How to Make a Sump From an Aquarium
- 1). Clean out an empty aquarium with warm water and a clean rag, then fill it up with water from your working aquarium so the water in the sump and the water in the aquarium have a similar chemical balance.
- 2). Insert two plastic grates into the aquarium you are going to be using as a sump to create three equal compartments.
- 3). Fill one of the compartments with rocks. Aquarium rocks will work fine. If the rocks are going through the holes in the plastic grates, add some chicken wire to the grate.
- 4). Fill the compartment next to the compartment with the aquarium rocks with charcoal. Use aquarium safe charcoal.
- 5). Insert an aquarium water heater and a water pump into the last compartment of the sump aquarium. The pump should be attached to a PVC pipe long enough to reach the working aquarium. Water from the working aquarium will come down into the compartment with the aquarium rocks either via a water pump, or gravity, if you drill a hole into the bottom of the working aquarium. The rocks will filter out any solid waste from the water, the charcoal will chemically cleanse the water of pollutants and both the rocks and the charcoal will grow ammonia consuming bacteria that will help balance the pH levels. Finally, the heater will heat the water and the pump will push the clean water back into the working aquarium.
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