First Dive into Freshwater Sump

[JBMagi]

So I have been doing a lot of reading about sumps fuges and wet/dry filtration lately. I will most likely end up creating a set up that has all three. However just to get my feet wet I was thinking about making a simple wet/dry tower in a sump.
The plan is to use a rubermade container as the sump. I then would set up a wet dry tower from a modified five gallon bucket and some scrubbies.
This has two goals. One i would like to get some sump experience under my belt before I dive into something more major and complex. And two this would aid in filtration and increase the amount of water taking the bioload from my cichlids.
Any suggestions or comments before I dive into this project?

 

[Miguel]

I have exactly that in my sump. A wet/dry tower with sponges and bio balls that is fed by a hose returning from the sump's last chamber.

The water showers over the media in this tower, falls through the bottom into the sump's middle chamber.