Austin Oceans - Sump Shop

Custom Sumps, Refugiums, and Aquariums

We make custom sumps, refugiums, or aquariums from the highest quality cell cast acrylic in whatever size or shape you need. Here's a list of some sizes we can do (these are just examples, we can do whatever size you need:

We encourage customers to build wider tanks if they have the space for it. A wider tank is has a much better ratio of surface to air which improves the oxygen exchange. A larger surface area will often provide much more oxygenation for your tank than your pumps. We also prefer to not bend acrylic for corners and other unusual shapes. Bending acrylic introduces a weak point into your tank and while the odds are it won't fail for quite some time we prefer to not introduce any weakness into the tank. In case you don't know, a properly bonded acrylic seam is much stronger than a seam formed by bending the acrylic. We use acrylic solvent that creates a bond at the molecular level and results in a much stronger seam that you would have by bending. If you do need a bend in your tank we may suggest going to the next higher thickness of acrylic just to provide a little extra insurance against future problems. We also route and polish the corners so it looks nice and many people won't notice the seam at all.

The more you know about what kind of custom tank you want the easier it will be for us to tell you how much it will cost. Here's a list of questions you should think about:

For sumps and combination sump/refugiums:

For aquariums:

Tank Type	Size	Dimensions	Thickness	Top
Sump/Refugium	180 gallons	72"x24"x24"	3/4"	Perimeter Eurobrace
Sump	76 gallons	34"x27"x19"	1/2"	Perimeter Eurobrace
Sump/Refugium	86 gallons	48"x23"x18"	1/2"	Perimeter Eurobrace
Sump	27 gallons	32"x12"x16"	3/8"	Center Brace
Aquarium	96 gallons	48"x23"x20"	1/2"	Perimeter Eurobrace
Aquarium	104 gallons	33"x33"x22"	3/4"	Braceless

What are the dimensions (length, width, height)?
What water height do you want for normal sump operation?
How many gallons of excess capacity do you need in the sump for your aquarium to drain into the sump if power goes out? This is usually the distance from your "normal" water level in your aquarium to the bottom of your overflow teeth or whatever device you use to get the water out of your tank and down to your sump.
What separate areas of the sump do you want? For example, a protein skimmer chamber (if your skimmer will be in the sump), a refugium section, a return pump section (for submersible pumps), etc.
How much flow do you expect to have through the sump? The easiest way to determine this is to tell us what return pump you will plan to use and the expected GPH you will have from your return pump.
Do you have enough flow into the sump to match your expected pump return rate. Sometimes we have people that want to use a Reeflo Dart return pump but only have a single 1" drain pipe to the sump. That example doesn't work well. You need slightly more capacity for draining to your sump than you have for the return to your tank. If you are unsure just let us know what kind of drain you have to the sump and we can usually figure this out for you.
How many bubble trap baffles do you want? If you don't know, that's fine - we can figure this out for you.
Do you want to use filter bags for the water entering the sump? Many people use 100 or 200 micron filter bags to remove floating debris before it goes to the skimmer. This is fine if you frequently change the bags.
What size and number of bulkheads do you want in the sump? Do you have specific locations you need for the bulkheads?

What dimensions do you want for your aquarium?
Where do you plan to normally have the water line in the aquarium? Usually this is an inch or two below the top of the tank and depends on the top cover you plan to use (and how far down the side of the tank it goes).
Do you plan to use a Closed Loop or Powerhead water circulation system?
What flow rate do you expect between your aquarium and your sump (in GPH)?
We recommend that you use our reverse slope overflows with clear bottoms. They are quieter than most overflows and they look great in your tank. Do you want two overflows (one in each rear corner), a single center back overflow, an island overflow (in the center of the tank), and end to end Calfo style overflow, or some other overflow placement? What size of overflow do you want (if you can tell us the flow rate we can calculate the correct size)?
Would you like your return from your sump or closed loop to be hidden inside your overflow? This produces a ver clean look. We can use Loc-Line returns from inside your overflow, movable tank jets in the side of the overflow, or even use Penductors attached to the bottom of your overflow. We typically use all black fittings for all visible return parts to blend in with the overflow. See our "Turbo Overflows" page for one picture of how this looks.
Do you plan to use surge tanks for return water to your aquarium? If so, where do you want the surge tank return and how many gallons do you expect each surge to be? Also, how much drop will you have from the surge tank to the aquarium? What type of water direction do you want for the surge return water?
What type of top bracing do you want? The less top bracing you have the thicker the sides of the aquarium need to be. We can do a completely braceless tank but unless the top will be completely visible we usually recommend top bracing. We can do any of the following:

Perimeter only Eurobracing - This is a 3" edge around the top of the tank. Other than the perimeter it leaves the entire top open and unobstructed.
Perimeter plus center Eurobracing - This is a 3" edge around the top of the tank with a 12" center brace, all cut from a single piece of acrylic. Instead of a single center brace we can also do two front to back braces in case you want the center of the tank to be unobstructed. The center braces can also be less than 12" wide depending on the size of the tank and the thickness of the acrylic used to construct the aquarium. One good way to decide on top bracing is to tell us what kind of lighting you plan to use, particularly if it is metal halide lighting, and where you want to place the light fixtures on the top of the tank.
I-Beam or Modified I-Beam. This is a 3" edge on the front and back edge of the tank with a 12" center brace, all cut from a single piece of acrylic. This leaves the sides of the aquarium braceless and is often used if you want to mount devices to the edge of your aquarium, such as a powerhead or a probeholder. The name comes from the fact that when looking at the aquarium from above the top brace looks like a fat I Beam.
Center Brace Only. This is close to braceless with only a single fron to back bracing strip.
Braceless. A very cool look if you intend to have the top of your aquarium exposed and want people to be able to look down into the aquarium. Requires substantially thicker acrylic for the sides of the aquarium.

Shipping

Unless you live in the San Francisco Bay Area we will either ship your tank via UPS (or FedEx if you prefer) or motor freight. We build a custom crate for your tank, usually with plywood and cushion the tank with expanding/formfitting foam and plastic peanuts. For most larger tanks we expect to ship via motor freight and the cost is typically between $100 and $200, depending on the size of the tank and where you live. Smaller sumps or custom aquariums can be shipped UPS for less than $100.

Details

Size: 32"x28"x18"

Maximum Flow: 6000 GPH

Normal Water Height: 12"

Refugium Section: 28"x14"x14" (22 gal)

Overflow Capacity from Tank: 23 gal.

Bubble Trap Section: 5 Baffles, 3" apart

Initial Debris Filter: 2 Filter Bags (200 micron)

Carbon Area: 14"x3"x2"

Bulheads: six 1.5" and one 2" planned (customer wanted to drill holes himself)

Construction Material: 100% US Made Cell Cast Acrylic - 3/8" (1/4" for internal baffles)

Notes: Changable dirty water inputs allow the sump to be easily retrofitted with different initial filtering by replacing the input plate. Existing section has two 8" cell cast acrylic tubes protecting two 6" input tubes that hold filter ring 200 micron filter bags to collect any excess debris from the aquarium overflows. Time to change both filter bags is about 15 seconds and it can be done without shutting down the flow to the sump (although if you aren't careful you may splash a little).

Order any custom sump (or aquarium) before the end of the year and get 10% off the price (discount does not apply to shipping). We don't have sumps set up yet for online ordering. Email us at sales@austinoceans.com and let us know what size and the other details you want for your custom sump and we'll quote you a price. If you don't know much except for the size we can help you design it as well.