sump guides?

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the lion who ate the sun

the lion who ate the sun

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Mar 11, 2014
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georgia
Hey guys. I'm setting up a sump for my 300 gallon over the next few weeks, and was looking for some advice.

Should I buy a prebuilt sump ie:
http://www.petstore.com/ps_viewitem...9pJQtVkj7psMUSoViIVu87duw07CxPEzg5RoCK4bw_wcB

Or should I just make one myself out of a 55/75g tank? Does anyone know where I can find a good guide?

Also looking for pump recommendations. I don't want to skimp on filtration and $pay for it later.

Thanks.
 
I've been debating over this myself as I'm planning on getting a 240-300gallon in the near future (as long as my tax calculations were right..lol) Anyways after doing a lot of reading and looking at the pre-made sumps/wet dry filters I'm just building one. I'm using a 75 gallon I already had to save some bucks, but also because it is much larger than most of the pre-fabricated ones for sale commercially. I posted my design I believe in the diy section, but after looking at 100s of designs I've opted for simplicity. 2 plastic storage towers in the 75 with some media and call it a day. Honestly while many of the store bought ones look cooler, they don't do anymore than a simple diy and in fact hold less media and less water. Here is a good example of a diy imo:

[video=youtube_share;dWav5u4yDkc]http://youtu.be/dWav5u4yDkc[/video]
 
If you are going marine, you may want to skip the wet/dry idea though
 
Its not going to be marine. The 300 will house 2 Florida gar and a handful of Polypterus, along with a few clown loaches.

I would be wary of the drawer. Some plastics can leech BPA's into the water. I have heard of people separating fry into plastic containers and losing them because of this.
 
Thanks meng.
 
Here is the build thread I based mine on. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...23425-300-gallon-SA-CE-community-build-thread!!
Here is a link to my build thread. http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...C-540-Gallon-CA-Community-Build&highlight=540
You can search for the 5 or so topics I started last summer asking for pump size, drain size, how much water can x inch pvc really drain, etc.

I went with the design described in the threads above because I think it is the best fit for big freshwater tanks for lots of reasons. It's basically 2 submersible pumps, filter socks in a sump with NO chambers, and Herbie overflow. No K1, no bio-balls, no "wet/dry", no poret foam, none of that. I'm going about a month between changing filter socks now, and it takes about 2 minutes to change them. I have an ATO and chloramine filter, so I don't change water anymore either. Just feed the fish.
 
Thanks man, can't wait to give this a read!
 
I made a trickle filter for my 300 stock is 6" tig. 2 8" Limas And 3. 4" pictus. No water problems at all . Sump. All the way.
 
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