sump

[Madmilkman]

I am new to aquariums and have noticed slot of talk about sumps. Is the purpose of a sump just to cycle water or for something else? I am buying a 4ft 90 gal tank with a canister type filter and was considering a salt water setup. What size sump would I need for 90 gals and can it be done utilizing a second tank or does it need to be incorporated into the main tank? I am probably months away from doing the tank but want as much info as possible so I don't kill hundreds of dollar worth of fish and get banned from the hobby by my wife.

 

[Tkey3425]

A sump does several jobs in one. it hides equipment like heaters, pumps, filter pads, skimmer, etc etc. Also adds to the total volume of water making it that much more stable. you can drill the tank and add an over flow box which is pretty easy and not that difficult to do or you can add a hang-on overflow without driling it. If it was me doing it over again, which i am in the process of redoing my sump, i would put a refugium style sump in with filter socks. Much better in my opinion than a wet/dry sump like i have now. You can always just stick with the canister for now but you'll have to empty the tank to drill an overflow hole. Get a canister like the marineland 530 and that will be sufficient depending on the canister already on it you may be fine like it is.

 

[Madmilkman]

Thanks for the info.