I'm done with canisters

[Gill Blue]

The same could be said about sumps... how many people suck the crap off of the bottom when they remove their media for cleaning?

There is pros and cons to both.. I think a sump is inherently more problematic with possible overflowing, evaporation issues.

I vacuum my first sump compartment when needed, maybe twice a year. that will probably change to never once the filter is complete.
as far as your "inherent" problems, simply bad design. my sump can't overflow, and has very minimal evaporation.

 

[Redearsunfish]

I vacuum my first sump compartment when needed, maybe twice a year. that will probably change to never once the filter is complete.
as far as your "inherent" problems, simply bad design. my sump can't overflow, and has very minimal evaporation.

I agree. A sump is simply the ideal, if you cant or don't have a flow flow system - which would be ideal.

 

[Redearsunfish]

A sump system has other problems, like noise, overflowing, and evaporation. But a sump system is transparent and open to the atmosphere, so unlike canister, it can't hide problem and won't go anaerobic. Many operate a sump system with sock, which must be cleaned frequently or else the flow will slow down or stop.

The best system is often the simplest ones, like sponge and HOB filters. HOBs are unforgiving. You can't procrastinate and must clean the filter frequently or else the flow will by pass and and stop mechanical filtration. Sponge filter provides only biological filtration, which demands frequent WC to remove solid waste. That turns out best for the fish, because the sooner you remove waste from the system as it generates, the better for the water quality.

Great points.

 

[spiff44]

The bigger pond filters are the best of everything... completely silent, have giant .25inch rubber gaskets that don't leak, and maintenance is just a few minutes a month.. flipping a lever to backwash into a sink. That's all that you ever need to do.. the media lasts forever and requires no other maintenance.

A bit more initial setup.. but once in place you can use the filter head to just waste out for super easy water changes too.

COmplaints seem to be limited to non ported canisters. You can get ported canisters for any tank. They might cost more but are worth it for tanks 200gallons on up.

 

[mudbuttjones]

I spent well over a month flow testing my system. I have a 90g display and I chose a 40b for the sump. I keep ~30 gallons in it, it can accommodate all of the water in the overflow chamber plus anything in the plumbing and whatever back drains from returns during a power outage... and then some. people have issues by choosing too small sump sizes. The sump has an acrylic cover, evaporation is minimal, multiple fans in the cabinet - no mold. The return is completely hard plumbed 1.5" pvc attached to the stand with pipe straps.

I drilled a 3rd hole on the back of the tank behind the overflow. Its got 3 drains.1 full siphon, one low flow drain, and an emergency drain. Beananimal style. It runs dead silent. The air pump in the sump is louder. I've not touched the gate valve on my siphon since I set it up. I built a 6 tier trickle tower with coarse and fine mechanical compartments. the whole thing is bulletproof. Totally failsafe. I could run 2x the flow through the system safely as I do currently.





I've made some terrible loud, unstable, evaporation plagued set ups before. You can make a bullet proof setup, it just requires alot of forethought and planning.
Same as canisters. Some suck, some don't. They are all engineered different.

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[viejafish]

I vacuum my first sump compartment when needed, maybe twice a year. that will probably change to never once the filter is complete.
as far as your "inherent" problems, simply bad design. my sump can't overflow, and has very minimal evaporation.

True, a properly designed and tested sump system can't overflow, but it is more complicated than a sponge or HOB system that one can just hook it up and run. A canister system seems to be less complicated than a sump system, because there is no need to size it up, just clamp all hoses and covers and ready to go. But canister is a pressurized system, so if any one part fails or not tightened properly, it can turn into a fountain. HOBs and sponge filters have no external plumbing, so there is nothing to leak. But their media volume is too small for big tanks, unless one doesn't mind cleaning them every day.

 

[Warborg]

I use HOB as my primary and Cans as my secondary. I've moved away from the internal filters. I've never messed with a sump and don't plan on it(I'd had to rethink this if I ever got a super monster tank).

 

[spiff44]

All good points. Sumps do become a bigger issue on large tanks though because to have a sump that doesn't have that overflow threat means that it has to be a certain percentage of the tank size. When it comes to that I would rather have the canister over a giant sump. I see people using 300 gal stock tanks as sumps.. that's just crazy.. cool.. but crazy. I guess if you have all the space in the world its a non issue..

 

[framcosco]

I agree with the OP. I have an Fx5 that I clean two or three times a year. It's a real pain and one of the few times I've really not enjoyed the hobby. It's not just cleaning the filter pads but dragging it out to the backyard and cleaning all the media. It took me a couple hours last time and I hated every minute.

Sump are much easier but they can be Nitrate factories too if you let the waste build up in the bottom of the sump. What I do now is use a wet dry vacuum to clean the bottom of my sump and it makes life a lot easier. On all my future setups I'm only going to use sumps with filter socks.

I wish I could get away cleaning my FX5/6's once or twice a year. I literally have to clean my FX5 on my pleco tank once a week! It catches a lot of pleco poo...... But it literally only takes me 10-15mins to do a complete cleanup using the aquarium water as I do a water change.

Filter socks clog up super super quick for me...... I have since stuck to filter floss in all of my sump setups for the mechanical.

 

[spiff44]

Bomb canisters!