Are sumps worth it?

[DustyBZoo]

For tanks less than 200g, are sumps the way to go? Or are canister filters and canister wet/drys and some power head just as good?

I'm wondering if sumps are superior, or if people just do them because they can produce what ever type of filtration they want...

 

[KaiserSousay]

One often overlooked benefit of a sump is the increase in water volume.
So, a smaller tank would get a real benefit from a sump based system.
Now the dark side of a sump is the moving of water from tank to sump and back to tank, safely.
Right behind safety is the noise issue.
Depending on the overflow choice and how “handy” you are, both of the above can be dealt with.
Even an off the shelf, complete store bought system can be an exercise in frustration.
Putting together a sump based system can be a really rewarding experience or one big nightmare.
Good luck.

 

[CharlieTuna]

In addition to what KaiserSousay said; you have more room for bio media, a place to hide your heaters and they are fun to work with - at least I think so

 

[Sugo]

Definitely sump. I really think they are more worth it than canisters.

 

[Clay]

I think you should revise your thread title to:
Is superior flexibility, filtration, extra water volume, lower maintenance, extra place to keep fish (as needed) worth it?

The only tank I don't have a sump on is a 29g qt tank.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[Burto]

Depends on a lot of things, in particular what the specifics of your situation are.

If you like DIY and tinkering with PVC plumbing, if you've got a tank that's already drilled or has a weir installed, if you've already got a spare tank you can use as a sump, if you've got the space under the tank for a sump, if you want a big return in quantity of filtration for the money spent, if you don't mind the possibility of a lot of noise (you will have people tell you quite rightly that a sump can be made to be practically silent, but this is dependent on your ability to make it so, not the inherent nature of sump filtration), if you want to keep equipment like heaters out of the tank but don't mind having weirs/overflows in the tank, then a sump is worth it.

If you want convenience, compactness and out of the box silence, a canister is a better option.

I changed the 4' sump my tank came with for an FX5, in my particular circumstances it was the best option for what I wanted (and needed) to achieve. As a bonus I've also got a heck of a lot of free space in my cabinet for equipment and more tanks.

There's a great deal of cool stuff you can do with a sump that you can't do with a canister (I've always wanted to set up a refugium with plants for nutrient export), but none of it is actually necessary to filter an aquarium.

 

[FlorabamaTrigger]

Speaking from someone who is a newbee here, take my opinions with a grain of salt.

I went from my first tank last summer with a 29g and a HOB filter to my now 125 and after much debate, decided to go with a Wet/Dry underneath for a few reasons. I know a lot on here will say that the have canisters and have no problems, but I heard more people that DID have issues with their canisters more so I decided not to go that route. HOB's take up too much room in my opinion up top. I also believe in overfiltration. Where I still need to do the occasional water change, I'm not doing WC's NEARLY as much using the sump setup than I would if I would've gone with an HOB type. Also, most HOB filters have a max of 500pgh rating. I try and go with the rule of turning the tank '10 times an hour'. So, in order to achieve that with my 125, I'd need at minimum 2 AC110 HOB style filters and even then I still wouldn't have the same flow rate I have with my sump setup, and it didn't cost that much more for the sump setup either. I paid $275 after shipping for my sump, dual overflow box, tubes, return with siphon valve, bio balls (which I changed out to scrubbies), and a 1300GPH return pump. Yes, having the option to hide the heater is nice, but in my opinion, it wasn't that big of a deal breaker. If you plan on implementing a refregium with plants to help filtrate that is also nice, but in my case it wasn't needed. The biggest decision would be if you have the physical room to put one underneath. I've got a 75g that I'd love to have a sump setup for, but the stand won't allow for it, so I just put a single AC110 HOB on it. If I ever decide to build another stand for it I'll be adding room for a sump and ordering one for it as well.

 

[dayak]

I did my home work sump set up is the way and far more superior aside from cheaper and easier maintenance, especially if u r good DIY kinda guy.

 

[Jc1119]

I do like canisters alot, but if I were only going to out one type of filter on a tank it would be a sump system. The benefits far outway the disadvantages. Flexabilty and water volume alone win it for me...