sump or no sump

Nate Dogg

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2011
691
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Talking to somebody about setting up a salt tank fowler first then corals. He said a sump isn't necessary even for corals is this true or false? Practically every salt tank I have seen has had a sump.
 

Nate Dogg

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jun 7, 2011
691
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16
Louisville
he said that with the size and quality of canister filters (fx5) that sumps aren't needed just use a big canister (fx5) filter
 

Jrob

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Apr 7, 2011
709
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if it will have a QUALITY skimmer then it won't be NECESSARY....

However, with that being said... without a quality skimmer, and a decent bio filtration source...i doubt the quality of the tank and water would last above 'good' level for very long
 

Pazzoman

Piranha
MFK Member
Apr 5, 2009
2,991
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81
New York
Sump and skimmer combo.........trust me when you have an fx5 with saltwater and then suddenly switching to the much cheaper sump...filteration is basically maintenance free except the change of filter socks.
 

schulace123

Candiru
MFK Member
Nov 9, 2005
248
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MINNESOTA
Sump.

One of the basic ideas of the sump is just that it adds overall volume to tank...creates more balance, gives fuge room etc. The only way I can really not imagine a sump is if it were like a ten gallon or smaller and you do the aquaclear filter fuge mod, but then again that kinda is a sump in itself.

also I would not use a canister, it is a nitrate factory. My 90 reef has been set up for around 8 years I think, I have a 35 gallon sump with a skimmer, a divider for some LR that I did not use and some carbon socks. I just manual dose also. It sounds like the sump creates more work, but at the end of the day it is very convenient.
 

yogoshio

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Aug 15, 2013
23
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Portage, IN
Sump>canister, no matter the size. If you want the benefit of a canister filter you can get a few media reactors like the TLF 150 to run your carbon in, but the biggest benefit of ANY sump is added water volume. And more often you can DIY for MUCH cheaper than a canister, which are ALL overpriced IMO. A pump that has a sealed lid shouldn't be more than the pump and reaction chamber like that. It's ridiculous.

In the long and short run, a sump is just better. I'd check out a few other forums for help as well, cause there's SO much info out there to back us up who prefer sumps.
 

allenjj

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 9, 2013
7
0
0
Albany, NY
A good sump along with a refugium tremendously reduce some of the work in keeping water quality exceptional. Having run filter canisters many years ago on salt water tanks, I can tell you that running a sump with the technology available today is far superior to the canisters.
 

mr.reef24

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Apr 21, 2009
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I did a study a long time ago with two 75 gallon tanks one with a sump one without there was not to much of a difference but the tank that I utilized the sump had better and more steady parameters and the corals seemed to grow alot more with the extra filtration and flow from the sump. I would use a sump if I was in your shoes it is a great place to hide your heater, protein skimmer, etc.. and frees your tank for more space and looks alot nicer without all the equipment hanging in there.
 
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