Sump question
- Thread starter xDestro
- Start date
It pretty much becomes a debate of canisters or wet/dry filters. Ive personally never used a canister, but love my wet/dry. Slide out the old pad and slide a new one in. Takes all of a minute to do. I try to replace once a week. The extra water volume helps too
Sumps do take more initial research and time to set up. But once they are up and running, maintenance is usually MUCH easier than canisters. When I ran cans it would take me 20+ minutes to clean it, so I'd let it go 6-8 weeks letting waste build-up before each cleaning. With my sump I change out a filter sock once a week that literally takes me about a minute to do. I hide my filters in the sump, and grow plants in it as well. I have space to put a fish in the sump as a hospital tank if needed. DC pumps tend to push more water using less watts than most canisters on the market. Sumps can also add to the overall volume of the system.
Sumps give extra water volume for better dilution of waste, allow you to keep all equipment out of the display tank, easier maintenance, hold more media, allow for refugium for other plants/fish/inverts, keep display tank water level consistent, can be used on much larger tanks (as opposed to multiple canisters, since they really only make them about as big as an FX6), and I'm sure I'm missing a few more points.
A sump is definitely more work to set up but will work out much better in the long run, in my opinion.
A sump is definitely more work to set up but will work out much better in the long run, in my opinion.
As stated, sumps add volume and are much easier to clean than canisters.
Additionally, a wet/dry filter (typical sump setup) adds a tremendous amount of agitation and is an excellent way to remove carbon dioxide and replenish oxygen. This is beneficial to fish, but if you want to run CO2 in a planted tank then you want a canister, which will gas-off less CO2.
Canister filters are not just filters, but pumps as well. With a sump you can switch your pump to a different size of you desire. Or, if your pump dies, you can just replace that part as opposed to ordering a new head unit for your canister.
You can also turn sumps into refugiums, add a protein skimmer or media reactor, etc...you can change and add a lot!
Additionally, a wet/dry filter (typical sump setup) adds a tremendous amount of agitation and is an excellent way to remove carbon dioxide and replenish oxygen. This is beneficial to fish, but if you want to run CO2 in a planted tank then you want a canister, which will gas-off less CO2.
Canister filters are not just filters, but pumps as well. With a sump you can switch your pump to a different size of you desire. Or, if your pump dies, you can just replace that part as opposed to ordering a new head unit for your canister.
You can also turn sumps into refugiums, add a protein skimmer or media reactor, etc...you can change and add a lot!
The only maintenance I have to do on my sump is wash my filter socks, I don't have to replace them very often since they're reusable. As stated before, sumps also add more water volume to the aquarium, and also house equipment that would normally be in the tank. They also dilute fish waste, meaning you have to do water changes less often (although they will need to be larger). Along with that you can use the sump as a refugium to grow nitrate reducing plants. I'm currently growing pothos in mine. Overall they're the best form of filtration for 75+ gallon tanks.