Sump or FX6? Plus help setting up sump

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
nossalucard said:
If you want "SIMPLICITY" then get an FX6 and use that in addition to the 304B....DONE!

Sumps are kool(if that's your thing), however you have to assure there are more fail safes in place if you're NOT one to VERY closely monitor your tank and sump setup. And before anyone says it, YES cans "can" leak to, but once you have one/two up and running, usually you only pay attention to the flow coming out of the nozzle(to know when it's clogging), and service once every 3+ months. Then you watch it closely(a day or two) after it's been opened and re-closed after servicing, and that's it(as long as no issue is found).

For a sump, it's CONSTANT checking water-levels etc, unless you setup an auto top-off

I personally would never setup a sump upstairs on my hardwood floors, however in my finished concrete floor basement...maybe.

YMMV, best of luck...
Click to expand...
The biggest fail safe is making sure your sump is large enough for the display. I have a 75g with a 40b as a sump and it's virtually impossible for my set up to flood. Now that I have a drilled tank I will never bat an eye at a non drilled aquarium for a sump and my water changes take me 10 minutes now with a simultaneous drain and fill. And being able to hide all equipment, pretty much absurd amounts of bio media and have a never changing water level in the display make running a sump all worth it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Troy1015 and eddiegunks
I have my set up with a sump. I drilled my tank due to using over flow box in the past flooding my house. I think though a sump is better as you can tweak it and perfect it. You can add to it as seen fit. My set up was a little noisy in the beginning due to a crappy pump. Picked up a brand new jebao pump and dead silence. Like Jhay3513 Jhay3513 said with proper inlet placement and overeflow you should never flood. Mine is set up in a way it will not flood my house but merely fill up my sump 3/4 of the way full.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jhay3513
Troy1015 said:
I have my set up with a sump. I drilled my tank due to using over flow box in the past flooding my house. I think though a sump is better as you can tweak it and perfect it. You can add to it as seen fit. My set up was a little noisy in the beginning due to a crappy pump. Picked up a brand new jebao pump and dead silence. Like Jhay3513 Jhay3513 said with proper inlet placement and overeflow you should never flood. Mine is set up in a way it will not flood my house but merely fill up my sump 3/4 of the way full.
Click to expand...
I'm running a jebao too. Love the little work horse
 
I would consider adding dry emergancy drains in the event that the main drains become clogged
 
  • Like
Reactions: Jhay3513
I had a sump with a syphon overflow... it was not worth all the hassle. I finally gave up on the syphon overflow, lowered the water level to about half then drilled my tank without breaking it down. Then the sump was the best filter I ever had! Much better than and canister!

Put an airstone under the bioballs / trickle portion of the filter and the bio capability portion of the bio balls will be huge! When the bio balls break the stream of water down to dropplets the surface area of the water is huge which allows for an incredible amount of CO2 <--> O2 exchange... this is why you need the air stone under them.

My sump has a filter pad on top of the trickle portion, very quick and easy to remove and clean without pulling out the whole filter.

Being able to get the heater out of the tank and putting it into the sump is another benefit. I also really like that as water evaporated the water level in the tank stays the same and the water level in the sump is what fluxuates instead. The water level in the tank is always perfect... right where I set it.

I run a Quiet One 3000 in my sump... but I would go for a Jeboa if Ibought a new pump.
 
Last edited:
I've had a canister flood my dang livingroon
Oughtsix said:
I had a sump with a syphon overflow... it was not worth all the hassle. I finally gave up on the syphon overflow, lowered the water level to about half then drilled my tank without breaking it down. Then the sump was the best filter I ever had! Much better than and canister!

Put an airstone under the bioballs / trickle portion of the filter and the bio capability portion of the bio balls will be huge! When the bio balls break the stream of water down to dropplets the surface area of the water is huge which allows for an incredible amount of CO2 <--> O2 exchange... this is why you need the air stone under them.

My sump has a filter pad on top of the trickle portion, very quick and easy to remove and clean without pulling out the whole filter.

Being able to get the heater out of the tank and putting it into the sump is another benefit. I also really like that as water evaporated the water level in the tank stays the same and the water level in the sump is what fluxuates instead. The water level in the tank is always perfect... right where I set it.

I run a Quiet One 3000 in my sump... but I would go for a Jeboa if Ibought a new pump.
Click to expand...
man I love it!!!!! The most annoying thing for me in an aquarium is seeing that water line in the main tank drop down!!!!! Most of the time when I'm doing filtration maintenance I don't even turn my pump off. Just snatch bio media out to clean as needed. I have some more modifications to make to the sump i built but all in all it's great!!!!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Troy1015 and jaws7777
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom