"help with potential fw sump?

[Ernie reese]

I have a 180 gal tank with two filler canister on but I don't no weather to go over to a sump
Plus I don't no how the sump works but I will be reading up on it , I know I will have to use a external overflow so I don't have drill holes .


aquarium sump vs canister cheaper to run electricity as well

 

[Brookster123]

Hey there Ernie! Is this a fresh or salt water tank? Please don't take this the wrong way but it should help get some responses
Translation-
180 gal tank with 2 cannister filters, op is considering a sump and would like to know more about it. Probably won't be drilling the tank so best hob options??

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[Ernie reese]

It's a fresh water tank thank you so much not to good at writing

 

[Brookster123]

What are you keeping in there?

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[Ernie reese]

Cichlids xx

 

[54seaweed]

I would go with sump it will give you more water volume, a sump will give you a place to put any equipment needed , heater skimmer ect ,
what is a sump

 

[Ernie reese]

Is it cheaper to run on electricity too

 

[Brookster123]

What kind of cannister are you running now? A sump would be using one pump, this pump would be larger than the ones on your cans so the cost saving may not be as drastic as anticipated??

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[Ernie reese]

I have a efx 1000u and efx 600
X

 

[Ernie reese]

Do I need a skimmer and wot is a skimmer it's fresh water how big do I need the sump and I need hob

 

[Ardynas]

I just redid my 150 gal tall and used a sump instead of canister filters. Actually still putting it all together. Ordered a tank and had a LFS drill the holes and add an overflow (two drains and one return). I have an island setup. It's cycling as I type this.

I'm glad you're doing your research on the sumps as there are some safe-guards that need to be addressed so you don't have a spill. First time we tested out the sump (by turning the pump off) the return jets created a back siphon and started filling the sump in record time (be ready for this). We managed to pull the return jets out of the water to stop the siphon but almost went over the edges (of the sump). Not my kind of fun... lol. We solved this backflow problem by placing the return jets just below the water (1/2 inch) so it could not siphon out much water. Then added two 1/8" holes to the return jets to prevent the siphon. Works really well. Now when my power goes out the return jets basically stop and no backflow.

I'd try and get the biggest sump you can so you can hold more water when the power goes out. I ended up installing the Eshopps WD-300CS sump. So far so good. When we tested it (after fixing the return issue), the main drain was bringing in water to the sump faster than my pump could pump it back into the display tank. I ended up putting a true union ball valve on the return drain (really like these) and throttled it back slightly till the input matched the output. So basically when you finish hooking it all up you need to do some fine tuning.

These ADJ power strips are really nice to use. This way each item plugged in has it's own switch.
I also ordered a 3D background from Universal Rocks to cover the overflow.