To sump or not to sump, that is the question

[eatsomepopcorn]

My LFS "expert' tried to talk me out of setting up a sump for new 180g saltwater tank and use two canister filters instead. He claims that sumps are too much hassle and water evaporates rapidly. Any advice on this?

[eatsomepopcorn]

My LFS "expert' tried to talk me out of setting up a sump for new 180g saltwater tank and use two canister filters instead. He claims that sumps are too much hassle and water evaporates rapidly. Any advice on this? I am planning on a fish only tank and have been running a 44g saltwater successfully for three years.

[CaptainAhab]

Dissin the sump? He must be a chump.. All things considered, the sump is a better option. Bigger water volume, place to grow macro, place to hide your equipment (heaters, skimmer, etc) so that you don't have them hanging off the tank. Oh and there's just no easier place to do a water change than from the sump. Turn off the pumps.. drain and replace and start them up. No more tubes in your main, salt stains on the glass, fish freaking out.

Truth be told, I run both.I just run the can off the sump Can's are great if you to run media for a short time (or long term) .. carbon, purigen, gfo, whatever.. just take the sponges out or you'll battle nitrates even more.

[eatsomepopcorn]

Thanks captain. Would you recommend a three chamber sump? This is fish only. Also, sock or no sock. I know that I do not have the luxury of chaning socks during the week, so at most I could get to it weekly. Ideally, no sock. Not sure where to put the protien skimmer either, some say in first chamber.

[CaptainAhab]

3 chambers... skimmer in the 1st, macro/mud/rock in the second, return in the 3rd is my setup.... No socks, sandal guy here

[melosu58]

Originally Posted by CaptainAhab

Dissin the sump? He must be a chump..

Hey Captain that rhymes. You must be a poet.

I do agree that the sump would be better. Added water volume is always a good thing. I have a refugium and a 3 section at that. Would not trade it for a canister for nothing. Refugium is the way to go.

[Filter Mechanic]

Dear eatsomepopcorn: I have a 120g FW with a 30g sump underneath the cabinet. The water in the sump used to "fly away" until I did the ugly thing and laid a shrink wrap plastic cover on the sump. The tank is not drilled so a 1200gph hob overflow box is the drain. This box came without a lid so I covered it with the plastic wrap as well. Now the sump keeps the return pump covered for five to six days. The cabinet has no doors because it wasn't designed for this filter system so the drain hoses (2) wrap around the front and dive into the sump. But we don't care, we spend a lot more time looking at the DT. HTH Filter Mechanic

[CaptainAhab]

You already have a thread with the same topic.
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums...rs-125270.html

I'll ask a mod to merge them.

[CaptainAhab]

Originally Posted by Filter Mechanic

Dear eatsomepopcorn: I have a 120g FW with a 30g sump underneath the cabinet. The water in the sump used to "fly away" until I did the ugly thing and laid a shrink wrap plastic cover on the sump. The tank is not drilled so a 1200gph hob overflow box is the drain. This box came without a lid so I covered it with the plastic wrap as well. Now the sump keeps the return pump covered for five to six days. The cabinet has no doors because it wasn't designed for this filter system so the drain hoses (2) wrap around the front and dive into the sump. But we don't care, we spend a lot more time looking at the DT. HTH Filter Mechanic

Hopefully your display tank is open (no lids). I'd be real worried about O2 exchange.

If your main is open, (and this is a general question to the no sump because of evap people).. why do you think you get less evap from the main (with prob a larger surface area, under stronger lighting) than from a sump?

[melosu58]

Both threads merged together.

[Filter Mechanic]

[QUOTE=CaptainAhab;1066672]Hopefully your display tank is open (no lids). I'd be real worried about O2 exchange.

If your main is open, (and this is a general question to the no sump because of evap people).. why do you think you get less evap from the main (with prob a larger surface area, under stronger lighting) than from a sump?[/

The water level stays constant in the main due to replacement volume provided by the return pump. The pump pushes the same amount of water out of the sump all the time so the evap losses in an open main tank are quietly compensated for without use of the 5 gallon bucket. Use a canister filter only in the main tank with no lids and watch the water level drop. Close the main tank with lids and watch the waterline drop. Let the main sit open with no pumping and watch the level drop. The display tank still naturally loses enough water for a topping-off to be done under the above conditions. I switched from cans to the sump for more filter capacity. The main tank held its water level just fine but the sump uncovered the return pump every 3 days. So I covered it as carefully as possible with shrink wrap, tucking it in around the two drain hoses and the return hose. I tucked the wrap over the outside of the sump all around and made it belly into the tank over each section so that evaporated water would hang there and drip back into the system instead of leaving the system as vapor crawling out of the tank under the shrink. Water vapor being what it is I still have losses but it only needs fixing about every 6 days now. Nothings perfect. O2 exchange seems to be fine with lids on main and sump. We still use bubblers in the main tank, the fish are very active and none have blue lips that weren't born with them. Filter Mechanic

[CaptainAhab]

The evap happens in your sump because you have a sump and the return pump keeps the main full. If you didn't have a sump the same (or more) evap would happen in the main. It's not the fact that you have a sump that causes evap issues. The fact that you have a sump is what keeps your main full.

Either way it works for you and that's all the matters..

I just want others to be clear that having a sump doesn't increase your evaporation it just moves it from the main to the sump primarily (if the main is covered).

[Filter Mechanic]

Thanks Captain I stand to learn lots and lots from this community. It'll be like filling the sump in my head where stuff evaporates all the time.