28 gal nono cube custom with sump

[Tripple T]

I think I've lost my mind. I've been thinking about totally redoing my jbj 28 GAL for a while now and adding a sump. I've seen other people who have drilled them in the top and done a DIy that looks ok. I am thinking something much more ambitious, and frankly it just plain may not work. Her is the description though.
I am going to drill teh bottom of the tank, I am going to completely remove the rear plastic chamber, which basically constitutes teh back 1/8 of the tank. This is already proving difficult as JBJ really siliconed it in there. I am going to use pieces from the removed plastic rear chamber to create a custom overflow that will take only a small amount of space. I am also creating a sump that will fit in the stand. This could get really interesting and i hope it works. I will keep updating with pics. If anyone has any last minute "don't do it I've tried and its a bust" please say so now =-).

 

[SAZAMA]

cody hit me up, this sounds fun, and you know I have all the tools. ever thought about satellite mangrove pots?

 

[Walter White]

Given the stand is so narrow and not that great of build qaulity anyway. I would make a new stand for it that is the full width of the tank all the way to the floor. I think it wouldnt be too bulky and add a significan amount of space to work with sump options. It does sound fun you know my garage/tools are open to you as well.

 

[Wicked Color]

+1 Kris, in fact the stand could be a little wider than the tank and give a lot of room for fuge, equipment.....etc....

 

[othercents]

I have seen the nano cubes with the chambers removed without much of an issue, however I think every post I read agreed that the only place you can drill is the back. I'm not sure exactly why they didn't like drilling the bottom, but they just said don't. Do some research on that portion before attempting.

 

[Tripple T]

So I did it and have it setup. It worked well and I was able to add a 6 inch sand bed and about 4 gallons of water. If anyone wants to do what I did send me a pm and I'll show u what I did .

 

[Haddonisreef]

Post some pics here!

 

[Wicked Color]

Yes, I agree, we have to see the pics!

 

[othercents]

So I did it and have it setup. It worked well and I was able to add a 6 inch sand bed and about 4 gallons of water. If anyone wants to do what I did send me a pm and I'll show u what I did .

Did you drill the bottom or the back?

 

[Tripple T]

pics

Aright lol a pic is worth a thousand words. Here they are. I am very happy with the sump I created. I think that it will really help this system. I'm still waiting on the pump I ordered but so far everything seems great. Also another thing to bring up is why I decided to do this in the first place. This tank has been having problems since march. I've had coral that just doesn't grow no matter what I do . After working with a few reef behemoths we came to the conclusion that my sand bed had gotten too old. The agrocrete I used had absorbed nitrates and toxic organics over the years and was now leaching them back into the water at a rate in which the system could no longer handle. All my parameters always checked out but remember there are many things we cannot test for.

 

[KhensuRa]

Dig the sump.

 

[Walter White]

looks great! When can I come by to check it out?

 

[Tripple T]

Soon chris! Would be good to get together plus I got a par meter . Also drill ur nano! It's soooo worth it

 

[Walter White]

So I assume you moved everything out first right? Would love to do this but honestly have no where to move my livestock and should probably focus my efforts on on the larger tank right now. This is very cool though . I def want to check it out.

 

[Walter White]

You know what else is cool with having removed the internal baffle for the overflow, you can now run your mp10 from the back! That alone might be worth it.

 

[Tripple T]

I ended up leaving the rear chambers in tact.

 

[Walter White]

Ah I see