diy sump?

Hey, I'm new to this hobby and I'm just learning. i have a 55gal that i set up a week ago I moved it all from a 37 gal. that I had set up for 7 months. So far my filtration has been a Cascade 1200 canister filter with nothing but biomedia in it, a AquaC remora skimmer, and about 70lbs. of live sand and 65lbs. of live rock (i cant stop buying rock, I think i like it more that anything else.). I don"t have a sump at this moment but I'm in the middle of making one . i have a 20gal. tank and i plan to put my skimmer and such in it. I made a siphon overflow and it works well. I guess my question is do i really need a sump, if so is 20gal. to big or to small? what kind of return pump should I use and what kind off baffles should I add. The skimmer I have puts alot of micro bubbles in the tank. I want to make it to were it will catch them.

Any thoughts? As far as livestock i have 2 clowns, 1 green chromis (he needs friends), 1 firefish, and a coral beauty. i also have blue mushrooms, red mushrooms, green star polyps, alot of diff. button polpy frags, and a few leather corals. All of which has seemed to the doing great. most of it has been there 3-5 months.

 

i and a bunch of my friends are running 20L sumps w/ success... but if you can fit bigger..... bigger is better. always if you need info, check my tank build, or lovesreefs23

 

Hey iocod, i used a 20 long all glass tank as a sump for my 90 gallon. All i did was make a bubble baffle to stop the bubbles my euro reef skimmer released. All u need to do is figure out how much space u need for your skimmer then silicone in an over under over baffle system. Try to leave as much space on your return section as u can cause thats where your evaporation will occur. I dont know how high u need your water level in the skimmer but my optimal level for my skimmer was 6-8 inches so i decided on 7 inches and bought 3 pieces of 1/8" thick glass with polished edges at local glass shop for about 20 bux cut. First piece of glass is 7inches tall, 2nd is 9inches siliconed one inch off the bottom of the sump and the 3rd piece was 6.5" inches tall....all spaced 1 inch apart. Heres a pic to show u what i did...visuals always help me. If u have any questions feel free to ask