Sump tanks neccessary?

[OsciTheOscar]

In the next year im going to get a much bigger tank and i guess i just have a few questions.

Is a sump tank neccessary or is it just an aesthetics thing? The reason i ask is because im not really good at any sort of plumbing but im willing to learn. I just need to know how much work ill be putting into this.

Was planning on building my own stand and possibly my own tank as well.

Also WC on a tank about 200gal. Is it like any other tank with the python? Just takes much longer?

 

[OsciTheOscar]

BTW, this will be a FW tank...

 

[Ketso]

If you can build your own stand, you can hook up a canister or sump. Neither are "difficult" with a little research.

 

[coralbandit]

The benefit of sumps is increased volume, place to hide equipment, and no hard water /evaporation line on aquarium.
It is not really difficult,but you want drilled overflow if at all possible.
HOB overflows can fail and send all qwater that is in sump on the floor around aquarium!.That is not an option with for many.
I run sumps on my FW180,my 2@ 120 and 75g.
All are aqueon mega overflow tanks, but there are other options for drilled.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

Was wondering that as welll... theres ZERO evap? Water stays level??? I hate that mumbo jumbo.

Id have to research and educate myself on drilling glass but im sure i could do it.

Just seems sump tanks are so elaborate. Some ppl make it look impossible to understand haha

 

[coralbandit]

Very simple and no need for all the baffles and such in freshwater.
The water must always go into the overflow so the level in the tank can not change. Get it?
It changes in the last section of the sump,which IMO should be the largest section to reduce top off needs.
Many build their own overflows if they know how,or you can get some from BRS , but Eshops has a new one out that I really like...
ESHOPPS | Eclipse L
^^I have one of these in small for a 29g build..^^
You want an overflow that can handle way more then you will need.
The return pump has final say on flow as long as the overflow can handle it.
I run jeboa 12,000/15,000 on my 3 big tanks. The pump is digitally controlled so I can easily adjust the flow.

 

[OsciTheOscar]

Well, i got a site that i bookmarked that is pretty informative!
I understand it more now.
Is building your own generally more expensive? I realize it depends on the parts i buy

 

[coralbandit]

I would use a glass aquairium and build my own.All you need is a mechanical section that is easy to clean,and bio media.I use sponges for BIO and cut to fits for mechanicals
I am not all about the baffles,I don't like them as they restrict the VOLUME you will have to use before you top off.
Most may not think that is that important ,and am not sure if you have big tanks ,but 1-2 gallons of evap a day may not even be a medium high average a DAY on a 200g.
I have my sumps waterbridged to a 29g to get extra evap time...I wait for 10g which might be more then 5 days?
My marineland model 4 behind the 29 g. Blue tape tells the gallons...