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Has anybody have a sump filter that they made? I work at a pet store and we have several 80 gallon sump filters that do an excellent job filtering the water. I was looking at little 10 gallon sump filters for my 90 gallon turtle/fish tank, but they're like $150 for one, not including the pump.

I have some extra 10 g tanks laying around, and I thought I could make a sump filter using a pump to pump the water out of the aquarium, into the sump. Use gravel, foam filter cartridges, carbon, and bioballs to filter the water. I would silicon acrylic into the sump to section off the different medias I wanted the water to travel through, and in the last stage of the filter I would have a second pump, to pump the water back into the aquarium and a heater.

The only thing I'm not sure about is how to make sure the sump doesn't overflow or run dry. I think if the 2 pumps are the same GPH it'll work, but the water may move faster going with gravity down into the sump, then water moving against gravity back into the tank.

Anyone ever try this before, or have suggestions?

completly possible and many many articles on it. do a google search for "Diy sump" or "aquarium sump" and have a look see. i know there are loads of places that have info on this very same subject.

they will also explain how to get it to fill and empty in harmony with out drying up or over flowing. i believe ball valves are used as a control or something, i forget honestly.

good luck it sounds like fun

Hi Bill,
You can make your own sump system, but you need to understand the principles of how and why, what you need to make it all work properly. The fomulars are a bit involved, baffles and pumps used. I would go for one pump of good quality ( that uses less power consumption, to reduce running costs ) gals per hour/ head height/ watts per hour are all to be considered.
Size of tank, size of sump, size of pump, size of plumbing/hoses all need to be relavent. Filter media, heater to fit inbetween baffles, anti syphon valves on the over flow from tank. Good luck. Muss

i had this idea once... i also have a spare 10G tank doing nothing. i was going to use a tube to syphon water into the tank, then adjust the pump so the water goes out almost at the same rate as the incoming water. then i remembered that i had no way of sticking media in.. so i gave up with out trying lol.

how do u manage to setup a sump so the water passes thru media?