questions with answers you most likely know

[thewaterboy]

Hey all. Im shopping around for a 260-280G freshwater tank. Some of the tanks i've seen come with overflows. okay sooo, i think overflows are those black plastic pillar-like things on the interior back wall of tanks. water flows into it. why do i need one? will it make the tank sound like a waterfall?

Also, someone said if the tank is huge a sump is good. I think a sump is for biological filtration..right? if it is why can't you just hook up a wet/dry canister filter instead? also, will it make the tank sound like a waterfall?

thanks everyone.

oh and anyone know of a good cheaper place to look for monster tanks? i've seen glasscages and a few others but they're so pricey. craigslist in my region very rarely has tanks this size...if ever. Thanks.

 

[LD50]

1) You don't NEED an overflow however overflow/sump filtration offers a lot more versatility/water water volume than any off the shelf canister will, plus you can store your heaters and whatever hardware you want in the sump instead of the display. Set up properly overflows can be near silent with no waterfall sounds. Of course you could go without the overflow/sump in favor of canisters/HOBs and still have a healthy aquarium.

2) Glass cages is CHEAP when it comes to big tanks like that.

 

[Hot Slime]

Overflows are needed for wet/drys or sumps. A sump is basically the same thing as a wet/dry, just depends what you fill it up with. There will always be some noise with wet/drys, I wouldn't buy a wet/dry cansiter because you can just make a wet/dry pretty dirt cheap. Glasscages is a good place to buy large tanks from.

 

[Jc1119]

Wet dry's are typically louder than sumps with submerged media because of the design, .....water drips down through the media from the top exposed to air........as long as your drain pipes are lower than the water level in a sump, it should be relatively quiet....

For silencing your overflows, it can sound like a water fall if you dont account for it. Herbie or Beananimal style overflows address the sound issues and both systems are very quiet. Personal preference and system setup would dictate which would be best, but both work well.....

canister filters can work for large systems, but to achieve the filtration levels youd need for a system of that size, youd need several (or one large) canisters to do the job. Sumps have alot of advantages imo, but canisters have their place too. Sumps expand your system volume and give you a place to hide things youd rather not see in the display. Water turnover is usually much greater with a properly designed sump

 

[thewaterboy]

got ya. so the overflow delivers water to the sump. it is used for biological filtration but a wet/dry canister can be used instead. good to know, thank you.