which do you prefer, a sump or wet/dry? lets say the dimensions are the same, they hold the same amount of media, and have the same return pump? the only obvious difference is that the sump will have the media submerged and the wet/dry has water trickling over the media? which method provides better filtration?
sump or wet/dry
- Thread starter vtnhtr
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Thanks, that's what I figured. The reason I asked was because I just changed my overflows to the the herbie style and it's super quiet!!! I was going to convert my wet/dry to a sump so I can run the drains straight into the water to make that part super quiet too. It's not bad right now but was just curious if the trade off was worth it.
out of curiosity being slightly new to sumps, is this because of the bio ball area? I was always under the impression that a sump with a refugium(spelling) with plants growing in a sand bed works much better?
I can only go one way with mine so wondering also whats makes the wet/dry better?
I am running a wet/dry trickle filter on my 300 gallon tank. During a power outage we have to add extra water to the main tank to raise the water level in the wet/dry filter to submerge the bioballs temporarily. I find this problematic. If we should be away during a power outage, we could lose the majority of our biological filtration. While our wet/dry filter has provided excellent biological filtration for our current tank, we are moving in another direction for biological filtration on the bigger system we will be setting up.
is this for a saltwater tank or freshwater? in terms of freshwater, a refugium, is way better because it eliminates the nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia because the plants or micro algae thrive on those. With a wet dry filter, all the bad stuff is trapped in the bioballs but they are not going anywhere which eventually will bring an overflow in those bad nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia.
If it is a planted tank I would use a sump.
If there will be no plants I would use a wet/dry. Bio balls will provide a huge air/water surface area for oxygenation and off gassing. If you have aquatic plants you want the plants to consume the CO2 and give off the O2. Aquatic plants will consume nitrates.
I use Pothos instead of aquatic plants for nitrate removal so I prefer a wet/dry.
If there will be no plants I would use a wet/dry. Bio balls will provide a huge air/water surface area for oxygenation and off gassing. If you have aquatic plants you want the plants to consume the CO2 and give off the O2. Aquatic plants will consume nitrates.
I use Pothos instead of aquatic plants for nitrate removal so I prefer a wet/dry.
If you want to increase flow to the tank and as long as the over-flow will allow it, all you need do is add a bigger return pump(or a second) Sumps rule that way.