatively low cost (sub £200) with a fair bit of benefit.

chriskirby101
24-11-06, 12:29
Sumps that will go in nice are..

12"L x 14"H x 8" W

That gives around 20 litres extra.

I'd drill the hole under the built in back filter (central chanmber) as removing it though pretty easy would i think spoil the look of the system.


Enough to fit a small skimmer and a MJ1200 return in. Heater could stay in the back filter.

Chris.

jacksprat
24-11-06, 12:45
what skimmer would fit in there?

And also have you guys/gals drilled any yet and had success?

Seriously going to think about doing this as i think the protein skimmer will add some stability and i could mount a shelf in the stand with a chiller on it.

chriskirby101
24-11-06, 12:56
Not yet, but i've checked and base and back is not tempered.

Skimmer.. MMMMM how about a little red sea air driven unit ..

Oh i'd be removing shelf from unit to make sump usable.


Chris

pipatic
24-11-06, 13:12
what size hole would you drill out? chris

jacksprat
24-11-06, 14:20
exactly my questions :)

chriskirby101
25-11-06, 18:21
I'd use 55mm hole for use with 40mm piping , but this is only coz i buy 40mm piping in bulk and do all my tank conversions with it... 32mm or even 25mm would be ok too..

Chris

pipatic
25-11-06, 20:26
seem big hole for a small tank,

jamieb
25-11-06, 21:03
ive got a 25mm drill bit if thats any help, i could also drill it for you but obviously couldn't take responsibility if it broke.
that said ive drilled about 15 holes in various tanks and never broke one.
HTH
jamie