/\/\onster sized Canister or Sump ?

[Fish Tank Travis]

My preference is definitely to use sumps with filter socks. I like to use sand so that the detritus doesn’t get down into it as much and I kept many bottom dwellers that kept the sand stirred up in my 220 (had a 55 gallon tank under it as the sump). Maintenance was to simply replace the filter socks with clean ones every few days to a week. If you get enough of them you can change them out everyday to remove as much detritus from the water column as possible. Canisters hold the detritus for a lot longer because you don’t clean them out very often (most people don’t anyway). I spent a few minutes a couple times a week changing out the filter socks on my 220 but it was a 1-1/2 to 2 hour process to clean out the canister on my son’s 29 gallon tank. The sump requires more effort to setup, but it’s well worth it in the long run.

Water changes are where the time is taken up with large tanks. It’s best to get a big pump with big big tubing to unload the tank as quick as possible. I had a 4000gph pond pump with 1” vinyl tubing that would empty my entire 220 plus the sump down to fin level in about 8 minutes. Filling it back up took much longer because I was limited by the flow from the hose.

Sumps are so easy that I really want to get a ten gallon tank and setup my son’s 29 to use it as a sump.

 

[DThompson]

I've got both an Ultima II 2000 and a 125g sump on my tank. Wanted both for redundancy. The Ultima is amazing for water changes, as stated in a previous post. And my tank is drilled on the side, about 8" off the bottom. Perfect place for the Ultima to suck water from and I don't have an extra pipe inside the tank.

The Ultima is a lot less maintenance than the sump. But the Sump is more versatile and customizable for your everchanging needs. I probably prefer the Ultima over the sump but I could go either way if I was forced to pick just 1. You can check out my tank setup in my signature to see how I've got both mine connected to the main display tank.

 

[jjohnwm]

Canisters are awesome...as long as you are using a nice big sump that acts as a pre-filter, and then use the canister as the return pump to the aquarium.

I completely agree with duanes regarding the danger of fish poop lying on the bottom versus dissolved pollutants in the water itself, but even if you don't consider your tanks to be "display" tanks, it is still much more pleasant to keep the bottom clear of the ugly turds even though they are relatively benign. Almost any overflow can easily be modified to draw entirely or partially from the bottom, and combining this with strategically placed circulation pumps and/or return pumps can often eliminate most or all of the bottom debris. It's also easy to design an overflow so that a small part of the volume is taken from the top to allow for some surface skimming. It doesn't take much more than a slight trickle to keep the surface spotless.

 

[esoxlucius]

Taking poop out of the tank and letting it rot in your filter is one thing, but I also agree that completely removing it from the system altogether has to be the ultimate goal. Ideally you want as little dwell time as possible as regards to crap in your filter.

Pacu moms vertical disguised tubing is a great idea for actually removing crap from the tank, but it's not for me. I choose to use a single large 20000 litre/hr strategically placed powerhead which is on a timer. It's not set at 20000 litres/hr, somewhat lower in fact. On top setting it is a beast and would stress my fish out. It comes on for an hour about three times per day and keeps the tank spotless.....but obviously doesn't keep my filter clean!

My water change day is Saturday. I swap out my mechanical media on Saturday, but importantly I also clean the mech side again on Monday morning and then again on Wednesday evening. Those two "Inbetweeners" are a great help in taking crap away from whole system. If I just did it once per week on Saturday my filter floss and sponges would look terrible.

If I wanted to be completely anal about it I could swap out my mech side on a daily basis and the dwell time for crap would be virtually zero. But I'm happy with my current nitrate creep.

 

[jjohnwm]

Lol, I do swap out the first stage of my mechanical filtration on an almost-daily basis; I never thought of my self as anal...hmmm...

When I was working remote from home for three weeks at a stretch, my tanks went without a water change or any filter maintenance for that entire span of time. The mech filter was at the bottom of a foot-tall bucket and when the medium was clean, the water flowed freely through and drained through the holes in the bottom of the bucket. By the end of three weeks, the mech filter was clogged to the point where a head of water built up over top of it, often nearly to the top of the bucket, which of course increased the pressure...forcing the water through the medium, but hastening the clogging as well. Catch-22.

Now retired, I can freely clean my 1st stage filtration daily, and usually do so. Pull out the Poret pad, replace with a clean one, and then thoroughly rinse out the dirty pad, to be replaced the following day. Takes only a minute or two. No poop visible on the tank bottom...and, now, none anywhere in the system is present for more than 24 hours. Add to that a roughly 90% change at least once per week, as opposed to twice in one week and then none at all for three weeks more. My water has never been better.

And, if I go away on vacation for a week or two, or skip a day because of a fishing trip or other distraction...no harm befalls me or my fish. They're still exposed to lower levels of poop-infusion in their water than they would be if they were at the mercy of...a canister...

 

[Backfromthedead]

Poop gathers in my filter socks just the same as a can, its just a lot easier to change out the socks than clean a can.

I also keep a small amount of poop under my rocks and bogwood. It worries me enough to clean under them a couple times a year.

Btw i love that we switched from concise words like "detritus" and "waste" to just calling it all poop a few posts back.

 

[jjohnwm]

I think we have become more concise, not less.

"Detritus" and "waste"...all those letters and syllables, yet they are a bit vague regarding the precise make-up of the substance in question. Is it leftover food, or excreta, or plant matter, or some thing else? Nobody knows; it's too mysterious and imprecise.

But "poop"...now there's a concise word. Only two letters, each repeated once; a single quick, elegant syllable, almost musical. And...it leaves absolutely no doubt about exactly what we are discussing...