I have pre-made 3/4 inch white pvc pipes with 10 inch (25cm) wide slots, and single-layer sheets of very-rough plastic canvas, for $39 USD plus $5 priority mail shipping in the U.S., plus tax in California. The pipe is about 15 inches (38cm) long, and the screen is 12 inches tall.
This basic setup is designed to fit into a standard 12 inch (30.5 cm) wide sump. The area is 10 X 12 = 120 square inches (750 square cm), and thus is matched to a 120 gal tank. It will work fine on a 55 or 80 gal too. It is too small for a 180 gal though; for this you would need two of these screens and additional lighting.
Flow should be 35 X 10 = 350 gph (1330 lph). Lighting should be 1.0 watt per gallon for high filtering, or 0.5 watts per gallon for medium filtering.
This economy setup only includes the pipe and screen, along with some tie-wraps to attach the screen. You will still need to cut the length of the pipe to fit your sump, and you'll need to glue the pipe to other fittings.
There is a guarantee that the screen arrives in working condition.
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