Sumps For Freshwater Aquariums

[engine49]

Hi all, I've been lurking the forums for about a month now getting a lot of great info. This is a really great, friendly forum. Needless to say I've finally gotten around to registering.

I've returned to fishkeeping after a long hiatus. My family always had fish when I was younger and now that I've moved out I have the means (and room) to get back into the hobby.

My question is about using an overflow and sump setup for a freshwater aquarium. I've been pondering this for quite a while now. Does anyone have any experience with "integrated" freshwater systems? I'm not opposed to other means of filtration, I have hob's and canisters on my other tanks. It would, however, be nice to have the heater and other equipment hidden in the stand. I dont mind any extra work in the initial setup, I enjoy working on my tanks. My plan is to set up a 125 gallon African Cichlid tank. I found a store that has really good deals on pre-drilled AGA's just north of me over the weekend so that got me interested again. Anyway any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[Toirtis]

Certainly...I have done it before and will do it again (plus I have set-up a number of systems for other people)....sumps and wet/drys are a great way to go, particularly with tanks over 100 gallons. What do you want to know?

 

[engine49]

Just the overall viability of such a setup I guess. The people at the lfs looked at me like I was crazy when I asked about prices for a predrilled tank for freshwater, though they've proved to not be the most knowledgable in the past... Any links to freshwater wet/dry systems would by great. Most of what I can find is related to saltwater. Thanks again.

 

[Toirtis]

To be fair, other than the salinity of the water running through it (and the possible difference of a skimmer on the marine system), they are identical....you can even do a FW refugium, if you like. One of the reasons I love FW sump systems (and yes, they are very viable) is that in a display tank, they make almost all the mechanics disappear and keep things like heaters (particularly before the advent of the titanium) away from the fish....plus, if you are working with a fish that is a big escape artist (like a ropefish or eel), you can almost completely seal the aquarium top quite easily.

 

[greenmaji]

In other words the links that you have looked at that had salt water setups with sumps will be a great resorce to use.. you wont need a skimmer so just leave it out of the sump....

 

[engine49]

The use of a fuge had also crossed my mind. But one thing at a time I guess.

 

[andywg]

On both of my sump setups I have set them up as oversize cannister filters.

The water flows down through mechanical (sponge and plastic bioballs) and then through baffles into a biological (Alfagrog) and then on to the return pump. If I'm using chemical (like Phoszorb) I throw it in the baffles between mechanical and biological.

-Edited for appalling spelling.