sump noob. have questions.

[studd muffin]

so i am a sump noob and i have questions. over the years of fish keeping ive been using canister filters. i have never had a tank that used a sump. i have 2 Fluval FX5 canister filter. one for my 210g and another one for my 300g. i am thinking about buying a 300g tank that uses a sump. these are my questions

1. are they easy to maintain?
2. is it true if the power goes out then your sump will overflow? (some guy told me this at the lfs.)

for question 2 i dont think so because the water goes in from the top of the overflow box.

 

[livebearerfreak]

no the sump wont overflow, on mine i have a overflow system that has some holes in it so the water from the tank goes down to the sump but if the water line in the tank goes lower then the overflow holes nothing will happen the water will just stay in the tank.