Failed Sump Attempt #1

To the left is a picture of the sump under construction on my dining room table. You can see the Rubbermaid sump used (25 gallons). You can also see the unions, ball valves, and MAK4 pump that is being used to power my ETS 800 Gemini skimmer. Picture is from November 1998. This version of the sump was used to cure 88 lbs. of Jumbo Fiji Live Rock. As it turns out I put the holes for the skimmer on the wrong side of the sump - Doh!

Since I put the holes on the wrong side, I never actually used this one for the tank. It worked well for curing rocks however.

Failed Sump Attempt #2
Picture is from December 1998.

This may look like the same sump, but it is brand new and different. At the lower left you can see the intake pipe and valve for the skimmer. Above that you can see the return bulkhead for the skimmer. The return bulkhead is 1 1/2 in size. On the top you can see two white connections this is where the two overflows entered into the sump. These two seperate pipes were later removed. I had both 1" pipes join together into a 1 1/2" pipe which entered the sump. Where the 1" pipes connected I used unions to allow quick disconnecting.

I thought keeping the cover on the sump would reduce evaporation, and it worked well. I didn't need much evaporation when first starting because I was not using kalkwasser yet.

Failed Sump Attempt #2
Picture is from December 1998.

This is the other side of the sump and you can also see the Iwaki MD70RLT pump used to return water back to the main tank. On top of that is a manifold I made which points left and right in the directions of the return connections to the main tank. On the front right of the sump you can see water level markers.

In the background you can see one of my fresh water tanks, a 58 gallons Oceanic Tank. You can also see my assistant Reefkeeper, my cat, Kali on the chair -- loves to be in pictures.