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Sump Information
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Hi,
John Howell who has managed the forum for years is getting on and wishes to retire from the role of managing it.
Over the years, he has managed the forum through good days and bad days and he has always been fair.
He has managed to bring his passion for fish keeping to the forum and keep it going for so long.
I wish to thank John for his hard work in keeping the forum going.
With John wishing to "retire" from the role of managing the forum and the forum receiving very little traffic, I think we must agree that forum has come to a natural conclusion and it's time to put it to rest.
I am proposing that the forum be made read-only from March 2022 onwards and that no new users or content be created. The website is still registered for several more years, so the content will still be accessible but no new topics or replies will be allowed.
If there is interest from the ITFS or other fish keeping clubs, we may redirect traffic to them or to a Facebook group but will not actively manage it.
I'd like to thank everyone over the years who helped with forum, posted a reply, started a new topic, ask a question and helped a newbie in fish keeping. And thank you to the sponsors who helped us along the away. Hopefully it made the hobby stronger.
I'd especially like to thank John Howell and Valerie Rousseau for all of their contributions, without them the forum would have never been has successful.
Thank you
Darragh Sherwin
Sump Information
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30 Mar 2012 21:09 #1
by Brazzill (john)
I know people have sumps for saltwater tanks, because you can put live rock and have a protein skimmer in there, and it won't take up room in your display tank. Would it be too excessive to have a sump for a freshwater tank? I have a 615L tank stocked with red bellied piranha,I'm really attracted to the idea of having a sump for this tank, because from what I understand, it's an automatic top-off, and easier on water changes, and I can just store a wet/dry filter in there. Correct me if I'm wrong. Do people do this, or should I just use a regular filter? Also, since it's for a freshwater tank, I wouldn't need a protein skimmer or anything... so would my sump need to have any compartments? I've only read about and seem plans for saltwater tanks. So a freshwater sump would be really simple to build I think, but can someone tell me if I'm thinking along the right lines? what size etc would it need to be for my tank and could i run it throught a fx5 aswell as having another working normally? Any tips as im a virgin to these systems.
cheers
John
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31 Mar 2012 23:33 #2
by platty252 (Darren Dalton)
Hi John, a sump works equally as well on fresh water tanks and the design is the same as a salt water sump.
The benefits of a sump are:
It adds more water volume for better stability.
The heaters can be kept there along with any other equipment.
You can set up a fresh water refugium using plants for nitrate and phosphate removal.
You could set up a wet/dry filter in the sump but you would be just as well off using JBL's micro mech as a filter media instead. Over time this will remove nitrate.
Any chemical media (eg carbon) can be kept there.
Regarding what size to make it, it can be any size but bigger is better. If you have a cabinet under the tank i would have it made to fit the cabinet and skip using the fx5. add an extra pump in the main tank for circulation. It would be more energy efficient this way.
For water changes (yes you still have to do water changes) i would have the sump drilled so a hose could be connected to drain the sump.
Just top the tank back up in the main tank until the sump is back to the correct water level.
To get a good idea of how one would work for fresh water visit one of the sponsors shops that deal in salt water tanks, ask to look at a sump but explain you want one for fresh water.
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02 Apr 2012 15:13 #3
by joey (joe watson)
as above, go as big as you can. a very simple sump design is the betta 1300/1500 range, the flow runs perfectly. put in a wavemaker/koralis jobby in the tank for flow. oh and dont go overboard on the pump, make sure it can lift water (height max) well over the height of the top of the tank (usually 2m) and flow rate no more than 4 or 5 times the volume as you could end up with weir troubles (ie the sump is drained into the top before it comes back down the weir and just overlows the tank)
are you drilling the tank itself or is there a weir in it already? either way get a good look at any sump set-ups in shops etc near you
Location: Portlaoise, Midlands
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02 Apr 2012 15:27 #4
by davey_c (dave clarke)
`some good info there, you will need compartments to seperate the media and direct the flow through all the media, a section can be used as a hospital tank for bullied fish etc, they are actually quite usefull in alot of ways
i have a spare 3 compartment sump with topup if your interested? pm me if ye are
dave
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11 Apr 2012 16:33 #5
by Brazzill (john)
Well lads thank a million for the info. Only question i have is will the tank defo have to be drilled or is there another way?
And Davey c i would defo be interested but in the middle of getting my altezza out of the garage so caught for cash at the min! What money is on it?
Cheers again lads
John
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16 Sep 2012 09:17 #6
by paulv (paul vickers)
hi guys, interesting topic, im thinking same thing bout sump versus canister. ive a 450 tank but need to go bigger, im looking at a 9 foot tank with a 6foot sump, second hand asking 800 for it. i already have a fx5 and a eheim 600. is it worth getting the sump and sell the canisters?.any advise ye experts can offer me.i keep oscars and large cats.
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16 Sep 2012 10:17 #7
by davey_c (dave clarke)
if it comes with sump then i wouldn't refuse it, there are alot more advantages to a sump over a cannister and they are alot more desirable when time comes you need to resell
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