New Tank Filtration Options

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Osmondhund

Feeder Fish
Feb 27, 2013
4
0
0
Minnesota
Hello,
I'm a new member, longtime reader. I just Craigslisted a 270 gallon acrylic tank for a good price. I am now trying to decide what to do with it. I'm thinking South American cichlids, maybe a stingray or two, maybe an Arowana, I can't decide. Anyway, I'm struggling with what to do for filtration. The tank has a built-in overflow box already, with 3 large bulkhead fittings in the bottom of it. I have an old 55 that I could turn into a sump of some kind, or should I use a canister filter like the Fluval FX5, maybe two FX5s? Which way will filter this much water the best?
 
Most of all depends on what's your comfortable with and what you want to deal with. Sumps are nice you will still need a pump to move water. Canisters are only as good as they are large. But work well on allot of setups.

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Thanks for your input. I guess what I'm wondering is, does it make sense to go to the trouble of building a sump out of my 55 gal.? It seems to me that a sump might be easier to maintain than disassembling a canister filter every two weeks. Am I wrong? I have no experience with sump filters, but I do have canister filters now that don't get the maintenance that they should because they are a pain in the rear. I have a number of 1000 gal.+ pumps in the basement that I could use for water movement in a sump.
 
Osmondhund said:
Thanks for your input. I guess what I'm wondering is, does it make sense to go to the trouble of building a sump out of my 55 gal.? It seems to me that a sump might be easier to maintain than disassembling a canister filter every two weeks. Am I wrong? I have no experience with sump filters, but I do have canister filters now that don't get the maintenance that they should because they are a pain in the rear. I have a number of 1000 gal.+ pumps in the basement that I could use for water movement in a sump.
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If the tank is set up for a sump and you have most of the components to assemble one it sounds like that is your best bet. Sumps are great I run tanks with canisters only, sump only and canister + sump. One note regarding the canister maintenance you should not be having to service them every two weeks. Monthly or every other month should suffice depending on tank stock and mechanical needs. If you really do need to service a canister every other week then a sump is 110% the way to go for your application.

Also welcome to MFK! :welcome:
 
I say you should set up a sump. I had 2 fx5s and recently switched to a 55g glass sump. Its amazing how much more bio can fit into the sump. I was able to fit all of the bio from both fx5s plus another 15 lbs of ceramic media. I still have room for more bio if I wanted.

Sumps are much easier to clean and that alone makes them worth it. I use a filter sock and on my overflow ( I have a cpr brand one) I have a prefilter sponge. The prefilter catches so much s-it! I just clean that every week and the sock every few weeks. Much easier than lifting a canister outside to cleab everything.
 
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