Hi everybody Joey here again and welcome back.
In this video I'm going to show you guys how to build an overhead aquarium sump.
"What is an overhead aquarium sump?"
It speaks for itself; it's a sump that goes above your aquarium.
Now you might be wondering "What's the point of putting a sump above your aquarium?"
Well, simply put not everybody can have a sump below their aquarium, but they still
want to have the benefits of having filtration done within a sump.
When having a sump below your aquarium you are probably going to have to either drill
your aquarium or purchase or build an aquarium overflow to get the water down to that sump.
The overall cost of a sump below your aquarium can actually add up as well depending on the
style that you're building.
You will also need a large aquarium pump which can add to that cost as well.
In this video we are going to avoid all of that.
The sump that I'm going to show you how to build will cost you less than 30 dollars for
everything including the pump.
So let's start off with supplies.
Let start by talking about the actual pump itself, now the reason why we're saving so
much money on the pump is because we actually don't really need a large aquarium pump.
We only need a small power head.
How small depends on the flow you're going to want to put through this sump, however
a medium sized power head should only cost about 15 dollars on average.
You're also going to need a windowsill planter; these are plastic and commonly available.
They are going to cost you around 3 or 4 dollars depending on the size that you get.
They come in a wide array of sizes, from 2 feet to 3 feet to 4 feet, and that is pretty
much what I have found.
In this video we are going to be using a 2 foot version for this example.
You're also going to need some lighting diffuser, and you will also need some zip ties.
You're also going to require some bulkheads, now depending on the size of filter that you're
building and the amount of flow you want to put in it will depict the size of the bulkheads
you're going to need.
In this example I'm just using the small bulkheads that I used from the "How to build a canister
filter" video; they are the same type.
You're also going to need a spade drill or some form of a hole saw to drill the planter
to get your bulkheads in.
You're also going to need to get the water to the top of the aquarium to get into the
sump.
We'll do this with the power head, but were going to need to attach a hose to that power
head and run that hose to the top of the sump.
I'm just going to be using some vinyl hose.
I'm also just using a maxijet power head; because of the output on it, it allows me
to simply slide it over a hose and run that hose right up to the top of my sump.
So that's the supplies, let's get started with the actual build.
Starting with your planter box, you're going to want to drill holes where you want the
bulkheads to be installed.
Where you should install those bulkheads depends on where you want your water level; however
the higher up on the planter box the better.
The reason being is because we want to keep everything submerged in case the power goes
out or you unplug the pump especially your heater if you plan to put your heater in there
as well.
So what I did is I simply drilled near 75% of the height of the actual planter box, I
went ahead and drilled two holes for my bulkheads.
Depending on the size of bulkhead you use, you might only drill one.
I installed the bulkheads as normal with the gasket touching the inside where the water
will be.
This creates a watertight seal so the bulkheads don't leak.
I then needed to create some sort of a contraption to mechanically filter the water before it
enters the sump and gets biologically filtered.
So what I did was took my lighting diffuser and I created a small tray and I zip tied
it together, and it basically holds the mechanical media above the water's surface so it can
be mechanically filtered first.
Now cutting your diffuser is actually really easy if you just use some wire cutters.
I also noticed that within the planter box it sort of stepped and sloped in, so I had
to adjust the actual lighting diffuser to fit in there snugly.
Once it did, it sits in there well and doesn't move.
Now I can take some filter floss and set it right on top.
So that's it, that's pretty much everything you need to do to that sump.
Now we can install our heater, with the heater though we don't want any of the media touching
it and creating hot spots on the heater which will lead to problems down the road, so we
will need to protect your heater in some way.
What I did is I put a simple heater guard over my heater, but if you don't have a heater
guard what you can do is simply build a small cage out of that lighting diffuser that you'll
have left, and you will have lots left and protect your heater that way.
Finally install your media, now for media I suggest using some sort of a sintered glass
or ceramic media since this is going to be a submerged sump.
Now we can go ahead and install it on the aquarium, the aquarium that I installed it
on is probably going to be a bad example because it's not really a common tank.
What you're going to run into is where to place it on the top of your tank, now most
aquariums have glass lids or an open top.
What you will want to do is get a couple of supports in the form of thin pieces of wood
like 2x1's and run them the width of your tank, set the sump on top and push it to the
back.
This will sit and support it quite nicely and it's not going to go anywhere.
However, you might be worried about the weight of this when it's filled with water and media.
A 2 foot version (I weighed mine) was only 13 pounds, that was filled with water and
had over 3 pounds of biological media in it, which filled the entire box.
13 pounds on top of your aquarium is not that much weight.
With the sump on top of your aquarium, you can go ahead and install the pump.
What I did was I installed my maxijet near the surface of the water because it's not
really designed to pump that high, although it will pump a couple of feet in height.
I ran my hose from the actual maxijet, up to the top of the sump.
To hold it in place I just clamped it with a clamp, I could hard plumb this in with a
bulkhead, and that would be one way to do it, however I felt with a clamp it wasn't
permanent and I could adjust it however I want.
It is also easy to remove and maintain that filter in case I ever need to take it off
the tank.
For the drains, if you have an open top and don't mind the waterfall sound of the bulkheads
draining the water; then that's great.
However if you do; simply install a couple of hoses onto those bulkhead and run them
into the water.
And that's it!
So how does this work?
Well, the water is pumped from the power head up the top of the aquarium sump.
It's mechanically filtered through your filter floss, and then the water is forced to flow
through all your biological media and in the process it's heated as well.
So that's it folks, I hope you guys enjoyed this project, I hope you learned something
from it.
I definitely want to thank you guys for watching and we will see you next time.